This is potentially going to come across as borderline creepy, so I apologise in advance, but I met you after your Melbourne FODI talk a few hours ago and I just wanted to tell you how amazing you are. I got a tad awestruck and tongue-tied at meeting you, so I didn't really get the chance to thank you for everything you've done for me.

My boyfriend and I are both huge fans of yours, and I was so excited to find out last weekend that you were coming to speak in Melbourne. I've been reading your column for years now—I quickly worked my way back through the entire online archive shortly after discovering you—and I listen to your podcast every week.

When I first came across your column I was a closeted, pre-transition FTM guy living in a Christian college (American equivalent: dorm) in my first year of university. I'm an atheist, but it was the only college I could afford. The only people close to me who knew that I was trans were my parents, and they definitely weren't very happy about it. Reading your column taught me so much about sex and relationships, and when the It Gets Better Project started up later on that year I had another source of LGBT community to lean on.

My boyfriend and I met at that college, before I transitioned, and were friends and housemates for a few years before we started dating early this year. Thanks to years of us both listening to and reading you, last year when we were both simultaneously becoming interested in each other (but weren't sure if the other felt the same way), we actually used our discussions of topics in your columns and podcasts to covertly suss out if we had the same kinks/preferences (amongst other things, we agreed that we both consider ourselves GGG, and are intrigued but slightly squicked out by fisting).

So I would like to thank you for helping me through my transition, helping my boyfriend and myself to be open and educated about sex (I don't know if he even would have been interested in dating a transguy, if not for you!), providing me with many many many hours of education and entertainment, and for providing me with lots of random sex facts and statistics that I can half-remember when drunkenly talking to people at parties.

I'm so happy that I got to meet you today! I'm already looking forward to you coming back and bringing Terry! And congratulations on your marriage last year—hopefully here in Australia that will soon be possible for us LGBT folks too!

Man About Town

My response—my brief response—after the jump...

Thanks for the nice note, MAT, and I'm so glad the column, the podcasts, and the It Gets Better Project helped you during your transition—and I'm thrilled that the column and podcast helped bring you and your boyfriend together! And, hey, here's a little something your boyfriend might want to hang on to. Save the link just in case anyone gives him grief for dating a trans guy.

I had a wonderful time in Australia and I can't wait to come back—next time with Terry!