The announcement went out through my business contacts and my main social channels, and I did it with a simple email pointing to a more detailed blog post (http://wp.me/s6zFT-changes) that I posted out to my business blog.
My blog saw 246 hits on Friday, 92 hits on Saturday, 65 hits on Sunday and so far 75 hits today (Monday). Normal traffic is 10-20 hits. Needless to say, folks have been sharing :)
As luck would have it (or as God blessed me with) I found a picture of myself that I actually like, and posted it along with the announcement to help people who knew *him* visualize me.
The response has been overwhelming, from all sides. Family, friends, business contacts, all positive responses and messages of support. I had the tissue box close all weekend, even today responding to messages I could hardly keep from tearing up.
When you keep a secret like this your whole life, you put up walls and keep yourself far from the hope that people will accept you - out of sheer terror of judgement and ridicule. When you finally venture outside the walls, and find acceptance and support, it's shattering. I had a response from a place I wasn't expecting support on Saturday and I was reduced to a blubbering idiot.
Family are especially hard to deal with, because you have the double-edge knife - judgement from family can cut closer to the bone than anything, but family can be upset that you would even think that they would judge you.
So I will be continuing to blog about my transition here, separate from my business blog. I will probably also one day link my Facebook account to here as well, so that others can read more of my story. I know this blog has some pretty big holes in it though - so I promise I'll blog more in the future :)
