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.
@nicole It's still ingrained into the systems within the UK, but without any actual support & waits of years to access basic healthcare 😔
If you're a trans kid, there is no care on the NHS.
@SleepyCatten Very upset to hear this. Watching now as so many states here try to roll everything back to where it was, I can’t be surprised that it might never have changed elsewhere.
I find these practices horrific and degrading. And I am always surprised at how desperately a super-majority wants to gate access to services that literally have nothing to do with them, and, at their core, are fundamentally about affirmation—a core human kindness.
