Transgender Community

Okay, so, here's the basics: my boyfriend and I are both FtM, but we're pre-everything. I've been able to discuss things with a counselor, but neither she nor I had the resources to get me started on HRT or anything. My boy hasn't been able to really discuss this with anybody aside from me, and he's not big on disclosing to therapists/counselors for personal reasons.

Anyway, we're preparing to go off to college next semester, and we just found out today that we both got accepted into UNH Durham. On my application, I was very open about my trans status - I explained my position and situation in my essay, and I used my male name as my preferred name. I'm a little scared going into it this way, but the acceptance of my application has given me some confidence.

However, at the time of filling out the applications, Boyfriend was still a little unsure of himself and didn't really know what to say or how to go about disclosing his status, so he didn't. But now that he's certain in what he wants to do, he's committed to moving forward with this.

So, we have two inquiries:

1) Boyfriend wants to disclose his status and go by his male name in classes, but he needs certain things to be kept in his female name - basically, anything that his family will see. He does not want to come out to them for various reasons. I'm sure there's a way to do this, but we're wondering when he should disclose this information (ASAP? Upon enrollment?) and who we should be getting in contact with to get his preferred name on the books.

2) We're hoping to use the college's resources to get our transitions started - our main concern is getting started on testosterone. Does anybody have experience with UNH Durham's GLBT community? How accepting is the environment, from both staff and students? Will we be able to speak with a knowledgeable counselor that can get us on the right track? Are there any counselors we should request or avoid? Anything else we should know?

Thank you all so much for any information you might be able to provide! ♥