She participated in several Miss Transgender competitions.
It was my one of my first exposures to the brutality and denial that so many trans women, most significantly trans women of color, face in just being themselves.
Most men on this planet will not experience the experience due to a combination of social conditioning and internalized inhibitions; they are missing out big time.
It's up to you, not your dad or anyone else, to make sure that you live the life you need to live--or else, you can just do whatever everyone else thinks that you should.