Straight Spouses of Transgender People Speak Up

In recent months, the Straight Spouse Network has seen an increase in requests for help from straight spouses of transgender people. These requests are mostly from women, and many have been in long term marriages of over 20 years.

As is common with all straight spouses, no two requests for support are alike. Some people are coping with cross-dressing husbands. Others have been told after 40 years of marriage, with retirement on the horizon, that their husband is now transitioning to female, with or without surgery.

Transgender Awareness week will be celebrated November 14-20. During this time, many transgender people will be coming out and speaking out. For straight spouses, already coping with a lot of changes and new information, this may be welcome or it may be overwhelming.

We would like the month of November here at the Straight Spouse Network to be Transgender Straight Spouse Awareness month. We can start by telling our stories as spouses of transgender people.

Yes. We want your stories. We want your comments. We want to know the good, the bad, the real.

We need to know who you are, but we can agree to not publish your name publicly.

We want your input. Each person’s experience and situation is different. We want to make the public more aware of what the straight spouse goes through when a husband or wife is transgender.

If you’re a straight spouse and would like to write an article for us, please see our article guidelines here. If you just want to contact us with comments for articles that will appear in this blog or in our newsletter, please comment below. Please note that your full name and your email will not be displayed with your comment, and all comments are moderated.