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This piece is part of Rebel Well: a Starter Survival Guide to a Trumped America for Teens and Emerging Adults. Because love is an act of courage, not of fear, love is a commitment to others. No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is commitment to their cause — the cause of…

This piece is part of Rebel Well: a Starter Survival Guide to a Trumped America for Teens and Emerging Adults . People of all ages across the United States are very concerned about the impact of the Trump administration on access to healthcare, as the federal government provides billions of dollars…

This piece is part of Rebel Well: a Starter Survival Guide to a Trumped America for Teens and Emerging Adults . Sometimes we have to do the work even though we don’t yet see a glimmer on the horizon that it’s actually going to be possible. ― Angela Y. Davis Take your own safety and the safety of…

Like every other staffer here at Scarleteen, I was devastated by the result of the recent presidential election in the United States. This is not what I - what any of us - were hoping for, and I am scared. I don’t live in the U.S., but I have friends and family who do (my colleagues here included)…

This is not a blog I ever wanted to write. Like many of you, I’d hoped for a different outcome from the U.S. election on Tuesday. I’d hoped we would not end up with a right-wing demagogue as our next president. Yet here we are. Many people are validly afraid of what this result means for them, for…

You’re considering or have made it to therapy. Now how do you do your part to benefit from it?

What to do, and what to avoid like the plague, when you’re crushing on someone hard.

Being bisexual entails a very specific struggle that isn’t talked about enough: being believed.

In every state where consent or notification is required for a minor to get an abortion, there’s also a judicial bypass option. Here’s the history and mechanics of judicial bypass laws.

What’s endometriosis and what can you do about it?

Am I trans enough? It’s probably one of the most pervasive questions for trans and otherwise gender nonconforming people, and if you think you’re the first one to have had it cross your mind, I’m sorry to say that you’re not. Nearly every transgender person has experienced self-doubt, and for some, it is an ongoing struggle. The short answer to this question is: Yes. You are.

You’ve got a few layers to this question, so let’s peel them off and look at them one by one. Let’s get “is this normal” out of the way first. Normal is a deeply unhelpful concept when it comes to sex. We can talk about how common certain behaviors or desires are, although even then that may not be…

We’ve assembled a guide with some common issues that come up, and how to deal with them, in very broad terms. If you’re having difficulties, know that there are people out there who are ready and willing to help you, and often they’re a quick Google search away: if you’re struggling, you’re not alone, and you should reach out.

Dating and romance can be fraught spaces for anyone, regardless of their gender. But a common, specific fear we see among trans and otherwise gender-nonconforming users is that their gender identity means that no one will want to be their partner, that no one will ever find them attractive, or that it will limit their sexual orientation. Those fears can come from all sorts of places, be that messages from your family or the images of trans people you see on TV. Let’s pull those worries out into the light and take a closer look at them

While most cases of Zika virus are acquired via mosquito bites, this emerging virus can be transmitted sexually, and the CDC reports that the numbers of such cases are growing in subtropical regions of the Americas.

“He was genuinely trying to understand me and listen and everything, but he just didn’t get it, because he’s been watching porn for years and never really known anything else? About a week ago we were texting and he asked me if I had ever sexted with anyone before, and I said I had (which wasn’t a…

They call it “feminization surgery,” but that’s a bit of a misnomer. More accurately described, it tends to make the features of the face finer and more delicate, and people of any gender can have delicate features.

In vaginoplasty, which may require multiple surgeries, depending on the surgeon’s preference and your case, your existing genital tissue is creatively recycled into a vagina, set of labia, and a clitoris.

If you’re equipped with a clit and some labia and you’d like a penis (with or without testicles), you’re looking at either a phalloplasty or metoidioplasty. The procedures have different advantages and disadvantages that you’ll want to consider before making a decision.

In this procedure, the surgeon removes the testicles with or without the scrotum. This procedure stops the production of testosterone, which allows patients to adjust their doses of anti-androgens and estrogen.

If you’ve got a uterus and you don’t want one, you’ll be spending some personal time with a gynecological surgeon.

Fun fact: While top surgery is often described as a “mastectomy,” that’s actually usually inaccurate. Many surgeons perform a “subtotal mastectomy,” which involves removing most, but not all, of the breast tissue. This prevents a sunken or fallen appearance after surgery, and makes it look like you have a sweet set of pecs (if you aren’t already sporting them).