When I was out in the dating world I tried both telling up front and waiting for after the first date. Telling first tended to get me rejected out of hand but I had mostly very kind rejections similar to the one you received. Waiting is obviously riskier but I decided I wanted men to see me as a woman first and then add the ´Transgender’ modifier. Ultimately it paid off and I found a guy who wanted to ‘see where this goes.’ 2 years later it’s still going and we live together. Disclosure is extremely important, but timing is also everything! Thank You for sharing!