We Need To Talk About De-Transitioners

Recently, the media in the United Kingdom have been running frequent stories in a concerted effort to delegitimize transgender people.

Transphobic media outlets, specifically the notoriously transphobic Times and Sunday Times, who have been known to run up to four anti-trans articles in a single day have waged a misinformation war on trans individual for years. Now, they’re attempting to weaponize a very small minority of individuals who “De-transition” — those who began to transition to their preferred gender and ultimately stopped and discontinued their transition pursuit.

The media covering these stories want you to think this is typical. They’d like the general public to thing that the “Transgender Lobby” imposes an ideology on them or that exposure to trans individuals influences them to take up the task of changing their gender and are then, inevitably, disappointed when they realize it’s not fun. The narrative created around these heavily publicized de-transitioners is that they represent typical results. They do not.

Indeed, there are rare instances where a person decides to change course mid transition, but the media doesn’t often tell you why this happens. It isn’t some sudden realization that they’ve been in the grip of a savage trans agenda that had them brainwashed and they’ve managed to free themselves from; It’s a valid option that some go through tremendous internal strife to reach.

Sometimes, overwhelming rejection from social peers, in the workplace, school, opposition from family can factor into a person’s decision to reverse their transition and stop presenting as a gender they once preferred. The process of socially transitioning can be immensely taxing on our mental health. It requires one becoming vulnerable to uncomfortable lines of question from others, sometimes facing violent opposition, alienation even financial impracticality can cause one to question if they have the endurance to withstand all of the deeply personal struggles that come with the process.

Transitioning is more than just taking hormones and having surgery; Some may even debate whether those are the easy steps. The most terrifying part is presenting as one’s preferred gender in a public space for the first time, figuring out the best way to disclose your decision…