Hello KittyG: The Skeezyks is an older person now. But gender identity dysphoria is something I have struggled with all of my life. I never did anything about it, as far as transitioning (MtF) goes. (It's a long, complicated story & I'll spare you the details.) What I will say is that, from my perspective, being transgender can be SO confusing. Even after all of these years, I still don't understand what it was all about in my own life.

You wrote that you're happier now than you've ever been. That's really all that counts, isn't it? There are all sorts of ideas with regard what is included under the transgender umbrella. I don't understand most of the terminology that gets tossed around nowadays. The thing is, there's no test for "trans-ness". Each of us must decide for ourselves if we are & what that means for us in terms of how we live our lives. So, from my perspective, since you're happy & you want to move forward with your transition, what difference does any of the rest of it make? The only reason any of it should make any difference, I would think, would be if you were questioning your decision to transition. In that case, I would think the thing to do would be to get with a therapist who has experience working with trans individuals. But, as long as you're happy with, & confident in your decision, I would say just keep on going & don't worry about how people define being transgender. ! I send you my best wishes...