Hey, I'm with /u/jessajayes here. Like her, I'm suffering, and I feel I'm being punished now for not always being sunny just because I'm going through a difficult time. I've gone through things a lot of trans women have gone through: rejection from family, rape, financial ruin, difficulty with love life, etc. I'm sorry I checked off too many boxes under "stereotypical trans narrative" to be believed. And considering what my life is, I feel I've been quite positive to others if not myself.

Fuck, so many cis people disregard/downplay me about so many things: who I say I am, my rapes, my dysphoria, family difficulty, biases against trans people. Now I'm worried many trans people won't believe me. Like, where can I go to ask for help from others with similar situations, many who are more experienced at these issues than I am?

I really thought I was being positive when other trans users here had concerns! I felt like I was making a small difference somewhere if not where I live. Now I don't even have that? Because I hurt too much or got too unlucky to be believed?

I don't know what your life is like. Maybe you've had way more support and a lot less verbal, sexual, and physical abuse in your life. I hope so! Dealing with that shit sucks. But if you've had a life similar to mine, then it shouldn't be so farfetched to give me the benefit of the doubt. I'm at a very insecure stage of life in an area—Tennessee—that does not help those insecurities. This comment right here doesn't serve to lift me up from the mire but stomps me further down into it.