Since my horrid sister told all my family I am a cross dresser, I have been questioned several times why I do it. Here's one conversation with my mother, who I recorded on my mobile/cell phone.

Me: Yes, I like wearing women's clothes...

Mother: You're a queer then.

Me: No, I am not. I am totally straight.

Mother: Then why do you wear skirts, you have to be a poofter.

Me: Mam, you don't understand what it's like being a transvestite. It's in you from birth.

Mother: So how long have you been dressing up?

Me: Since I was five years old. I wore your clothes, and my sister's, when I got to eight.

Mother: Then I believe you. I don't understand it, but you're my son, and whatever you say, I accept.

Me: Thanks, mum, but it's bloody hard, coping with this thing. I love dressing up as a woman, but it's gotta be so secret. Know what I mean?

Mother: As long as I don't see you, do what you like dressed up.

Me: Ta, mam (HUGS)

I wonder all the hatred...

I do want I want to do, so there. Thanks for all the responses.

Meredith, you're a really nice person.

Well, it's true. You're very expressive and compassionate.

Skirt Lover
I went through about the exact samething. My sister found out & tolld my family. I got about the same reaction.
She thought to get everyone in her corner but turned out no one gave a crap. She evan got a talking to for trying to embarrass the family.
My biggest nightmare turned out to be a nothing.

The hatred, according to recent research on exactly that subject:

They showed that homophobic individuals had a significantly higher sexual response to homo-erotic videos than non-homophobic individuals. Fear of one's inner-self may well be the cause of anti-GLBT feelings and violence.

Mom has always been #3 on my list of "Who to come out to". Since I have come out to #'s one and two, Mom is next. She won't see me dressed unless she asks to see her daughter, in which case she will get me in an extreme makeover in my finest "passing" Wendy (as pitiful as that might be in actuality ) Anyway, I expect/hope to do that, in person, in the next few months even if I can only fly out for a few days with her. I plan to take my laptop and printed material and videos to help her understand what is going on.

Mere, install Firefox and set it to delete your history and cookies after every session. Nobody will see anything after you close Firefox.