Anyone who knows me in real life knows I have no filter. There are very few questions that I find offensive or won't answer. I'll willingly tell you about my sexual exploits, my recent rape, my mental illnesses, my political and religious views, why The Fiancée left me, everything. (ETA: The reason why I make a point of being okay with explaining why The Fiancée left is because it's my fault and I own up to it, not because she did something.) Even if I'm not totally comfortable with a question, most of the time, I'll answer it anyways; I think I owe that to some bizarre mixture of pride at being so open and a deep need to be polite and not embarrass someone for asking intrusive questions.
Lately, though, I've been struggling with this openness. Ignoring the fact it tends to get me into trouble (I've yet to learn how to have a filter... ever...), I feel like it's detrimental to me (and my brothers, sisters, and siblings) as a trans* person. While I, whenever possible, make the effort to educate ignorant people, I end up often answering questions that are absurdly personal and rude (I mean, really, would you ask a cis guy about his penis? No, so why are you asking me about my bits? The same goes for asking how I had sex with The Fiancée. I fail to see how that is anyone's business other than ours...). I don't know how to tell a person that their question is unwanted in a polite way. While I understand that my transition brings up natural curiosity, there's still a line people need to respect. I constantly find I feel the need to emphasize to people that most trans*people aren't as open as I am, and I'm plagued by the worry that, because I've been so (albeit unwillingly) open in answering questions, I've set up a precedent in people's minds that other trans* people need to be willing to do the same. I'm not sure how to fix that.
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