I've been stealth for years. How do I come out to a close friend?
I'm 26 years old. I've been fully stealth online since I was 21 or so, and semi-stealth offline (as in: there are people in my life who knew me pre-transition and I'm still working on getting my documents updated, but on a day-to-day basis, I'm living effectively stealth) since I was 24.
I met my best friend online when I was 22. I'm VERY aromantic, so nothing between us is like "that", but for all intents and purposes, she's my whole world. For the last six months, we've been making plans to move in together around the summer of 2027 to the spring of 2028. I didn't plan to come out to her. We aren't involved with each other, so I didn't see why I'd have to. Our plan was to move to a different town, but my work situation has changed and now we're probably going to have to live in my hometown for at least a year, maybe two, and there's just no way I'd be able to keep this part of myself private from her living here.
I don't know how to come out to her though. Honestly, I don't want to come out to her. It's not that I don't trust her, I just love being stealth. I'm not kidding when I say going stealth saved my life. And this girl is my safe space, y'know? I'm just a guy to her. Like, in a way I never feel I am when I'm with people who know. I've always wanted my transition to be something I'd get done and over with, then leave behind. How am I supposed to make the choice to give that up?