Transition & Affirmation

If you’re a little older, or you feel confident and ready to transition after being on blockers and your doctor thinks it’s reasonable to do so, you may start taking estrogen and an androgen blocker if your body would otherwise naturally produce testosterone. You may hear estrogen referred to as a “feminizing hormone” or “female hormone,” which is a term I dislike because you may not necessarily be taking it to achieve a “feminine” body if you’re nonbinary or otherwise gender nonconforming, and lots of people who aren’t women produce estrogen naturally. You can just call it estrogen!

If your body is longing to pump out some estrogen and you’d rather it didn’t, your doctor will start you on testosterone therapy. Estrogen blockers are also available, but they aren’t widely used — usually your testosterone will be enough to do the trick. You may also hear testosterone discussed as a “masculinizing” or “male” hormone, but it doesn’t have to be either of those things for you unless you want it to be.

After social transition, many people face the question of whether they also want to pursue medical (hormones) and/or surgical transition. In this post, we’ll be discussing hormones — our following post will delve into the nitty gritty details of “the surgery” (starting with the fact that there’s not just one).

So you’ve come out. Now what? Today we’re all about logistics, because coming out, and socially transitioning, is an ever-evolving process. First, let’s head to the schoolyard.

So you’re ready to start talking openly about your gender, and you want to come out of the shadows and live as yourself. Coming out stories are as diverse as gender itself and you have a whole lot of options in front of you, depending on the level of support you anticipate from friends, family, school, and the world at large.

For trans folks (and non-binary, genderqueer, agender, and all other gender non-conforming folks) gender expression can be a lot more tricky than it is for many cisgender people. How do you find clothing when many companies don’t acknowledge that people who are built like you exist? If you body doesn’t quite have all the bits you wish it did (or has some bits you really wish it didn’t), how can you present your body in a way that makes you feel like yourself?

So you’ve thought about sex and gender and all that good stuff and a little bird is telling you that you might be trans. But how do you know?

Experiencing a little gender confusion? We know the feeling. In Trans Summer School, we’ll give you the big scoop about trans and otherwise gender nonconforming people, and answer your questions about the wide world of gender.

There are so many things that make me glad in your question. Glad that L has at least one person that he feels safe sharing that part of himself with. Glad you reacted positively and confirmed his trust in you. But oh how I am not glad that he’s still in a situation where he doesn’t feel comfortable…

I’m going to make probably the biggest understatement of the year: gender is complicated. As obvious a statement as that is, it’s still true, and I think it’s worth repeating. I think one thing a lot of people - even many gender-savvy folks or fellow trans people - sometimes forget is that there are…