Funny and Wholesome Transgender Coming Out Stories

29. Best Mom Ever

A Reddit user named SammyNoBrains shares her story of learning that her two sons come out as pansexual and transgender.

“I have two sons. The first one just laid it on the line and said “Mom. I have something to tell you. I’m pansexual.” I had to ask what that meant, and he explained. So I said “Dude, as long as it doesn’t involve animals or children, I’m cool with it” He just looked at me, tilted his head and said “Well…that went better than I expected!”. A few years later, younger son comes out as trans. I said “Ok cool. Let’s go shopping!” And we went and bought a bunch of new mens’ clothes. I just feel like these kids get enough shit as it is. They don’t need family problems on top of it.”

28. A Friendship Started Over Nail Polish

Since writing this, the original Reddit user deleted their account. So I can’t give proper credit to Amy. But this is a beautiful story that just goes to show that sometimes, people will respond in a more understanding way than you would imagine. “It was early February 2014. I’d been on HRT for about two months, and I was presenting androgynously. Girl jeans, scoop-neck tees, nail polish, etc. Also, I made no effort to hide my growing boobs. My officemate was my only coworker who knew I was trans, and this was his last day at the company. I’d been giving serious thought to socially transitioning, so I wanted to test the waters. That same day, the only girl who worked in our office noticed my nail polish and started a conversation about it. She even offered to give me some of her excess nail polish.”

“I figured it would be safe to tell her, and I did. She told me that she already figured it out and that she wanted to ask me about it but was afraid I’d feel insulted if she turned out to be wrong. I then said “yeah, I bet my boobs were getting kinda obvious”. Then she told me that’s what gave me away and said that what she really wanted to say to me was ‘hey, nice tits’. Mind you, she’s this tiny, shy, introverted girl. She’s the last person I would’ve ever expected to say that to anyone. The next day, she gave me her extra nail polish, and I reintroduced myself as Amy. Her incredibly positive response to me coming out to her was what gave me the courage to come out to everyone else at work.”

27. What Better Time to Come Out Than in The Middle of Class?

This next story by GuyGirlHybrid shows how sometimes, the perfect opportunity to come out to your friend will just randomly appear during conversation.

“In a boring school lesson I was next to a good friend of mine who didn’t know about my real identity and the topic of the class was about the different minorities, and it eventually came to transgender people, here is how our conversation went.

Him: Huh, it would be weird to know someone who is transgender.

Me: “laughs” want me to leave then?

It took him a few seconds to get what I was saying….”

26. A Game Night With Friend Turned into a Coming Out Party

This Reddit user has deleted their account, but the following story remains: “I came out to a co-worker while playing Cards Against Humanity with a few friends and her. She was the only one that didn’t know, but I was planning on telling her anyway. I just wasn’t sure when or how to bring it up. Anyway, we were playing Cards Against Humanity and ‘What never fails to liven up the party?’ was played. It wasn’t me that got to pick the cards, but ‘Estrogen’ was one of the answers and wasn’t even picked.”

My Friend: Man, that estrogen card would have been perfect for old name.

Co-worker: awwww (look of confusion and sorrow at what she thought was my friend making fun of me. Then puts her hand on my shoulder apologetically)

Me: Ok.. um.. so this got sort of awkward. I was going to tell you this anyways and everyone will know at work soon enough. Um, I’m transgender and I’m in the process of transitioning at the moment.

Her: Whaaat? Oh wow! I have a cousin that’s transgender also. If anyone ends up giving you shit when you come out at work I’ll kick their butt for you!

It turned out my friend thought I had already told her which is why he made the comment in the first place. I thought it was funny either way, and it’s probably the most interesting/funny situation as far as me telling anyone has gone.

25. The Church Group Asked to Split Between Guys and Girls Cracked the Egg

This story comes from a user named prophecyfulfilled. I case you don’t know, an “egg” refers to someone who is transgender, but hasn’t actually realized it themselves, yet. The term “cracking of the egg” refers to the rebirth someone experiences when they realize that they are transgender.

“I was sitting in a park for a church group thing and they asked for a male and female volunteer.

(Person next to me): You should volunteer for the guys.

Me, an egg, joking: nah we both know I don’t really count as a guy.

Person: Oh you’re trans then? That’s cool.

Me, egg cracking noises: this has turned into a difficult situation.”

24. Best Call With an Ex EVER

A user named Thoughtcriminal tells an amazing story of a phone call with their ex.

“I dated the pastor’s “daughter” when we were 18 years old. I was the only “boy” who got that close to them.

15 years later, he sets up a date to talk with me over the phone and says “Hey, so you’ll notice my voice is a lot deeper than it used to be when we talk. It’s because I’m taking testosterone to better match who I feel like on the inside. I’m a man, and I use he/him pronouns exclusively now. My name is Henry.”

And I just replied, “You can call me Meghan.”

He said, “Well aren’t we friggin’ adorable.”

And we talked about what it felt like to date one-another. He said that he could always tell there was a more gentle side to me than I was performing, and that he felt like he needed to protect me. He said I was the only person in his life back then who made him feel like a man…”

23. The Starbucks Barista Is “A Little Bit” Transgender

Anyone who goes to Starbucks regularly already knows how sometimes, the baristas get names wrong. In this story from ABeccaDefiantlyLives, the role is reversed. She came out to a regular customer, and this was the reaction:

“I worked at Starbucks for years before I transitioned and for a year afterwards too. I had a regular, known for saying “quirky” things, never bad tho, sweet guy really. Well he says “oh, thanks (deadname)” and I tell him “oh, I actually go by Becca now, and I like to be called she” while pointing to my new name tag. And he nods, keeps counting his money and says “so, are you transgender?” (half beat) “a little bit?” And I say “yes, Steve, a lot really.” And he hardly had a problem with my name and pronouns, but a face mask? Don’t get me started…”

22. Gendered Bathrooms Turned Into An Accidental Coming Out Moment

Unknown___GeekyNerd tells a story of how their friend didn’t realize that they were trans, but helped them go into the girl’s bathroom, anyway. That’s a true friend! “Prior to coming out, I was about 14 at the time. I’m AFAB, and have always dressed pretty masculine-y. I was in a shop and desperate to pee, so I wandered off to find the women’s bathroom. I found it, and began walking towards the door. As I opened the door, I noticed a guy behind me, and some automatic reaction for me was to hold it open.

The guy could see inside the room, and saw how “strange” the bathroom looked, compared to the men’s. He then looked at me, then glanced at the bathroom door sign, back at the bathroom layout, and me again. I could see the panic in his face, and he sheepishly panicked and squeeked out a ‘wrong bathroom’ and ran off. I found it hilarious, and was not offended at all that he “mistook” me for a guy (he was right after all). When I told my mum, she just laughed too. It was so gender-affirming without realising it, and I hadn’t cracked at that point.

21. Grandmas Are The Best

A Reddit user named DuckImperium tells the heartwarming story of their grandmother, who was more accepting than their parents. Usually, you would assume that the older generation would be less accepting of someone being transgender. But in this case, it’s the opposite. I’m so happy they have their grandma for love and support.

“My parents think I’m delusional, and are super overprotective. They never let me be alone with my grandma ever in my life, just recently (I’m 14 now) they finally let me stay at my grandma’s house for two entire days (and sleep there)! And my grandma asked if I had boy clothes, I said my parents won’t let me get them… And the next day we went to the store and bought some! Even if my parents said we couldn’t go out. I love my grandma!”

20. Kids Say the Darndest Things

Sometimes, children will see things that adults don’t notice. There is sometimes profound wisdom in the words of children. I personally believe that young children are more in touch with spirit, and they can judge people by their souls rather than what they see in the world. This story by SummerisHappier is one of them.

“About a year before my egg cracked and I came out, I was staying at this guys house while I was traveling through his town. He had three kids, and one of them, ~5 years old, kept asking if I was a girl, and why I said I was a boy if he thought I was a girl. He was just generally fascinated with the idea of me actually being a girl even though I said I was a boy. Looking back, it’s really adorable. He saw that I was a girl when even I couldn’t.”

19. Little Brothers Are The Best

A Reddit user named TheLovelyLorelai tells this hilarious story of how they came out to their little brother. He cared more about video games than her gender.

“Coming out to my little brother:

Me: hey bro, can you come here for a second.

Him: what, I’m in the middle of a raid.

Me: please, it’s important.

Him: fine. comes over

Me: so like, I’m trans.

Him: good for you. I’m going back to my game now.

He just didn’t give a duck and honestly it was so great.”

18. A Letter to Mom

Some people find it easier to express themselves through writing than the spoken word. In this story from BetaTrickster, we see how sometimes, the best coming out is done in the form of a letter.

“I left my mom a letter and then left for school for the day. Halfway through my last class she sent me a text saying that she loved me no matter what, and would be proud to call me her son instead of her daughter. I walked out to my car smiling like crazy.”

17. We Support You!

A Reddit user named Almalexias_Grace tells the story of how they came out to their parents, and how it went well almost immediately.

“I happily had a very good coming out to my mum and stepdad. It basically went;

Me: So uh I have something to say and it’s…

Mum: Are you and [fiance] breaking up? The wedding’s off? (She knew we’d been having some troubles)

Me: No but this might throw a hand grenade into everything sooo… I’m trans?

[Mum blinks in surprise, because this wasn’t what she expected to hear]

Mum: Okay! We support you!

Step-dad: Yeah, it’s very brave to come out, we’ll help however we can!

Mum: Do you have a name picked yet? Do you want us to start changing your pronouns? What pronouns do you want us to use?

I’ve been immensely lucky because I have had support from everyone. My fiance and I did end up splitting, and that broke my heart and still hurts a lot, but my being trans was only part of the story. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to be with someone trans but because we BOTH realized we had an awful lot of personal issues we need to work on. She’s been nothing but supportive, in fact!”

16. Just Girly Things

There are very few female engineering majors in college. So when a Redditor called WeiYi97 came out to her best friend, it immediately became a relief for the both of them. Finally, they found a female companion in their university courses.

“I came out to my best friend 6 months ago (we were not that close that time). For weeks before coming out to her, I have been giving subtle hints here and there.

So basically this is how it went:

Me: Heyy, there’s something I want to talk to you about.

Her: You gay? Don’t worry your secret is safe with me.

Me: Nahh I am not gay-

Her: Good for you then. But I thought I was pretty good at this.

Me: I am a girl actually.

Her: Come let’s talk about periods.

Turned out she was having her period, and it was pretty bad. We have just started university at that time, and being in an engineering class, she didn’t know any girl that she can talk about girl stuffs. So that day she went on talking about girl stuffs with me for the whole night. It felt so validating :)”

15. A Heartwarming Story of Overwhelming Support

FTXale came out to his circle on social media about going through top surgery. He was pleasantly surprised to learn just how supportive people were about his transition, even if they hadn’t spoken or seen each other in years.

“When I started saving for top surgery, I posted something to ask for support as I’m paying for it entirely on my own. (Parents are supportive, but not that supportive. My surgery date is June 21st though so we got there!!!). My friends shared it and people I hadn’t talked to in years, and random strangers, all helped out; collectively sharing, sending money, and boosting algorithms. I made enough from it to where I could pay for most of my surgery. I’m still in awe over the whole thing, it restored my faith in humanity.”

14. A Brother’s Unconditional Love

A Redditor called Phoenix_at_45 waited until they were in their 40’s to come out as trans. They were afraid to come out to their brother, who was in the military. But this scenario turned out so much more beautifully than expected. “I wanted to share my experience coming out to my brother, a retired military officer. A little background first…I had already come out as trans to one of my two brothers and one of my sisters. Both had been calculated risks. I thought both those conversations would go well, and they did. They suggested I tell my brother, a retired military officer.

So I let my brother know I wanted to talk to him about something big…and important. We found some time to talk, ironically on National Coming Out Day….which wasn’t intentional. I am building up to telling him I am trans and melting down in the process, crying my eyes out. Finally, I tell him…And I got total acceptance and unconditional love from him. He even offers to let me move in with him if I need to. Wow! Then he proceeds to tell me about one of his best men was gay. He said how he would put his own life in this soldier’s hands without thinking twice. Hearing that kind of thing made me cry even more. I know the whole world can’t be like this, but I wish there were more people in this world like my brother.”

13. Some People May Surprise You

The same Reddit user, Phoenix_at_45, spent their whole life assuming their parents would never accept them as trans. But it turns out that they were completely wrong. “So I’m in my mid 40s and came out to my parents this week, the last of my immediate family. I just knew I would be disowned and that they would never talk to me again based on everything I had seen and heard growing up. This was going to be an absolute disaster. I was on the phone with them for a while building up to telling them I was trans…Hoping they would guess so I didn’t have to say it….No luck. So I finally tell them.

They had promised to love and accept me no matter what…You know what happened? They accepted me and told me they loved me for who I am. I was stunned. My mom finally understood why I was such an unhappy ‘mopey’ child, unlike my other siblings. This had been my hardest coming out. I cried my eyes out the entire time. Those tears turned to tears of joy in the end. The call ended with them telling me they loved me. This was all a huge miscalculation on my part. Sometimes people really do surprise you.”

12. Finally!

In this story by SwampMonster89, we see a great example of how sometimes, your family already knows you’re trans or non-binary. Sometimes, people who love you can know you better than you know yourself. And they’re just eagerly waiting for the day you can accept and love yourself, too.

“Years ago on Christmas at my dad’s side, all of the family was there. So a shitload of people. I got them all together and told them I’m transitioning to male. My aunt said, ‘My god, finally!’ Lol. They all said it made sense and I’ve seemed happier lately. Even the family members that didn’t exactly know what transitioning even meant, they still were all like ‘yeah this makes sense.’ I was so worried to come out and they all were just great about it. Couldn’t have asked for a better response!”

11. One of the Girls

These two stories from a Redditor called RizzieBusiness shows how coming out can bring two people closer. “I work as an automation technician at a small startup medical device company. In my entire department (the entire building, now), there is only one other girl. So when I told her, it took a second for it to like… Click. And then she hugs me and goes, ‘Thank GOD I’m not the only girl on the automation team anymore!’ We’ve become really good friends since then. Even though I’m still mostly in the closet at work, she’s been nothing but a validating force and it’s so obvious that she just… Sees me as a woman.”

“The second one was an aunt I was worried about because she’d recently been spending time with a very religious family. I told her over the phone and she asked a couple questions, mostly the when and that am I happier and what not. And then she goes, ‘So you know this means I’m going to have more fun shopping for you right? What’s your style?’ And then she asked me what shoe size I was and apparently we’re pretty close. If any of her shoes fit? Free shoes.”

10. From Coworkers to Close Friends

This Reddit user deleted their account, but the story still remains. I love this story of how coming out to their coworkers ended up bringing them closer. “I was working on a month-long project far away from home with three other people. We were basically together 24/7. Since I had been on HRT for almost two years at that point, while still presenting male, I decided to come out to them before they noticed something. I had been hinting at it for a few days, mostly making jokes about not having testosterone.”

“We were out at our favorite bar one night, and my boss called me out on my joke, and asked me to explain. I was pretty blunt, and she responded with, ‘You were cool before, but now you’re AWESOME’. She was hyped. Then a few days later, when I was taking a walk through a park with another coworker of mine, she admitted that she always struggled to see me as a dude to begin with, and she now understood why. The whole experience was very validating. It was a good project.”

9. It’s a Boy!

Normally, a gender reveal happens when a mother is pregnant. But when a 20-year old named Adrian Brown decided to come out to his mom, she came up with the idea of announcing her child’s gender to the world by setting up an adult gender reveal party. This is hilarious, and such a joyful way to announce the news. They ended up having a photoshoot to celebrate the occasion, which they posted on Instagram. Soon afterwards, this went viral, and ended up on the news.

Here’s what Adrian’s mom Heather said on her original Facebook post: “When your child comes out as trans, the best thing to do is create a photoshoot to celebrate the fact that he silently and bravely stepped out of the race that he never wanted to be in, found his own lane and proceeded to win. HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, Adrian! You are without a doubt the most fascinating human I know and I will always be your biggest fan! I love you, I honor who you are and I respect your courage to be unapologetically you!! Let’s celebrate!!”

8. Matching Tattoos as a Sign of Support

A Twitter user called PrettyBoyDrewP posted photos of their parent’s tattoos, and it went viral. He said, “MY PARENTS GOT TRANS FLAGS TATTOOS TO REPRESENT THEIR TRANS SON (IE ME!!!) MY HEART IS BURSTING.” But it wasn’t always this great. “You wouldn’t believe how much we’ve grown as a family. When I started to come out, things were so horrible, we didn’t know how to communicate. I’m as proud of them as they are of me”

This is a great example of how your parents could start out as confused and unaccepting, but it still works out okay. For some people, the concept of being transgender is hard for them to wrap their head around. But with lots of love and communication, you can still repair relationships and find support.

7. Coming Out During a Class Project

During a college class presentation, students were asked to talk about what inspiration meant to them. A student named Benton Sorensen decided to be incredibly brave by coming out as trans to his class. He didn’t have to reveal himself, because he was very clearly scared to give the presentation. But he did anyway. This video has inspired others so much, it has over 2 million views on YouTube.

Benton has a YouTube channel called West Coast Elements where he shares some information about his life, including his transition journey. I encourage you to watch the video, and support his channel, especially if you’re currently going through your own transition journey.

6. This Professor Wrote an Open Letter, and it Went Viral

A professor named Amy J. Ko came out as transgender in her open letter, which they published on Medium. Originally, she was known as Andrew J. Ko, and needed a place to explain to the world that she was transitioning into a new identity.

Even if you don’t know Amy personally, this is still a really good read for anyone who is struggling to know how to talk to a transgendered person, or accept a trans person coming out. She really goes deep into details about society’s labels surrounding gender, and so much more. This open letter went viral, because it’s so well-written, and explains concepts incredibly well to help people understand what it’s like to be transgender.

5. From Jimmy to Jenny

One of the first transgender stories to make it onto national television was on the Oprah Winfrey Show. When Jenny was born as Jimmy, she spent her whole life trying to hide the fact that she was transgender. Falling in love and getting married was always a goal, because she wanted to prove to herself and others that she was “normal”. She also felt that if someone loved her for who she is, everything would be okay. “Love would save me”. But what she realized being in a loving relationship didn’t make the feelings go away. So, after 10 years of marriage and children, Jenny came out, and began to transition. For a lot of people, learning that your spouse is the opposite gender can come as a shock, and it often leads to divorce. But not this time.

What’s beautiful about this story is that her wife, DeeDie, chose to stay married. She had this to say: “The reason why we’re still married is that she is the same person. It’s just a different body. And I think it’s hard to understand, unless you’re close to somebody, or have experienced this.” The prayers of being saved by love really did come true. Jenny wrote her own memoir about the experience called She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders. I highly recommend it if you’re interested to know more about the story.

4. A 13-Year Old Boy Bravely Came Out to His Class

Earlier on this list, we already mentioned a female-to-male transgendered person coming out to their class. The first student was in college, buy this next one was only in the 6th grade! Yet another viral YouTube video came from a 13-year old boy named Tom. When entering the 6th grade, they wanted to let everyone in their class know about their transition. Tom is incredibly well-spoken, and seems like a future leader. He was open to any questions from his classmates. Judging based on the loud applause at the end, it seems like everyone is excited to welcome Tom to the class.

In some circumstances, it may be best to have a speech like this in school. Kids need to be educated to understand their friend’s transition, and it will help to normalize being transgender in society.

3. This Mom Made An Entire Documentary to Honor Her Trans Child

A woman named Vlada Knowlton was a true super-mom. She immigrated to the US as a child, earned her PhD, worked for Microsoft, and gave it up to go after her passion of filmmaking…All while raising 3 kids. When her youngest son was 4 years old, she started taking him to daycare. This is when she really took notice of how upset he was to be assigned as a male. He expressed feeling like a girl, and gravitated towards being female. From that moment forward, Vlada allowed her daughter to transition. She began wearing female clothes, and renamed herself “Anabelle”.

Vlada started to film their lives, as well as the controversy around the bathroom bills meant to protect transgendered people. Now 5 years old, Anabelle seems far more happy and comfortable in her own skin. But as a mother, Vlada was terrified for her daughter’s future, as well as the futures of other trans people. So she made it into a documentary called The Most Dangerous Year to talk about the political issues surrounding the bathroom laws. This is one of the best coming out stories ever, because Anabelle’s transition was accepted at such an early age. Not only is her mom supporting her, but she is also trying to make the world a better place for her daughter to live in.

2. This Teen Came Out, And Made it On The News

A mother named Luchina Fisher found a note from her 11-year old son, “G”, that said, “Dear Mother and Father, can we move to a different country because I think I don’t want to be a boy lots of times … We’ll discuss later.” Luchina said that since G was only 2 years old, they knew that their son was identifying as female. But at age 11, this was the first time that G really expressed directly that they were feeling like they needed to escape with a new life in a new body. Luchina knew for years that it was true. She was mostly saddened for her child, knowing that she was so miserable in her body, she felt like moving to a new country to start over.

The family made a plan. Instead of moving or transferring G to a new school, they reached out to the superintendent, who trained the teachers. They also sent G- now “Gia”, to a girl’s summer camp so she could experience living as a girl for the first time. This made Gia incredibly happy. She was able to start middle school as her true self. They sent a letter to the entire school. The response was full of love. They received calls, emails, and texts all congratulating Gia on her transition. The response from the entire community was so loving, the story ended up on Good Morning America.

1. One of the Most Famous Coming Out Stories Recently

In January of 2020, a YouTuber called Nikkie Tutorials came out as transgender. She was being blackmailed by someone, threatening to expose her secret if she didn’t pay them. Instead of giving in to their demands, she decided to come out online of her own accord. In the video, she explained that she knew she was female from an early age. Her mother allowed her to get on hormone treatments at such a young age, she can easily pass as being female to the point where no one has ever questioned her gender. The video now has 37 million views.

This story started out as a bad one. But Nikkie took her power back. She didn’t allow the fear to stop her from being true to herself. And by coming out, she inspired so many people. Since releasing the video, she was accepted with open arms, and was interviewed around the world to share her story.