Mr. Ected said:
There is a kid in my son’s school that we know and he is transitioning also (f—>m). He is a sophomore, so he is in the same age group as your son. (Funny that he also chose Peter to be his new name.) I’m not sure on where he is in track towards the hormone replacement process (assuming he will), since we aren’t all that close to his parents, and that just isn’t the sort of thing you bring up, unless offered by them.
Being generally just south of you, here in NoVA, we are in a fairly liberal community as well, so this has helped greatly, with our school being very open to his transition. We know him because he is in the marching band with my sons. The band has been very accepting, to the point of it seeming like a switch was flipped. One day my wife told me that “so and so” was transitioning and he will now be Peter. Ok, no big deal for me, my older brother is gay and often dresses as “Muffy” (not entirely the same, but in the same neighborhood). But I was pleasantly impressed with the way the kids in the band handled it. The next time I saw them all (I take pictures, so I am near them as they get ready and perform) he was just “Peter.” I am now curious how the band director handled it. I will ask one of my kids.
Best of luck, you both have already leaped the biggest hurdle in being open, and even just the fact that he was comfortable enough to be able talk to you about this is a big deal.
In a way you both are very lucky to live now where your access to information is immense, even the silly group of his here in the FFA. Hopefully Peter has a place like this where he can go and talk and ask questions and get pointed in the right direction for more information.