Category: Family

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HELP! My Husband Is Trans-Attracted. What do I do?

Photo by Kat J on Unsplash

Over time, women have written me after finding out their husbands/partners are trans-attracted. Recently, two such people sought my advice. Those conversations were enlightening. What can they do about their men’s trans attraction, they asked. Interestingly, both wanted to stay with their men.

Remaining with their partners is new. At least in my experience. Past women writing me expressed outrage. Or they felt shame and revulsion. Or they felt betrayed at discovering their men find transgender women attractive.

Presumably, some readers are reading this because they’re in similar situations. I’m writing this post for those of you. The world doesn’t offer many resources for you. Just as it doesn’t offer many resources for your man. So you’re likely to make mistakes. Mistakes that could cost your marriage. Mistakes including believing that your relationship is over.

It doesn’t have to be.

Read on to discover a fresh, empowering perspective. A perspective about you, your relationship and the man you either are, or once were, in love with. In other words, there is hope. Hope for you, for your man and for your relationship.

I know what I’m talking about

Just for background: I’m a transamorous guy. “Transamorous” is a relatively new term. It means someone who is attracted to transgender women. “Trans-attraction” is another word for it. But the two aren’t the same.

Transamorous is a higher order, more mature version of trans-attraction. You can read more about the two in this post.

I have had my own experience with moving through trans-attraction to transamory. Part of that journey involved being married. My process happened over many years. Since then, I created this site to help men like me. As I wrote above, such men don’t have many resources they can turn to.

Given my experience, I’d say I’m an expert on this situation. Not only because I share the attraction your husband does. But also because I work with men like your husband.

I also work with trans women. So I have an understanding of both sides of the relationship dynamic which brings these two groups together. It’s a very strong dynamic that needs some explanation. The dynamic involves you too. Not in the way you probably think it does though.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Suffice it to say, I know what I’m talking about. And I offer what I know to soothe concerns you’re feeling. It’s going to be ok. Don’t panic.

Knee-jerk reactions born of panic aren’t in your best interest. (Photo by Hailey Kean on Unsplash)

None of this is a judgement on you

This section is important. Some women discovering their man is trans-attracted make the mistake of blaming themselves. You must not do this. Nothing has gone wrong although it may feel that way. You’re not a bad partner. This has nothing to do with your sexuality, or your ability to please your man.

There’s nothing you could have done to prevent this. What’s happening is the natural unfolding of your relationship. Because it’s natural, it was unavoidable. In some way, at some time, this was going to happen. So rather than thoughts like “my relationship was a sham all along”, or “My self-esteem is shattered”, it’s better to consider that everything about your relationship is working. It’s just that some things are happening you just don’t understand yet.

Society conditions us to put other people’s opinions of us ahead of our own. That shows up in thoughts like “what are people going to think of me?” or “I’m going to be the laughing stock of my church”. People’s tendency to put other people’s opinions of them ahead of their own is a major impediment to happiness generally.

But it really is detrimental in this situation. Mainly because what’s happening is a special event. An event those around you are likely to not understand at all. More importantly, considering others’ opinions at this time will disempower your ability to reap the wonderful opportunities that exist in this situation. For you, for your partner and for the world generally. This especially includes opinions of your family and your friends.

So you must do your best to refrain from thinking about what others might or are thinking about what you’re experiencing. Their opinions do not matter.

You came into this situation on purpose. You came with everything you need to benefit tremendously from it. No one who matters is negatively judging you. You might be though. If you are, that’s not helpful.

Your emotions might be acting against you

Whether you’ve just found out or consciously knew all along, what you’re experiencing in your relationship is a special situation. It’s human evolution happening right before your eyes. As such, this is not a sexual, or romantic situation. It may seem that way. But that’s the wrong context to look at what you and your husband are going through. If you look at it from there, you’re sure to feel betrayal and other similar emotions.

Meanwhile, this is a much bigger, much more important experience for both of you. It CAN be a deepening of your relationship, not a destroyer of it. But how YOU frame it will determine which it will be. So not panicking is in your best interest. In fact, the more logical you can be about this situation, for now, the better.

We’ll reintroduce emotional reactions in a bit.

For now, it’s important that you not engage with or invest in your emotional reaction. That’s because you’re likely to create unfavorable outcomes. Particularly if you’re feeling negative emotions about what’s happening. So any negative emotional reactions are acting against you.

I’m presuming you love your man. Or loved him up to discovering what he’s been doing. I argue that you still love him. You may not feel that love right now. Maybe you do. If you do, that’s a great start.

If you don’t, I ask you just be patient a bit. I promise the love you have for him will return. It may return by the time you finish reading this.

What’s happening with your man

As I wrote above, your man is undergoing a process. It is a divine, spiritual process of human evolution. It’s not about sex or romance, although it sure looks like that. And, your man probably doesn’t understand what’s happening to him either. I mean, sure, he feels arousal. He can see his behavior. But he may not be very clear about why what’s happening is actually happening.

As such, he’s likely questioning a lot of things. Particularly, he’s questioning his own sexuality and sense of self. Meanwhile, many other thoughts are going on in his head. Some of those thoughts are about you. They’re about his love for you. They likely are scary thoughts. Thoughts about what might happen if you find out. Thoughts that you will judge him harshly when you find out.

And, while he’s thinking all this stuff, he’s feeling shame, embarrassment, self-loathing and more. Which all explains why he’s doing what he’s been doing in secret. He just can’t bear to talk with you about it. Hell, he can barely acknowledge it to himself!

He also has nowhere to turn. The internet doesn’t help (save for my content and a smattering of other scant sources). But it can provide relief and space to explore. Relief in the form of porn, which allows exploration. But maybe your man has moved beyond that. He might be seeing a trans woman on the side. He may be seeing and paying for escorts or prostitutes who happen to be trans.

All these acts are part of this glorious process of human evolution. He doesn’t feel it that way. And, likely, neither do you. Nevertheless, that’s what it is. Let’s take a dispassionate look at that process.

It’s evolution baby!

We humans are way more than our bodies. No matter what your religion says or what your beliefs are, we are eternal beings enjoying a human experience. That experience has definite purposes. One of those is something I call “expansion”.

I’m not going to go into great detail here. The point is, your husband before he became a human, embarked on his human journey knowing full well he would experience what he’s experiencing: this thing called trans attraction. He knew it would cause his expansion. And here’s the kicker: he also knew it would create expansion for humanity, the world and the Universe at large.

Another kicker: the fact that you’re involved with him can only mean one thing: you were in this from the beginning. In other words, you also agreed to have this journey, this evolutionary adventure. That’s how you saw it before you became a human: an adventure.

Maybe you don’t see it that way now. But you can. Believe it or not, this experience will enrich your relationship. But you must make the decision that triggers that enrichment. No one else can do it. Including your man.

This evolution is causing humanity to see itself in new ways. It’s not new from our divine, eternal perspective. But as humans, it is new. The newness feels like “never been before”, and “pushing the boundries of self-expression”. It feels like “breaking down limiting beliefs and prejudices”. It feels like “letting go of what we’ve been told.”

So this process is divinely inspired to move humanity forward. And you, dear reader, are an active participant. I want you to see yourself as a supportive, willing active participant.

What your man is going through represents a divinely-inspired process of human evolution. (Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash)

The transgender experience

“Transgender” is the flip-side of your husband’s experience. Trans people and your husband are working together at a divine level. Transgender women, your man and men like him agreed to all of this. They knew the world would be better off as a result.

Being trans is a leading edge expression of humanity. Maybe you’ve noticed how much in the news the experience is. It’s literally transforming every aspect of civilization. From bathrooms to boardrooms, from the pews to politics, transgender people are fulfilling their roles. Many of them don’t understand what they’re doing from the perspective I’m writing. That doesn’t invalidate what you’re reading though. Like your man, these people don’t remember a time before their human birth. But that time heavily influences everything happening here.

Which is why nearly every transgender person feels being trans was something that happened to them, rather than something they chose.

Glory inherent in this experience already is being seen in many trans people’s lives. Success, wealth, recognition and increased freedoms are becoming an increasingly common experience for these people.

But the one area where they still struggle – particularly trans women – is self-acceptance. Self-acceptance and, as an extension, finding love. This is where your man comes in.

He’s a reflector

Your man’s role in these women’s lives is to reflect acceptance, love and appreciation back to the women. It’s a journey. It’s a process. One that works both on the women and your man. For your man is likely not accepting who he is as a trans-attracted person. Which is why he’s hiding it. He’s also afraid of what friends, family and society at large will think of him. Just as he’s afraid of what you might think of him.

This fear is similar to fears trans women have about themselves. In that way, the two groups – trans women and trans-attracted men – are perfect mirrors of one another. And the divine gift is, the two groups coming together and, in that process, both finding “healing” (that’s not a word I use often but it’s the best I can think of as I write this).

Now, your man is also reflecting for you. Presumably you two met and developed a love for one another. Real love is unconditional. That means, no matter the conditions, love remains at the forefront. Any other kind of love is not love. So if you’re feeling anything other than love for you man, even in the awareness of his trans-attraction, then you do not love him.

This is important to understand.

Your man, therefore, is helping YOUR expansion too. Expansion into what? Into unconditional love. Which is, by the way, your natural state. You ARE love. That’s why it feels so good to love and be loved. Both experiences faithfully reflect back to you what you are. Make sense?

The power of your thoughts is real

Think about the following statements:

  • I once loved (name of your man)
  • Maybe I still love (name of your man)
  • I am in a relationship with (name of your man) because I love(d) (name of your man)
  • I don’t want (name of your man) to suffer
  • He’s hiding this from me because he’s scared
  • Maybe he’s hiding this from me because he’s also embarrassed
  • (name of your man) might not understand what he’s feeling
  • He probably believes he must be “the man” for me
  • And this experience is probably challenging that for him
  • He doesn’t have to be “the man” for ME
  • But he might think he has to
  • So (name of your man) is struggling with this as much as I am
  • I hope he’s not suffering
  • Maybe he thinks he’s gay
  • Maybe I think this means he’s gay (my note: he’s not)
  • I want him to be happy
  • I don’t want him to be embarrassed or scared
  • There’s compassion in me for (name of your man)
  • I do love (name of your man)
  • I want us both to be happy

These are productive thoughts about this situation. Maybe you’re feeling even a smidgen of compassion, more understanding or love for your man after reading them. Or maybe just a bit of relief from your negative judgements. If you are, then you’ve experienced the power of your thoughts.

The way out of this situation is using that power. You’re using it now. But if you’re feeling negative or judgy about it, then you’re using it to your detriment. And the detriment of your relationship.

But if you use it deliberately you can completely and totally transform this experience. Not just for you, but for your man too. And for your relationship. Let’s look at what I’m talking about.

Your thoughts create everything

I’m not going to go into great detail here. That’s the purpose of my client work. But your thoughts and beliefs are the source of your entire earthly experience. And the more you deliberately think and believe, the better your life will get.

That includes people you interact with. The more you deliberately think and believe about people in your life, the better those people will become for you. That’s how powerful you are. My clients are proving this to themselves every week. I’m experiencing it in my life too, which is why I can teach people how to do this.

Inherent in you is the ability to create any version of any experience that is consistent with your desire. You can’t change other people’s desires. You can’t, for example, create a version of your husband who is not trans-attracted. Doing so would violate free will, which is a basic tenet of All That Is.

But you can create a more joyful version of your relationship/marriage. You can make it more consistent with what you are: unconditional love. And in doing so, you can transform who you are. When you do that, the world, including your relationship and your man, will reflect that back to you.

But to use this power, you must give up blaming. You must give up blaming others for your experience. That includes giving up making your man wrong for his trans-attraction or anything he’s done.

Here’s the thing: You knew he was trans-attracted when you first met him and didn’t read the clues. Nothing happens without you knowing on some level. That’s because you are the creator of your reality. No one else is creating it.

You create your entire experience. Including your relationship. (Photo by Caleb Ekeroth)

Recreating your relationship

So going forward, you have an awesome option regarding this situation: You can start deliberately thinking and believing about it. Do that and the situation will change in your favor!

Changing it has nothing to do about changing your partner. It has everything to do with YOU changing. You must become a more positive thinker/believer. You must begin reframing everything in your experience as positive. Including what your husband is doing. Do that and you’ll find your relationship seemingly miraculously changing.

So you may think the problem is what your man is doing. That’s not the problem. The problem is what you’re thinking about what your man is doing. That’s where your suffering is coming from. It’s coming from how you’re thinking and believing.

Rectifying your thoughts and beliefs isn’t easy. Mostly because many beliefs lurk beneath one’s conscious awareness. This explains why having someone like me around is helpful. I can spot unconscious beliefs in another better than they can themselves.

A therapist will not be as effective. That’s because they’re going to include your man in their solution. The problem though isn’t your man. It’s not his behavior. It’s what you’re thinking about both those subjects. Many other subjects too!

If you felt some relief reading those statements above, you’ve already had direct experience with the effectiveness of the approach I’m outlining here.

It’s powerful for a reason

This approach is extremely effective. That’s because it relies on basic building blocks of All That Is. Building blocks you constantly use to create your experience. You just don’t know that’s what you’re doing.

Do it deliberately and you will literally transform your relationship/marriage. And your husband. And yourself. The change doesn’t happen overnight. But initial signs are immediate.

The opposite is true too. If you’re worried, concerned, angry, feeling betrayed or similar emotions, you’re using this approach to create a future you’re not wanting. That’s why I wrote at the beginning that panicking is not in your best interest.

So find ways to relax. Look for things in your relationship that please you. Focus on those. Talk yourself into appreciation of your man and what you have with him. Then, maybe, you’ll feel better. Then you’ll be inspired to open a dialogue with him instead of starting a fight. Maybe you’ll be inspired to tell him you love him. That you want him to be happy no matter what. But that you’d like to remain with him and walk this path together.

If you can get there, then you have a chance. Anything that has you relax and find peace with yourself works in your best interest.

This is not a comprehensive explanation. It’s meant to offer advice that will work. But you must act on it. What I’ve written here isn’t enough to make the process work for you. There’s just not enough room to explain a process that requires hundreds of hours to master.

But mastering it gives you the keys to your kingdom. With it, you can create anything you want. Including a relationship full of unconditional love, rewarding experiences and a deepening peace and happiness.

It can save your relationship/marriage too!

Want to now more? Contact me. Let’s talk.

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There’s Nothing Like Liberation From One’s Family

Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash

American, and many other cultures, venerate the family. For many people, family represents culture’s bedrock.

But family also remains the prime source of beliefs so detrimental to human civilization, it’s a wonder civilizations get along as well as they do.

That’s why there’s nothing more liberating than finding freedom from one’s family. Expectations, pressures and bogus beliefs formed as a result of coming into the world through them can throw us off the path we chose before coming here.

It’s a wonder so many transgender and trans-attracted people crave acceptance from families that would otherwise “disown” them. Such families do such “victims” a massive favor when they do disown them. They free such people from insidious stories. Stories which can debilitate a person for the rest of their lives.

My birth family was the path through which I came into the world. Nothing more. Most of my youth I spent alone, in the woods, or with friends on the streets. My parents offered little in the way of forming family bonds. My father left after divorcing my mother when I was nine. After that, my mom focused on raising us. But also doing what she could to enjoy her life.

I bore no judgement toward her behavior. I appreciate, even now, sacrifices she made for us. Or rather, actions she took out of her own sense of responsibility for bringing children into the world.

I recall many tender moments when my mother was very much a good mom. And moments when she bitterly blamed her three boys for burdens we experienced, the main one being her divorce from my father. My mother really loved my father. Racism tore our family apart.

But that’s another story.

Stories with no stickiness

Playing with my mothers clothing clued me in on my unique nature. So did the amount of time I enjoyed being by myself. In my classes for gifted students, I did nothing remotely academic. I just enjoyed exploring my thoughts and personal interests.

Joining the Marines after high school finally separated my family and I for good. In the military I formed more of who I am today. I got clear about myself with little outside influence. Sure, the Marines shaped me. A lot. But that shaping was very much in line with what I knew myself to be: disciplined, focused, individual.

I visited my mother off and on after the Marines. But it never felt like coming home. Home for me is wherever I am at the moment. So when I told my mother, now as an adult, that my real mother was “the Universe”, she wasn’t happy to hear that. And yet, I believe she wasn’t surprised. I think she knew I never felt part of what she believed to be “family”.

Thankfully, stories that made the “Grubers” weren’t all that sticky. Not for me anyway. I felt no longing when away from siblings. I thought little about my brothers. Instead, I felt most connected to All That Is, the real essence from which I spring, from which we all spring.

But I get others choose families as entry points with very strong stories. Such stories make it exceedingly difficult when those stories drive family members to ostracize or disown some of their own because of who or what they are. Where is the love in such families? Where’s the unconditional love spoken of so highly?

Family pressures borne of bogus stories

And yet I understand how some transgender women struggle with stories they’ve taken on. Stories which have them believe they need their families.

I get why many trans-attracted men fear so intensely reactions their fathers and mothers might have were the men to declare, proud and out loud, this aspect of themselves. Stories we receive from parents can powerfully shape our own stories. Stories about ourselves. And, yes, stories which force a choice between being authentically who we are, or, being part of the family. “Being part of the family” meaning: living up to expectations parents and families have for us.

Leaving behind family is often the best thing a person can do. Especially if one wants to live authentically. (Photo by Mantas Hesthaven on Unsplash)

Such stories propel people on wayward paths, often away from their authenticity. People build entire careers based on those stories. They get married because of these stories, when it would have been better not to. They have children.

Some even commit suicide. Internal pressures from stories adopted from families can be that powerful. And cause that much suffering.

So stories, expectations and such often lie at the heart of people’s decisions. So subtle they are, those making such decisions don’t know adopted stories are deciding for them. Thankfully there is always time to course-correct.

Many of my clients come tangled in the web of bogus stories driving their actions. Often they originate in family dynamics. It’s not that such stories aren’t true. Any story or belief will draw sufficient evidence to cause it to become “true”.

It’s just that such stories often don’t align with purposes inherent in my clients’ knowing. So they come to me seeking realignment. They don’t know this until joy that’s been elusive returns. From there they discover courage to be who they really are.

Liberation frees one to love

If only people knew how many human families they’ve had throughout the many lifetimes they’ve experienced. If they only realized the loving and eternal bonds they share with their Broader Perspective, beings who are, even now, looking on them and blessing them with a love more powerful and enduring than any a human can give. Even a parent.

If they knew these things they would more powerfully choose being who they know themselves to be. Instead of kowtowing to the idea of what they should be according to their parents, according to their family, and then suffering through all that.

There’s nothing like the liberation borne of being authentic. Often that liberation comes at a cost: liberating oneself from one’s family. I’ve known this all along. I know my experience is rare, me having done this at a very early age. But I believe it was meant this way so I could offer liberation to those who need a hand up, out of the fear familial stories sometimes trigger.

I know the powerful, overwhelming love of my Broader Perspective, my Whole Self and my cadre. It’s from there I offer all I do in my blogs. I do so expecting it makes a difference, with my clients, specifically, but also with the entire human civilization.

I see those results happening, and so I’m grateful. And I know my parents’ Broader Perspectives agree with my path.

But their agreement isn’t a prerequisite to my satisfaction. My satisfaction stems from my authenticity expressed, and the love I feel in return from those who support me in my real home: the nonphysical realm. Where all things begin, end and begin again.

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Men Are Changing For The Better

Photo by Dmitry Vechorko on Unsplash

I love how All That Is is taking men in the direction of their evolution. It’s great seeing them struggle with limiting identities that, frankly, could have been cast away long ago. Those same identities are what can make being trans so dangerous and being trans-attracted so shameful.

But since we’re all eternal, men, like the rest of us, have all the time in the Universe to evolve. Still, some men are kicking and screaming while the Universe drags them into a better future. A future better for the rest of us, including trans and trans-attracted people. And for the men too.

This is not to say all men have been problems. Many men, are early adopters who embrace more fully all that they are, already find themselves feeling better about our continued evolution. They’re allies, partners and loving and supporting parents.

It’s the men in the middle of the bell curve who still struggle. That big bulge (pun intended) of hyper-masculine men in the middle of the curve are finally getting a clue. Many aren’t liking it. That’s why we have MAGA.

But women and people of color are liking it. So are some transgender women. And some men.

That’s another thing I love about All That Is. It happens simultaneously in the the now, creating more of that which I want to see. There, every person, every living thing, gets exactly what it needs. Every moment serves our collective evolution. It’s so odd that humans fight that evolution. Meanwhile everything else merrily goes along with it.

Signs of Progress

Two stories illustrate both men’s and our collective, progress. One describes how lonely men are and why they struggle. The other talked about Men’s changing role in society, especially now that women enjoy greater workplace prominence, larger incomes and more responsibility. The article describes how these advances are upending male role expectations both in the family and in the office. These advances threaten male self-image. I think they represent wonderful signs of social progress.

Today’s societies and workplaces no longer depend on male brawn to accomplish things. Income opportunities shifted, thanks to tech, but also society’s modernization, from blue collar, labor intensive work to Health, Education, Administrative and Literacy (HEAL) and STEM jobs. Jobs which women can do as well as, if not better than, men.

As a result, more women fill workplace positions than ever before. Especially in STEM and HEAL positions. Their numbers have triggered better pay for women too, often making them family breadwinners. Something once believed was the exclusive purview of men.

Not any more.

All this challenges male self-image, the silly notion that somehow men should rule over all else because their earning capacity, historically derived from their physical strength, endurance and capability, makes them, better, smarter and, therefore superior. Hogwash.

Finding their place

That idea was always an illusion. All That Is has always been about cooperation among ALL THINGS. Not only between men and women, but also between humans and animals. The ancient ritual of providing food proves this.

Ancient man knew animals played a key part in their hunting success. It was less about men’s hunting prowess, taking their kill from nature with grit and cunning, and much more about the ceremonial cooperation between human and animal. Ancient hunters knew when, for example, a buffalo offered itself to become food for humans, that that buffalo played as important a role in the hunt as the hunter.

Which is why native people often honored animals. Especially animals that gave themselves to sustain their families.

Men have had it wrong for centuries and in many ways continue getting it wrong on many points. That’s caused many problems for men, women, children and society at large. Some of those problems are dire today. Thankfully men are finally getting the message.

It’s all good news

Thankfully too, we still have plenty of time to improve civilization before Mother Nature once and for all kicks our collective human asses. Humanity still counts on distortions many humans still hold about reality as accurate, that, actually, aren’t accurate at all.

Remember, we’re all eternal. Many men already understand their role in life isn’t about being some overlord over others, especially women. But there still are a lot of men who don’t have a clue.

Thankfully, All That Is is patient and persistent in its instruction. That patience is finally paying off. Men are becoming softer, saner, more tuned in to their femininity. That doesn’t mean they’re becoming more like women. It means they’re becoming more human.

Don’t worry transgender women. If you still need a hyper-masculine man to validate your womanhood, plenty of those men still exist. The Universe is big enough to give everyone what they want. Including men through which transgender women can feel like women.

In the meantime, I celebrate those trans-attracted guys. Guys who struggle with the awesome, sacred path of self acceptance. They are on the leading edge of what it means to not only be men, but to be human. Men are changing for the better. And that’s a really good thing.

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How Misgendering Creates A Better Life And Happy Love

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Last week, I shared why loving someone who misgenders you creates the best outcomes. In that post, I shared one Transamorous Network client’s story about what happened when her mother misgendered her.

I wrote the post you’re reading after our followup session the next week. What she shared in that session will astound you. It’s astounding for three reasons:

  1. It shows how fast my client is improving
  2. How quickly the Universe shows her opportunities to improve and
  3. How beneficial what my client learned can be for other transpeople.

First, some background

My client asked in a previous session why her parents kept misgendering her. I told her it’s because she reacts negatively every time it happens. I explain this more in last week’s post. 

Then my client described a social event where her mom and step dad both called her by her dead name and used male pronouns. This happened in front of everyone. Of course, my client felt embarrassed. What other people think about my client means a lot to her. So when she’s put “on blast” she doesn’t like it.

I showed her how to create future experiences wherein neither her mom, nor anyone else, misgenders her. She understood the instructions and said she’d follow them.

But at our next session, she said he did not follow my advice. Then she told me what happened. She and her mom talked on the phone. Instead of doing what I suggested, she did exactly the opposite. That sparked a HUGE fight on the phone between my client, her mom and step dad.

My client regrets saying what she said during that call. Her mom regrets what she said. My client and her mom hadn’t talked since.

Fights of all kinds can be transformational moments. But isn’t it great when you don’t need fights to enjoy transformational moments? (Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash)

What happened next

A few days later, My client got an impulse to call her mom, but she didn’t. The next day her mom called her instead. They had a great conversation, as though the fight never happened. In that chat, my client’s mom invited her out shopping, which they both enjoyed.

Then, while at a separate function by herself, my client met a transgender woman. She was “early in her transition”, according to my client. Now, remember, this happened a few days after my client had a big fight with her mom.

An acquaintance introduced my client to this other trans woman. After introductions, they chatted a bit. Then, when talking with someone else nearby, my client, referring to the other trans woman, misgendered her!

The other transgender woman heard my client and corrected her. My client profusely apologized.

“I hate it when people do that and here I am doing it,” She nervously laughed.

My client told me in session how bad she felt. She got how this experience mirrored her own experience with her mother.

“Here I was doing exactly what my mom did to me to another transgender woman!” she admitted.

Life always reflects back to you what’s happening in you. You created it so you can do something about what’s happening in you. That’s why stories are so powerful. Through them you create reality. (Photo by Caroline Veronez on Unsplash)

It got worse – then much better

Moments after, my client misgendered this transgender woman…again. My client felt shame and humiliation. That’s when she understood.

“I had no malice at all towards this person,” She said. “It was me not being aware. I understand now how my mother had no malice either. This experience showed me how easy it is [to misgender someone], and it doesn’t always happen because people are mean. Sometimes it just happens.”

That insight helped my client let her mother off the hook, which is exactly what I suggested she needed to do!

My client also realized her experience happened on purpose. The universe, she said, gave her this experience to get how easy misgendering can happen and to help her forgive her mom.

“Now I won’t be so quick to get so mad when someone does it. The Universe really helped me understand these kinds of situations.”

As a person tells positive stories more often, the Universe is in on the increase. It constantly sends life-lessons so experience shows what we’re learning.

Life: It’s no joke until it is

Some will say my client’s experiences all represent coincidences. But consider her stories at the time. Here she was making her mom really wrong, blaming her, judging her, thinking she’s being unloving, when instead her mother might be misgendering her daughter for totally different reasons.

My client got that, through her own experience misgendering a transgender woman. She stood in her mother’s shoes. And through all that, she found more love for her mom.

There’s a saying. It goes: you can’t make this up. In only a few days my client got how the Universe and her stories work together. Together they make the reality my client experiences. The more she turns her attention towards positive stories, the less life-sessions she’ll experience.

And the more joy and fun she’ll have.

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Misgendered: A Great Opportunity For Love Not Hate

(Photo by Nsey Benajah on Unsplash)

The easiest way to get someone to stop misgendering you involves loving that person when they do it. Especially when parents misgender you. Here’s why we advocate this approach at The Transamorous Network.

Parents stick to misgendering their trans kids because they think they’re right. Nearly all people think they’re right about what they think they know. Another reason they do it involves pain. They don’t want to be wrong. Being wrong feels painful.

Parents think they know more than their children do. They’re wrong, but remember, they think they’re right and being wrong feels painful. Besides, they don’t want to believe the person they love is not the person they thought the person was.

Changing in front of children is hard

Acknowledging your identity also confronts their social standing and that’s hard for old people. No one likes losing face and old people really don’t. Your parents not only must confront their own judgements, they must also face their peers’ judgments too.

That’s tough. Misgendering you let’s them live in la la land. There they’re right and they save face. That’s a lot keeping your mom and dad misgendering you.

Parents also find socially embarrassing and humiliating being judged when in public. They care a LOT about what other people think about them. For some, their whole identity depends on what others think about them. For others, their entire career depends on it.

So parents face tremendous pressure when a child declares themselves trans.

We’re not making excuses for your parents. We’re showing you how to get what you want from them: You want them to use proper pronouns and call you by the name matching who you are.

Parents, especially older ones think they know everything. Your trans status usually confronts everything they think they know. So you must be the adult. Because they can’t. They’re too triggered. (Photo by CDC on Unsplash)

But it’s all about them…not you

Notice what happens when you resist when they misgender you: They double down, refuse your wishes, disown you or you them. Why? Because they’re defending themselves, their stories and their world view. For a while, these things are more important than a relationship with you.

All that means NOTHING about you. It’s all about them. Notice too the more you push against their world view, the more they resist you. In our vernacular, here is what happens when you resist what they do.

First, you reinforce many stories you have about your parents, which sets up future repeat experiences of what you’re resisting. You know this when you feel negative when they do what you don’t like.

Second, your parents resist your resistance, which creates in their world repeat experiences too. So you both cooperate in creating new experiences just like existing ones. Experiences neither you nor them enjoys.

This is why your parents misgendering you won’t stop until you stop resisting what they do. Of course, they could stop resisting who you really are. But, ironically, you’re the adult in this case. Not your parents. So you must make the first move.

A real example speaks volumes

A transgender client asked us why her parents kept misgendering her recently. I told her exactly what you’re reading. I said because she keeps resisting when they do it.

The most recent time happened in a social event. Her mom and step dad both called her by her dead name and used male pronouns. They did it in front of everyone. My client was embarrassed because she puts a lot of weight on what other people think about her.

The next day, a relative approached my client. “I can’t believe your parents did that in front of everybody!” this relative said. “It makes me so angry when they do that! They know you’re trans, why do they keep doing it?”

When my client told me what her relative said and how angry he was, I told my client “You don’t want to be listening to this person. Hearing this person’s stories and making them your own will just create more situations between you and your parents where they will misgender you.”

“Instead,” I said. “You should love your parents. Look for everything they do to support you. Find things you like about them. Focus on those things. When they misgender you, pretend it didn’t happen!”

My client laughed at first. She didn’t understand how doing this would work.

When you push against what you don’t like you’re setting yourself up for more of what you don’t like. That creates a lot of cray-cray on all sides. Instead, find good things about where you are and watch where you are change. (Photo by Nsey Benajah on Unsplash)

Here’s why it works

It works because whatever you look at will get bigger in your life. Whatever you look at that you feel emotional about will get bigger, faster in your life. So when you keep looking at, and get angry about ANYONE who misgenders you, you’re essentially saying “Universe, give me more of this!”

I told my client this and she said she understood.

But when she came to the next session she said he did not follow my advice. Then she told me what happened.

She had a telephone conversation with her mom. While on the phone, her relative’s complaints about her mom popped up in her head. Then she heard my voice in her head telling her not to heed her relative’s stories. But she also felt the pull of that negative story about her mom.

So instead of looking for things love-worthy in her mom she followed impulses that came from her relative’s negative stories.

“Mom,” she said. “I hope you can hear me when I say this. It really hurts me when you don’t use the correct pronouns. It also hurts me when you call me by my old name. I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

Like a match to gasoline…

Exactly as I described above, her mom got defensive instead of listening to what my client said. She didn’t hear a word my client said. Here’s what she did hear:

  • You’re wrong
  • You’re bad
  • I know better than you
  • Do what I say!
  • Your values are wrong
  • Your beliefs are wrong

Is it any surprise what happened next? Her mom got defensive, then angry, then went into a rage. She attacked my client (remember this is a phone call). In response, my client lost her cool and attacked back.

My client’s mom had the phone on speaker and her husband (my client’s step father) also jumped in. Of course he defended his wife. That’s natural, right?

My client said she said things to her mom she regrets saying. She also said her mom said things she’s never said to my client before. The phone call happened three days ago. My client and her mom hadn’t talked since.

Your anger at those who misgender you acts as a match to gasoline. The fire just gets hotter…until you learn the better way. That learning needn’t be as hard as it is though. (Photo by Nsey Benajah on Unsplash)

Lesson learned the hard way

My client left the conversation extremely hurt. But it was all good because she realized through that very painful experience the accuracy of how this work works.

You just cannot get what you want when you focus on what you don’t want. Focusing on what you don’t want just gives you more of that.

So if you want someone to stop misgendering you, you can’t react negatively when they do it. Instead, you must find things to appreciate about the person. When someone misgenders you, you must talk yourself out of negative reactions. Then find positive things to say that cause you to feel good.

Until you do, until you learn to master your emotional responses to events, you just keep getting more practice. Practice which looks like people misgendering you!

It seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? But try it. You’ll find in short order that those who refuse to accept who you are will change. Then you’ve mastered your happiness.

It will take longer for loved ones only because you’ve got persistent stories about them, about how they are, and you think you’re right about that. But even persistent beliefs can change.

And when your beliefs change, everything else does too.