Trans people took to Twitter and shared wholesome stories of how their loved ones reacted to them transitioning.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on June 11, 2021. It has since been updated.
Coming out as trans can be about telling people your preferred pronouns, telling people about the gender identity that you’re comfortable with, and sharing your new name. Coming out can be incredibly anxious, especially considering who you want to come out to. Some are comfortable coming out to their family while some feel more comfortable around friends. You're unsure of the reception of those that matter to you, and their reaction could alter your life for the better or worse. Many trans people took to Twitter to share the most heartwarming reactions to coming out stories, which in many cases is no reaction at all and just treating you like every other person, shared Bored Panda. They shared stories about coming out to friends, family, and even strangers and their reactions will melt your heart.
There's a general store down the road that I get grinders at and it's run by an Indian guy. When I first showed up as a girl he didn't even bat an eye and was just like "the usual? Salt? pepper?"
— 🥛 🐾 Summer 🐾 🥛 (@sunkissednymph) March 1, 2020
My sisters friend from college said “I like your new look! What’s your name again?” That was awesome.
— Femby Muse (@FembyMuse) March 1, 2020
when i came out to my mom, my sis was in earshot n heard everything too. couple hours later i got a text from her asking if id like if she changed the description in one of her instagram posts to say sister-in-crime instead of brother-in-crime n my heart just melted
— Noé Charron (@celechii) March 2, 2020
And he served me like everything was the same 😭💕 love that man
— sad metal boy (@kingofgremlins) March 2, 2020
Shout out to the campus den cashier for asking if I wanted her to change my name in their rewards program without me having to ask 😭🥺
— Logan Congdon ⚧️ (@LJ_Gato) March 1, 2020
I went to a restaurant recently and the server was someone I went to highschool with and she recognized me and said "you're looking really good! What do you go by now?" And it made me so happy because I never know how to breach that subject and she was just supportive right away!
— Fennel Ferret ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻 A¢A🅱️ (@fennelferret) March 1, 2020
Former coworker transitioned. Older gentleman/regular customer came in one day and said "what's with the new name? Is that your true self? I'm happy for you." Patted him on the shoulder and walked off. I got a bit teary.
— Amy Nicholson (@nicholamy) March 1, 2020
My favourite reaction to announcing my daughter’s transition was my then 76-year-old mom, who just paused momentarily, and then asked “So do you think she’d still like Lego for Christmas, or would a nice dress be better?”
— Katvrouw (@Katvrouw) March 1, 2020
Took me a while to tell my elderly clients who'd been seeing me for years & knew my family that my son had transitioned. So it was lovely when I told my oldest one, former nun. After the session, she said gruffly, 'God bless you on your family's new addition,' & patted me. 😭💜
— January Garnetson (@a_poods) March 1, 2020
My best freeing Breezy, when I came out to her, told me “Hi Benny!! It’s nice to meet you.” And I replied “it’s nice to finally meet you” before we both began to cry. 😅
— benny the simp (@ben_j_button) March 1, 2020
my first visit to my grandparents post-coming out my grandma just said "so youre the grandson ive been hearing so much about" and i was@like ah yes it is me
— bullet train doppler effect (@hagakurefanclub) March 1, 2020
My oldest living relative, my aunt, said "It's so lovely to finally meet you," when I came out to her. It was the best feeling :)
— Michael Bonebright (@ThatBonebright) March 1, 2020
My favorite reaction was "Hey, I hear I've been getting your name wrong this whole time. Let's start over! I'm x, nice to you. "
— Butterbee (@OMGButterbee) March 1, 2020
When I went into my bank with my name change documents the lady behind the counter was like "Finally! We were wondering when you were gonna do that. Congrats" and then went around to all the other tellers to share my new name with them.
— 🏳️🌈Felony Femboi🏳️🌈 (@famous_lesbian) March 1, 2020
Best reaction was when I returned from Christmas break, I went right up to a co worker to catch up and they looked at me and just immediately went, defeated “..I only got contacts” (over the break, in contrast to me showing up in full feminine look now lmao)
— Nine Hydras 🧋 Self-Care Mode (@ninehydras) March 1, 2020
Someone who surprised me in terms of LGBT+ stuff was my music teacher, she is Christian and used to believe that it was wrong to identify with any of LGBT+, but she really changed and surprised everyone, when I told her I preferred to go by they/them sometimes...
— Chris (@trainerchris150) March 1, 2020
To love and accept everyone I meet, I am so sorry I made you feel otherwise”
— Chris (@trainerchris150) March 1, 2020
(2/2)mum explained that it's NOT a an illness, & told her what it means. My grandma was calm after that & replied something like "ok then, i was just scared that someone's sick" and changed the topic. next time i met her she used my new name and pronouns & never misgendered me
— Jed (@JaredNotJerrad) March 1, 2020
I've seen a couple of small-press publishers handle it with acknowledgements like "[person] has previously written for us under the pseudonym [deadname]".
— Tigerfort (@StripeyCaptain) March 1, 2020
Allowed people to stay connected to their old work (if they want to) while saying [deadname] was never who they really are.
Honestly the best one for me was when I told my TD in grad school. He just goes “ok, anything else” and started working again
— Violet (@violet_jones26) March 2, 2020
my deadname was on schedules on the workfloor to see who was showing up for what day. one of the guys asked "hey so theres this name on here..and youre always here instead". i appreciate the fact he never said the name or outright asked me. just a "hey what a coinky dink" feeling
— • ᵕ •◌)ˊˎ˗ (@cal_tove) March 1, 2020
I had a friend have a VERY similar interaction where the takeout person just said “great to see you! you look great! Before you leave Would you like to update any information in our system?” When she told me this story I almost cried & thought 💭 “Damn that’s how you do that! “
— C (@Cup0fAmbition) March 1, 2020
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