“If, when, and how you transition is a choice. Being trans is not.”

Source: TransMascStories.com

I want to spend a few posts exploring TransMascStories (TMS), a widely promoted resource in FTM/transmasc communities. Before we get to the stories, let’s start at the top of the home page (in fact, at the top of every page!), where an orange banner reads: “Unsure if transitioning is right for you? Click here to gain clarity.”

Click and you learn that “If, when, and how you transition is a choice. Being trans is not.”

TransMascStories presents a variety of resources to guide young women who are questioning their gender. Arthur Rockwell, a trans-identified YouTuber who describes herself as “bringing you nuance, joy, and silly little gay shenanigans” says that she thinks of transition as “not too different from any other major life choice. (...) I went to the college I did because I researched a bunch of options and I thought that ultimately that college I chose would make me the most happy; a transition doesn’t need to be any different.” Then there’s Dara Hoffman-Fox’s guide to You and Your Gender Identity. (It appears that Hoffman-Fox has been on her own ‘gender journey’—like many female gender clinicians, she started out as a self-effacing ally and morphed into a self-celebrating “queer, nonbinary” counselor.)

TMS also recommends Alo Johnston’s Am I Trans Enough?: How to Overcome Your Doubts and Become Your Authentic Self:

Alo Johnston has been where you are. From watching every transition story on YouTube and navigating online message boards for answers to finally starting testosterone and transitioning himself, he now walks alongside you every step of the way to guide you towards acceptance of who you truly are.

Born out of thousands of hours of research and conversations with hundreds of trans people, Am I Trans Enough? digs deep into internalized transphobia and the historical narratives that fuel it. It unveils what happens after you come out, or begin questioning living as a trans person, in a world that works against you.

Use this book as a space to engage with your fears and explore your doubts without the pressure of needing to be a perfect trans representative. If you are just beginning your trans journey, are twenty years into transition or have no idea if you are even trans at all, this book will help you to become your most authentic self.

Finally, TMS shares a link to a “scientific process for a complicated question”: how to figure out if you’re really trans. The author calls himself Zoe, identifies as a woman and a lesbian, and describes himself as a professor of technical writing, which I find somewhat hard to believe. He also thinks you should know about his mental health diagnoses:

I’m also the recipient of a lovely smattering of mental health diagnoses, the most prominent of which is C-PTSD. I’ve got a significant history of trauma, which I’ve done a lot of work on over the decades. I’m good now. Really good. Promise. That said, because of that history, I talk about these issues with some frequency, because I think that talking about them makes it easier for other people to talk about their own hurts—and, more importantly, get help for them.

So, that’s our gender sherpa. I feel like we’re in good hands. Are we ready to go?