Just learned that “you have to live as your chosen gender for two years before you can access hormones or surgery” was still the 🇺🇸 norm a decade ago.
As a young trans kid reading about that requirement in the early 90’s, it seemed like a impossible hurdle to jump; as an adult, it scared me even more.
My own first two years of living publicly as trans haven’t been the horror I feared. Mostly because of the wonderful people around me, but also because of medical support. Support—not gatekeeping.
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All the older requirements placed such weight on being able to pass. And just as soon as I hit puberty and jacked upwards to become a 6,2” barrel-chested behemoth, I knew I could never meet those standards.
(I still don’t!)
