I confess that outside the My Husband Betty forum and visits with particular trans folks, I don’t really hang out much with my fellow travelers. In large part because I’ve had some off-putting reactions a number of trans folks — to the folks on the pink rocket sled toward transition; to those determined to see others transition in order to validate their own transition; and also the cross-dressers who (as helen once said in the MHB book) had a curious lack of curiosity about women’s lives. Or even those whose outings are confined to safe spaces, since I’m just in a different — not necessarily better/worse — place given I’ve got a long history being out in public.

It’s meant I’ve felt like I haven’t really had as much in common at a personal level, even if I feel commonalities at a broader level. Then again, it’s far from the first time I feel a group affinity, even if I don’t relate to all the individuals within that group.