Social Transitioning

Transitioning is when someone is in the process of adopting an appearance that represents their gender identity. This can be done through hormone therapy, top surgery, fashion changes, and bottom surgery. There are a lot of misconceptions about transitioning. A lot of people think that surgery is the immediate step when that is really the last step that requires a long process of appointments with professionals of both physical and mental health. When first transitioning, people go through what is known as "social transitioning." Social transitioning has no negative affect on a person's body and is the only type of transitioning for trans youth, as surgery requires one to be a consenting adult that has gone through the many hoops of talking to professionals before undergoing. Social transitioning is very simple: a person will go on hormone blockers to cancel the effects of their natural hormones and begin dressing in a manner that conforms more to their gender identity. They will also begin going by their preferred pronouns and name. If a person should discover that they were wrong about their gender identity it is easy to stop taking the hormone blockers and return to their previous pronouns and name, as well as dressing how they used to if that is what they want. Hopefully this was a helpful insight on one step of the transitioning process and the gender affirming care we can give to the trans youth of the world. Happy Transgender Awareness Month!