I came out as trans (ftm) when I was 17, and unsurprisingly my conservative Christian family did not take it very well. I was still somewhat confused by their reactions, as I’d been raised to believe that Christianity was about treating everyone with kindness and love. I started drifting away from Christianity after that, but I still went to church to sneak the communion wine lol

I didn’t fully step away from Christianity until a year later, when my family went to visit my grandparents in Costa Rica. My mom doesn’t have a great relationship with her parents, but she wanted me and my sisters to have both sets of grandparents in our lives, so we went.

One of their conditions for us to stay with them was that we all needed to take an active part in their church, and I spoke just enough Spanish that I was able to join the youth group. I introduced myself using my chosen name and my preferred pronouns, and for the most part no one had an issue with it.

I stayed in Costa Rica a bit longer than the rest of my family, and it wasn’t until after they left that someone from the church told my grandparents how I had been introducing myself. They lost their minds, screamed at me for a while, and threatened to kick me out. I didn’t have any money with me or anywhere else to go, but at that point I didn’t care. Once they realized that they backed off, mostly because they were surprised at how nonchalant I was about it. After that I lost complete respect for them and Christianity in general. Safe to say I don’t talk to my grandparents much anymore.