As the years advance many people don't particularly like their birthdays, however for transgender folks birthdays can be a little different. Yes, one's gender birthday, whether it represents transitioning to full-time or having genital reassignment surgery, is most certainly a significant life event.

The road of coming to terms with one's gender identity and actually coming out to the world around you is truly a heroic journey. One questions, learns, matures and becomes ready to pursue life on his or her own terms. This is a healthy adult process.

One of the neatest things about gender birthdays is that they can make one feel younger! This is as it should be considering most people don't transition until adulthood. The first few years of transition will in all likelihood feel very much like puberty and young adulthood. No wonder many transgenders remain young at heart!

Did you have a 'coming out' party? Many folks do, others celebrate their physical passage after surgery. Whether you treated yourself to a quiet dinner or your friends organized a more spirited affair - these are the rewards a person needs to mark a significant event. Sometimes, however, just keeping up with one's goals is difficult enough during transition. So if you were not able to celebrate your passage, nothing stops you from doing so on your next birthday.

You can invite any one you like to your gender birthday. Certainly its fine to have your own private revelry, however, transgender people on the whole spend a great deal of time trying to conform to society's ideas, and unfortunately this does not include a validation of transgender people. Therefore, consider being different, and welcome others to celebrate your transgenderness, hear about your journey, and share their impressions.

Having family is also just as important to transgender people as to others, and if your biological family won't celebrate your journey - adopt new people into your life who respect you and your efforts. Inviting these adoptive family members is a perfect time to tell about what transitioning has meant to you - and how much you enjoy reciprocating affection and closeness.

One interesting celebration I recently heard about honoring one person's journey - is donating time to a place where post-ops are most needed. Each year my friend on her birthday attends a local transition support group to talk to people in different stages of coming out. While she lives the remainder of the year in stealth, it is possible to be a role model, even if only for a very special day - the day of passage!