It’s not uncommon for folks in the transgender community to talk about being “gender gifted”—to which Andrea at the “My Husband Betty” forum had a great response: “If this is a gift, I want the receipt so that I can exchange it for some business acumen or something.” Helen had some good thoughts on this as well.

Do I hate my crossdressing? No. Are there times where I wish it didn’t cause complications in my life? Yes.

On the other hand, I was already “different” as a kid before crossdressing hit the scene (a Mensa-IQ kid who wasn’t great at sports in a neighborhood full of jocks, a liberal in a conservative area, etc.). And at times I have a similar—”ambivalence” is probably too strong a word but I don’t have a better one at the moment… “twinges” maybe?—about that as well.

But being a “normal” man or woman in American ain’t always a picnic either.