[Hominid]

I hope to read some responses here - I have been in a few long-term relationships, and dated here and there between. Everyone has already known - for the most part. With a few women I have worked around, long after transition, as soon as I sense an interest might be present, a friendship or more developing, I usually pull them aside and with my usual wit and humor say, "there's something most people here don't know, I've had a sex change" - it's just the easiest verbiage for me to get out quickly, to make the point as fast as possible and get OUT of the conversation. If she's still interested, it shows and we follow up. Another reason I use the "sex change" phrase, as passe as it is for us, is that I have on a few occasions told someone using "trans" in some form and I could see h/im struggle for a moment and them some version of "are you going from male to female or vice versa?" comes out. It always cracks me up - I've at times pointed out that if I wanted to be a female, I would not be dressing as a male. Then again, it occurs to me now that s/he has no idea where I am in the process, and which way I'm going.

All that said, the vast majority of women I've gone out with have known up front - either from web sites (a couple OK Cupids, this site, Fetlife), or rarely, someone from the community in which I have lived for many years and raised my kids - so they have either heard of it or knew me at the beginning of the process.