This sounds like another one of those "trans-clinical" posts.....and it is.
I feel that this post is well worth the time to read, so let me break it down into something some of you may relate to:
You've always had some identity with the opposite gender. You meet someone with the same feelings. You become friends and, perhaps find others who are like minded. Your feelings (as in gender dysphoria) explode. From there you might take your in-the-closet crossdressing outside the closet, and join in with your new friend(s) crossdressing in public. And, so it goes. Transition could eventually be the result. Some in the psychology world may credit my simplistic analogy to Identity Fusion.
Per Wiki:
Identity Fusion - Identity fusion is a unique form of
alignment with groups in which members experience a visceral sense of oneness
with the group. The construct relies on a distinction between the personal self
and the social self. The personal self refers to the characteristics that make
someone a unique individual (e.g., tall, old, intelligent), while the social
self pertains to the characteristics that align the individual with groups
(e.g., American, fraternity brother, student council member, etc.). As the name
suggests, identity fusion involves the union of the personal and social selves.
If you've read this far down the page, and you're still
interested, you are going to want to read, Identity fusion predicts gender reassignment surgery on Third Way Trans.
The author of this post, having been there, done that, is certainly in a position to promote this theory:
I am someone who transitioned MTF at age 19 because I thought there
was no other way. However, 20 years later I returned back to male
presentation and identity. Through the healing of my trauma,
reconnecting to my body, and studying psychology, I discovered that my
issues were not founded in an essential identity at all and could have
been worked through in a different way.
