Stories of people who didn't know from a young age?

Well, I'm not a teen. I'm 53. It took me until the age of 50 to stop fighting it and finally accept that I'm trans.

Like you there were clues in my childhood, but because I was socialised as a boy and in the 1970s there wasn't even a name for people like us, I, er, just accepted I was male.

Trans people come in all shapes and sizes, with all sorts of back stories. Some realise young. For others (especially us older ones) the penny only drops later in life.

Beth

 

First of all, let me say that I am not trans, so I can't speak to that. But, I think that what I can say is relevant. I did not come out until April of 2023, at the age of 48. I have been doing a lot of excavating my past. Looking back there were rainbow flags (as opposed to red ones) as early as age four. I was oblivious to them. Completely oblivious. I only started to see them in high school and it wasn't until college that they became big old banners.

 

It's not just Eastern Europe, Redstatic. If you believe large swathes of the British press you'd assume trans women frequent female toilets solely so that they can assault cis women and trick lesbians into having sex with them. And trans men? Oh they don't exist, at least according to the transphobes that still largely dominate national debate on this issue*.

It's sad that this need for human societies to have folk devils and scapegoats still continues into the 21st Century. Like you, I never wanted to be a soldier in the culture war - I'm a lover, not a fighter - but I will defend myself and my trans brothers and sisters (and non-binary siblings).

Beth x

*And whilst we're not the subject, I f***ing despise that phrase 'the transgender debate' - as if our existence is a matter for 'debate'!

 

I didn't realize I was transgender until my mid to late 20's. I grew up having feelings of discomfort because of dresses and any type of feminine styled clothes made me uncomfortable. I didn't even know what the words dysphoria or what being transgender meant during that time. All I knew was I had felt off in my body and I didn't know why. It took me going through a crapload of traumatic stuff to finally question who I was. I realized I was a trans man when a switch flipped on inside my mind. Suddenly female pronouns were like venom when thrown my way...they didn't feel right. Just like my dead name...course I had stopped identifying with my name before I finally realized I was trans. I'm not going to go through all the details. Long story short, it took me a very long time to discover who I truly was and I'm still discovering who I am as a man even as I'm 30 now although I feel much older given the things I've been through. Thanks to HRT I've been able to become a little more comfortable in my body despite some body parts not quite lining up.

I've been thinking about moving out of my red state to a blue state because where I live has become very hostile towards trans people. I've tried getting gender affirming surgery before like 3 times and have been denied...I just can't bring myself to go through that process again while I live here and I want to move somewhere where I have a better chance of getting top surgery. Plus I'm scared since there is some anti-trans legislation on the docket in our state house and I don't want to be here when the crap hits the fan. Even though I pass, I'm still scared to be outed as trans, loose friends, and live in a state that doesn't fully accept me as I am. I hate the fact that there are politicians that go out of their way to make life hell for minorities, LGBTQ+ people and anybody that doesn't fit their narrow minded agenda. I am currently saving up funds so I can hopefully leave within another year or two. I will write a more detailed thread about this later.