How do I tell my grandparents that I am transgender when they don't know what transgender means?
The way I dealt with it was, for a few weeks or months before coming out, I would introduce trans stuff as a topic of conversation. Trans people are in the news more and more these days, so offer some of those stories as conversation-starters. Not only will that give you the opportunity to explain transgender identity as a thing that exists, it will also give you the opportunity to talk about some common prejudices and nip that shit in the bud, all under the established social form of “family members discuss current events.”
You’ll also become someone they trust as a knowledgeable source on transgender identity. So when you come out to them, they will already have some kind of mental connection between you and transness, and will have firsthand experience of your knowledge and passion about the topic, and even if they still don’t quite get it they will get that it’s important to you.
- Mod Rabbit
