Jeanne PhillipsDEAR ABBY: I’m a transgender male who has grown up in an area where many people discourage such things. My parents are against anything different, including the LGBT community. How do I tell them that I am male? – SINFUL CHILD
DEAR “SINFUL” CHILD: If you feel you must say something, say that you have discovered your true self, which is male, and that you are happier now than you have ever been.
After you do that you will be free. You can then start building a family comprised of people who are understanding and accepting, which will be healthier for you than the one you were born into.
DEAR ABBY: My mother and I have been estranged for many years for multiple reasons. She has bad-mouthed me in emails to other relatives and then denied having done it, invited my ex-husband to family birthday parties knowing I wouldn’t show up if he was there, and gone months, sometimes years, without speaking to me over things she has perceived as slights.
I have tried many times to walk away and let the situation go, but I continue being urged by other family members to “be the bigger person,” not give up and “just keep trying.” I married recently and invited her to the wedding. She texted 48 hours beforehand to indicate she would not be there. I’m wondering, is it OK to stop trying now? I mean, how much of this should one person be forced to take? – JUST ABOUT DONE TRYING