Welcome! I’m so glad you’ve stumbled across this site, as I believe it is truly the best place for CD/TG support anywhere, and that goes for partners who need support too. So, you’re here, and you probably have a lot of questions. Or maybe you’re just confused, scared or angry. I’m writing this article to tell you, IT’S OK to feel how you are feeling. There are members in the SO (significant others) forum who have experienced a range of emotions from rage to acceptance, and there is no “right” way to feel.
I’m pretty new to all of this too, and I have accepted, even embraced my partners need to CD. But guess what? If you’re not sure you can accept it, know that your reaction is more common. I think it is important for partners who are struggling with this news to know that they don’t need to feel guilty or ashamed for feeling how they do. What I do hope, though, is that you will ask questions and learn more about what it means to be a partner of a CD, and this site is a great place to do that. Maybe over time, the things you initially felt will soften or fade, or maybe not, but you will know that you tried, and I think that can be comforting during such a confusing time in your relationship.
I’d like to share some information that I found to be very helpful as I was trying to understand my partner’s crossdressing. Please note that I am not speaking from the perspective of a CD, only sharing some of what I found that was most helpful. The statements below may or may not apply to you and your partner.
Most crossdressers aren’t gay. The vast majority of crossdressers are heterosexual men. That your partner is gay is a common misconception, and often the first question that partners have when they find out. In reality, the likelihood that a crossdresser is gay or bisexual is about the same as the general population.
Loving a crossdresser doesn’t make you gay, either. I’m not attracted to women, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel when I saw my partner fully dressed and made up. For me, I just thought she looked really pretty, and I looked into her eyes and saw the same person I’d always loved. Some partners are never comfortable being intimate when their partner is in femme mode, and that’s ok too. So much of growing in a relationship with a crossdresser is about finding balance. Crossdressing is much more than a sexual fetish, and many crossdressers don’t associate their dressing with their sexual desires.
Being a crossdresser isn’t the same as wanting to be a woman. While some crossdressers do identify as transsexual and hope to transition, many more do not. Most simply feel that they have a feminine side of themselves, and crossdressing is a way to express this. They want to feel pretty, just like we do. Most crossdressers are happy living as a man most of the time, but they feel a strong need to express their feminine side. Keep in mind, as well, that this feminine side is likely responsible for creating the sensitive, loving person that you fell in love with.
Your partner probably doesn’t really understand their need to crossdress either. Try to remember that this is hard for him too. I honestly believe that just as one cannot choose their sexual preference, crossdressing isn’t something people just choose to do. It’s in their DNA. I have read story after story about how ashamed people felt about this part of them. How they would purge everything feminine thing they own and suppress their feelings for a while, only to have that desire come back. Or how husbands are often married for 10 or 20 years, and their partner doesn’t know, because they are so ashamed and afraid to lose them. These feelings and hardships, they aren’t something that anyone would choose. And whether you learned of your partner’s need to crossdress by walking in on them dressed, or they found the courage to tell you themselves, know that they might not have all the answers you seek, because they are still trying to understand it themselves.
You can have a happy, healthy relationship with a crossdresser. You now share a special part of your partner that likely very few people know about. This part does not have to define your relationship. If you decide to try to make things work, your marriage or partnership might not change as much as you’d think. You’ll probably develop an even closer bond with your partner, but there may be some bumps along the way as you figure out how to find balance with this part of your relationship. Some partners know about dressing and accept it, but don’t want to see it or participate, and some partners share makeup and get each other dolled up to go out together. You will need to work together and communicate often to find what will work within your relationship.
Learning that your partner is a crossdresser can be overwhelming, but you’ve found a community of people who understand how you feel. I don’t know you or your situation and maybe your feelings are insurmountable but if you’re here and have read this far, I suspect you love your partner a whole lot and want to understand them better. I hope that we here at Crossdresser Heaven can be a resource for you in this confusing time.
This is great info and a must read and resource for cd ers trying to tell their partners
Trisha, thank you for your article. I am very touched by your compassion and love towards your husband. The information that you have republished here is valuable to many CDs, those in transition and SOs. I recognise a great deal within the text. I arrived at this site at a critical time in my life, which I now regard as right time, right place. I have moved on so much with my life since that day and apart from living as a woman I am also a part of the team that run this site. I still experience difficulties but… Read more »
Great article and thank you so much for providing this advice. I will be sure to share it with my spouse when the opportunity arises.
I’m not sure, in my case, that the crossdressing is in my DNA – more to do with the battles with hormones as a teenager which I didn’t understand then but can now.
Spot on Trisha! Well said! 🙂
Trisha,
Thank you so much for your article, it was absolutely wonderful.
I truly wish that other SO’S would take the course you did in trying to understand his/her needs in life. You are an example of faith the way you are today.
Sincerely, with hugs and kisses,
Jenna
Thank you Trish now if I can just find a way to get my wife to look at this article. Thanks so much for your support of the community and standing beside us all.
Very nice to here from the other side of the coin . A womans prospective that is . I wish more females understood this .thank you for your article loved it !
I am glad to add my thanks to the others.
I appreciate your candor and helpful comments.
I will send your article to my wife that she may hear your voice on all of this.
Again, thanks.
Trisha Anne, Very well written piece. You and your partner have what appears to be a wonderful loving relationship that I believe will endure for a very long time. As you have said you two are soul mates.
Bless you both. I am proud to call you my CDH friends.
-Terri Anne