Respecting Women's Space as a transgender male

[TenderKnight]

Greetings

First off, I am posting this thread to start a discussion about Women's Space and how as transgender males we can respect it.

I know that this has been a process for me, sometimes a painful one. I came out as a lesbian at 18, I ID'd as female. Not because I *felt* female, but because that is the only way I thought I could ID. Then I discovered the Gender Spectrum. WOW.. I found where I belonged!

I am a guy. As such, I don't go into women only space.. I *don't* belong. I am not saying that because I feel excluded and negitive about, more along the lines of I am not a woman, so why would I go into thier space?

It did and still does kind of feel weird. It is something I have to grieve, this loss of being part of that community. I will grieve a bit when I get my Top surgery too, I think.. I am going to lose something that has been with me always. Not saying that I don't want the fat sacks gone, God knows that I DO.. But it is also a further step into being part of the male community.

I hope that I am being clear here, I am never sure if I am or not.. lol

My points in this thread are these..

-Do you still feel like you should be welcomed into women's only space after you own your male ID?

-How do you try to show respect for the women that need and want thier own space?

-Did you feel a loss of something after a certain point in your transition?

I look forward to seeing how this thread spins out.. I truely hope that it is read as I intend and not as a bash or a rehash of other topics.

Thank you,
Tony