Process
Status Items Output None Questions None Claims None Highlights Done See section below
Highlights
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transition is rarely one continuous path. Many people are out in some spaces and not others, have to stop their hormones for long stretches of time, or put off gender-affirming procedures. Some trans people have no plans to ever medically transition, or see transness as a space for experimentation with no end goal.
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“Part of what contributes to transphobia and trans oppression is these essential ideas of ‘this is what trans means, this is what transition means, this is how you know you’ve completed it,’” says Barcelos. “And I think it’s dangerous to take that up and implement it in our own communities.“
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“if you have questions about transition, don’t download an app, DM me.”
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Transness is often explored not just in self-reflection but in conversation.
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Taking hormones without the guidance of a doctor can be dangerous, but trans people have a long history of sharing hormones because so few have access to gender-affirming care. There are often self-taught experts within communities who guide other trans people through hormone regimens. Euphoria’s discouragement is well-intentioned, and a smart choice to avoid liability, but the framing of its advice is aggravating for many trans people who have struggled to navigate a health care system that is so often hostile, even harmful, to them. “If you don’t trust medical providers, you should strongly reconsider your position even if only as a matter of personal health and preservation,” says the Solace entry about the grey market. This call to action doesn’t acknowledge why many trans people are distrustful of established medical systems, assuming they can access them at all.
✏️ The constant tension between official and unofficial support and supply of things that are necessary for people, but that gets wrapped up in so much “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts”. As a cisgender system-oriented person, I struggle when people do things outside the medical norm or against medical advice and standards. But, I’m privileged, and there are people that not only don’t have access, they’re DENIED access and chastised for subverting the system when they try to help themselves. They’re pathologized and traumatized by medicine.
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another incomplete solution that highlights the precariousness and desperation of trans existence, a response to the difficulties of life within an unjust society.
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community conversations, online or in person, leave room for complexity and experimentation. It’s among communities that people are able to explore their identities in more expansive terms than simplified Gender 101, where people organize calls to their representatives, discuss how much they’re willing to assimilate, strategize about fundraising, laugh, and mourn.