I starting having these kinds of feelings about 3 years ago. I was hanging out in generally left-wing/LGBT-friendly online spaces before that, so I knew what trans people were, but I only really started having these feelings myself when COVID hit. I've always been relatively physically androgynous/feminine for an AMAB person, but even so I've been wishing that I was more feminine. I don't feel a huge incongruity with the way my body is, and sometimes when I look/dress particularly androgynous I actually kind of like the way I look. That being said, I've still been noticing that I have more facial/body hair compared to a few years ago (along with other subtle things I can't quite name) and I really do not like that, and I'm really worried about further changes like that. I feel like it's going to be hard to achieve/maintain the level of femininity I want without medically transitioning, but I'm not entirely comfortable with being physically a woman either.

In general, I act pretty much like the stereotypical "socially-awkward male nerd", and while that isn't a particularly "masculine" social role, I also sometimes wish to be perceived as more feminine in this regard. When I'm with people I'm close with, I generally act cool and sometimes sarcastic. I tease people a lot (in a friendly way, though I wasn't always good at controlling that) and I'm good at verbally sparring when they make fun of me back. But sometimes I want to act cutesy or be more openly affectionate, and I can't because I feel too vulnerable doing so. This makes me feel like I'm too cold and too closed off if I want to be feminine, (though IDK if it's great to think that because it's kind of buying into gender roles).

The only person that I really trust that I've spoken to recently is an online friend who's a cishet guy (well, we've met in person but we live far enough apart that it's not super convenient), and he's supportive but it's not really something he knows how to help with. I've also talked about this with another online friend who is queer, but I haven't spoken to them a while (we drifted apart a bit due to circumstances in their life). I haven't told anyone IRL and it takes a long time for me to really trust people, so I basically don't have anyone to support me IRL. I don't think my parents are outright hateful, but I don't think they really understand LGBT stuff either, so I really want to be sure before I tell them anything. I'm also looking to work as a programmer, and I'm uneasy with presenting as not-male in my work life.

I've read through a bunch of the commonly linked trans resources but I still haven't really done anything about it. I live in one of the less awful states; there are informed consent clinics near me and I have enough money for that, so I feel like I'm fortunate compared to a lot of trans people. I've had some idle dreams about buying some feminine clothes, but I'm too lazy? scared? to even try that. I'm not sure if I'm that uncomfortable with my body or if I really want to be a woman that badly compared to the stories I've read. I'm worried that it's not a real feeling because I can't really recall any signs more than 3 years back. I'm unhappy in my life but there are a lot of reasons for that aside from (possibly) being trans. One part of me is scared of waiting too long to start transitioning, but another part of me is scared of having to learn to live as a trans person (or even just as not-male) in an increasingly fascist United States. I feel like I have to make a decision relatively soon, and it's just completely paralyzing.

There's a lot of other things I want to say but I'm not sure if this is coherent as is so IDK.