Let me Clear up Some Misconceptions
No, not everyone and their uncle is transitioning, nor are they ‘allowed’ to do so, not even in a state as trans-friendly as MN.
Let’s break this down further by using my transition as a case study as an example.
Q. When did you first realize that you are trans?
I started struggling with the concept of ‘gender’ at the beginning of 2016 as I ‘rediscovered’ my faith practice and spirituality. I realized I was trans when I first discovered the language for the trans experience in a National Geographic at the very end of 2016. I immediately came out socially/publicly.
Q. Do you think some people know as early as childhood?
Yes. I did not identify with either sex as a child and actually had sex strictly enforced upon me.
Q. How did people handle your social transition?
I’ve written a book about this, but it is not always helpful to say “Read a book” because sometimes people won’t just read the goddamn book. I was raped by my community. Institutionalized for being trans. Aggressively misgendered by significant others, friends, and family. Raped again. And fired several times.
Q. Wow. That had to be tough. Do you think that is the reason you are trans?
That is a classic question, but people from all sorts of communities who never transition experiences things like family and sexual violence, housing instability, and hostile work environments, too. I would say that being trans actually gave me the skillset to overcome such difficulties.
Q. Wow. Can you say more on that?
I’m going to discuss this as a metaphor or parallel conversation, since I’m going to need to wrap this blog entry up shortly. There is actually a lot of institutional bias that prevents trans people from actually being ‘allowed’ to transition. The first being ‘mental health’ status. Mental health has often been used as a weapon to prevent people from transitioning since you actually, by law, have to be considered mentally sane to undergo a physical transition. As a matter of legal discourse, you also cannot be considered a vulnerable adult or person at the point of your transition, which is why a child cannot make the decision to transition. If you are a vulnerable individual, this procedure or process has to be mediated through doctors, therapists, psychiatrists, and guardians. My own physical and legal transition after socially transitioning in 2016 took several years because of institutional bias.
First, MN had to change its policy on trans people. Then, I had to convince therapists and doctors to give me letters of supports for the procedures. A requirement for these letters of support being that I had met with these individuals for a year. One of the procedures actually required that I be on testosterone for at least a year in advance. Next, I had to meet with a support group for several months. Next, I was not allowed to get both surgeries at the same time, so I had to wait several months of recovery between my surgeries and also for scheduling to clear with my doctors who are in fact some of the best in the country. I almost had to reschedule also because I was having insurance hiccups because my job was being inconsistent, and I had employer insurance coverage. Luckily, my employer covered almost the entirety of my surgeries just before canceling my contract.
Next, I had to get an ACT letter from a doctor and have witnesses who had known me for a very long time under all pretenses to go to court in order to get a Civil Court Order to change all my documentation for my Sex classification. Then, I actually had to go through all the steps to change this paperwork. Because in the end, that’s all it is: paperwork.
So yeah, not everyone is transitioning. Kids are not just getting surgeries. I had to wait years to get my transition into manhood.