Transwoman stands up for herself after family tries to dictate her outfit for sister's wedding

The world is gradually learning to embrace people's gender choices but there are still certain challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender persons who tackle criticisms from their own kith and kin. Their true test of patience happens during family gatherings like weddings, parties or holidays. Reddit user u/RoosterNo3701 is a 29-year-old transwoman and shared how their Roman Catholic family disapproved of her clothing choices as their sister's wedding was nearing. While she wondered if their decision might seem harsh towards their family, people showered her with overwhelming support.

"Because of my life choices, my family and I are fairly estranged. I do not practice their faith anymore while they are weekly churchgoers who actively participate in church gatherings and events," she mentioned. "They have not accepted my transition and still commonly use my dead name (male name) despite how I changed it nearly 3 years ago." The 29-year-old mentioned that she rarely interacts with her family and visits them only during the holidays. "I am treated as the 'family secret' or black sheep of the family," she wrote and revealed how her family didn't tell anyone about her transition for years. Wen she came to know about their 32-year-old sister's wedding through their parents' social media, she had to go through more challenges. The unkind family never asked her to be in any bridal activities or participate in the ceremony and invited their transgender child like any normal guest with just a save-the-date mail.

The considerate transwoman planned to attend the event anyway, even if her partner wasn't welcome. "My mother texted me less than 2 weeks before the wedding asking if I could wear a navy pantsuit to the wedding," she wrote and added, "I absolutely don't want to wear a pantsuit nor is there any time before the wedding to realistically have an outfit custom-fitted even if I agreed to." Mentioning their family's unreasonable demand, she wrote, "I have no plans to wear inappropriate clothing, I plan to dress like any 30-something-year-old female guest would dress like normally. But my parents are becoming increasingly pushy and hostile that I suddenly conform to a specific type of clothing, specifically something that would make me look like a man like a pantsuit 'or something with slacks,'" and added, "I have been transitioning for just under 5 years and so wearing a pantsuit I’d still look quite feminine, but I know my parents want me to wear a suit because it’s acceptable clothing for what a 'man' would wear."

"Because my family went so out of their way to tell me how uninvolved I will be in this wedding, I think it’s wildly rude they suddenly want a say in how I dress and present myself," they expressed and added, "Had my family included me in the bridal party, I would have gone along no question. But because they didn’t I think I’m perfectly in line and my parents are going too far." The Reddit community was highly reassuring and one user u/Miserable_Dentist_70 commented, "I don't even know why you're going. Hard truth, they don't want you there. You don't want to be there. You've been doing quite well without them. I hope you choose the positive and leave this b******t behind." u/slackerchic wrote, "As long as you are modestly dressed and not upstaging the bride (neither of which you plan to do) then you should be able to wear what makes you comfortable."