Trans 101: Transition Is Not Transformation
I've encountered a number of heinous sentiments, some of which are more harmful than others, but one of the most common is the idea that transition is some kind of transformation that turns one from male to female or female to male.
This. Is. Bullshit.
Transition is, really, just a kind of coming out. The same way people come out about their sexual orientation. Transition may look much more dramatic than just telling people that you like people the same sex as you, and may involve medical intervention, but if you think of someone's transition as "coming out" then you're probably going to avoid a lot of nasty misconceptions.
For example, you have a friend Alice who comes out as a lesbian and starts dating a girl. Is she now a lesbian but never was before? Of course not, that's absurd. The whole damn point is that she was always gay but wasn't able to openly say it/act on it before. So, given this way of looking at things can we now agree that the idea that a trans woman wasn't always a woman seems a bit silly? She was always a woman, but she wasn't able to openly say it/act on it before.
This. Is. Bullshit.
Transition is, really, just a kind of coming out. The same way people come out about their sexual orientation. Transition may look much more dramatic than just telling people that you like people the same sex as you, and may involve medical intervention, but if you think of someone's transition as "coming out" then you're probably going to avoid a lot of nasty misconceptions.
For example, you have a friend Alice who comes out as a lesbian and starts dating a girl. Is she now a lesbian but never was before? Of course not, that's absurd. The whole damn point is that she was always gay but wasn't able to openly say it/act on it before. So, given this way of looking at things can we now agree that the idea that a trans woman wasn't always a woman seems a bit silly? She was always a woman, but she wasn't able to openly say it/act on it before.