Q: Why does it always feel like I am a fake when my gender-fluidity returns to my birth gender? How do i know I'm not just making it all up in my brain like my parents have been "hinting"?

Unfortunately, a lot of us are exposed to messages from the people around us that make us doubt ourselves and who we are. When it comes to gender-fluidity especially, it can be confusing to other people who are really deeply entrenched in traditional gender roles and expression to see someone who is comfortable with their natural fluidity of identity and expression. A lot of trans/queer people as a whole struggle with the idea that they might be "faking it" (I know I certainly have struggled with that for years), but to try to deconstruct those feelings, try asking yourself a few questions:

• How do I know that I am genderfluid? What feelings or experiences made me realize that I was genderfluid?

• How do I feel when others are supportive and affirming of my gender identity? What makes me feel affirmed in my identity as a genderfluid person?

• Do I have any reason for faking my identity? Why would I (or anyone) want to fake being genderfluid/trans?

• What reasons do my parents (or other people) have for suggesting that my gender identity is "made up" or "fake"? What are they trying to keep the same or protect?

I'll leave it with this point: our genders kind of ARE all in our brain. So what? If in your brain you have "made up" that you are genderfluid, but it feels right and good, how is that any less real of an experience than someone whose brain tells them that they are the gender they were assigned at birth? You are who you are - there's no reason for anyone to doubt that.