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Social LGBTQIA+

is there an unspoken dress rule for pride parades?
this might vary from place to place! i think the safest bet is to come as you are plus whatever pride flag capes? but maybe contact your local organizers to check to see if anything "flamboyant" is allowed? i doubt anyone would bat an eye at crossdressing either
 
this might vary from place to place! i think the safest bet is to come as you are plus whatever pride flag capes? but maybe contact your local organizers to check to see if anything "flamboyant" is allowed? i doubt anyone would bat an eye at crossdressing either
oh i mean like in terms of social rules, not questionable stuff! like if i went in a cute dress and brought a pride flag, that would be okay?
 
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Aside from all that I really don't think that would be an issue at all!! I mentioned that because that's really the only thing that might be an issue for individuals at pride events.
 
Donald Trump is terminating the USA's national LGBTQ+ suicide hotline. In light of this news, I'm sharing some hotlines I found on https://pflag.org/resource/support-hotlines/ that you or a queer friend may find useful.

The Trevor Project (Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention): (866) 488-7386
Crisis Text Line (Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention): Text START to 741-741
Trans Lifeline (Crisis Intervention & Suicide Prevention): (877) 565-8860
The True Colors United (Youth Information): (212) 461-4401

The website (https://pflag.org/resource/support-hotlines/) has more hotlines as well as links to their websites for other necessary information.

Donald Trump and every other homophobe can try killing us off, but they're all gonna fail. Not just because they're useless and incompetent, but because more of us are born everyday. There's a decent chance another queer person was born as you're reading this. So this is a huge blow, but we're all here for each other. I respond to blows with defiance (which is probably easier as a Canadian) - that doesn't mean you have to. Deal with this stuff however you can. There's IRL organizing, online activism, protesting, donating, etc. but even just surviving to the next day is important too. Don't feel bad if you can't fill every single lane of activism - none of us can, and we need them all. Sending sm love <3
 
i hope all are enjoying pride month while you can, but unfortunately mine hasn't been.

my parents found out my relationship with April and now i don't have access to my phone once again and we are back to square one on transitioning. my job application still hasn't processed, and if they called i wouldn't know cause they have my phone. i hardly even get paid when i work with my parents. it just sucks that i'm blocked from the outside world again

what kills me the most is that i told her that this would be our month but it has been nearly radio silence on any means of getting back with her. i miss her so bad, and my only means of communicating is sappy songs from our walls and my little espeon keychain i hug at night. one day we'll be back my sunshine.
:espeon::heart::leafeon:
 
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I swear to God. Every time I open a social media app for 1 minute, I find the most homophobic people on the planet telling people to go burn, and i'm tired of it. It's honestly sad asf at this point and very hateful and immature. Why can't we just accept people for who they are. Like what did we do to hurt you??.

Anyways, hoping you all have a safe and happy pride month, because you all deserve it and should be happy in these gloomy times.

(Yes. I know. rare Rodent appearance, "OMG HES UNBANNED?" Yeah. Hi.)
 
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Queer people are the current scape goat of choice for right wing extremists. Specifically fascism needs a minority that can be portrayed as weak to affirm the fascist superiority complex, but also as a threat to society to justify its oppression.
It just so happens that queer people are seen as both a tiny fraction of the population aswell as a huge threat to western civilisation as we know it.

Until it's truely normalized to be queer, we will always be a minority. And as long as political extremists exist, monorities will always be a scape goat for them.
All we can do is normalize being queer and fight fascism wherever it appears
 
As pride month comes to a close, I'd like to, for once, share a happy story.

Today I held the final presentation about the project my team and I had been working on this whole semester.
For this occasion I was dressed somewhat formally. Normally I despise formal clothes, but this was the first time I was dressing formally since I started to publically come out. Without much thought I put on a plain black skirt and a black button up shirt with a simple pattern.
I don't own a body length mirror so I didn't think much of it, but when I saw myself in the big bathroom mirror I noticed the effect of my outfit:
The skirt gave me gentle curves and the button up, being tucked in at waist level, gently presented my physique in a flattering way.
I'm used to looking like a brick in formal clothes, which isn't helped by the fact that it's almost impossible to find clothes that fit my dimensions.
So there I was, looking at a reflection I thought I would always hate.
It made me feel confident in taking on the presentation. But most of all, it made me feel pretty :3

Hope waits for you in the unlikeliest places.
To suffer is the human condition.
To endure it and find hope regardless is the indomitable human spirit.
 
it's like 4:30 in the morning so this probably won't make sense but whatever

being genderfluid is fucking weird, like i like being it but also why does this have to be so complicated, i feel like i could be a bunch of different labels and i have to constantly ask people and google shit to figure out if i'm one thing or the other and people don't agree on stuff so i'm confused and i feel like only kinda recently i've settled on the labels i feel represent me best, still not 100% sure on some stuff but oh well at least it's better than back in april

i feel like i'm just kinda complaining about shit that isn't that big of a deal tbh but also it's nice to get this off my chest i think

at least saying i'm cis genderfluid enby is funny
 
I can relate to that DAMN HARD, like originally, I thought that I was a Trans Girl for a while, and tbf, I love being called a girl to an absolute T, but after having a nice and pleasant conversation with my bestie, I had a thought pop into my head, what if I wasn't a Trans Girl in the most absolute definition of it?

It's one of the strangest feelings I ever got in my whole life, like, on one hand, it's damn amazing that I have these realizations about myself and don't try to just hide them from myself for whatever reason, but at the same time, holy shit, it's like the discoveries with myself might never end, and I might have to just accept that fact

I don't even know what label would suit me the best, like I embrace being Trans, but what specifically? I don't know, not even sure if there is a label to describe who I am, all I do know is that I'm comfortable with Any Pronouns

gender really is the funniest concept, and who knows? Maybe I'll end up having another realization down the line, but I like where I'm at rn
 
I regret legally changing my sex.

"I regret ..." sometimes feels like a dirty phrase in this community. Like somehow it has awful implications to say you think you made the wrong choice about something. That I'm supposed to stay chin-up defiant, unwavering, saying I'd do it all over again, or else I'm letting Them win or just self-hating.

But I do. This sucks. I'm in the most terrifying, paralyzing, uncertain position imaginable. I don't regret transitioning, I don't regret changing my name. I regret that a single meaningless letter change on a handful of documents has ultimately become a major sacrifice. I'm stuck in this terrible paralytic state where all I want out of my life is freedom and mobility, and I'm restricted in ways that I think we don't yet fully understand. I'm worried I won't be able to reenter the country if I leave because I'll be told my passport is somehow invalid. I'm worried that getting a job or insurance and the like will be even harder than it already is. I'm worried that I can rarely choose the closet for personal safety anymore.

I don't like it, I don't like the freedom it has stolen from me, I hate all the uncertainty, and I hate how I prioritized meaningless external validation over the practical needs of my life. I don't know what the hell I was thinking.

happy end of pride month y'all, hope you had a good one

bit of an unconventional post for this thread i tink but i wanted to take a sec of my precious time to return to this fascinating web site and give a little end of june Message of Inspiration to the baby queers that live here (i love all yall)

for MY pride month this year I went ahead and temporarily abandoned my beloved boyfriend for a 15-day road trip. Alone (yep, fully solo!). Averaging 433 miles a day by car. Across the US. in the midst of this insane political climate. To some real banger ass red states, we're talkin' North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, that's right folks, the places "we" aren't supposed to go, ever, or else we'll all explode or whatever. I did this all, by myself, as a clocky little 22-year-old androgynous trans girl from good ol' sheltered liberal new england. And I didn't just not explode, in fact I had the time of my life, and for the most part didn't have any bad experiences.

look, here's the thing. there's a hell of a lot of people in the world who want you to believe that because you made the choice to get a better life for yourself, because you're openly trans, because some people are sometimes assholes, because the odds in life are stacked against you, that there are things in this world that Aren't Made For You. That you Can't Do. I refuse to believe that's true god dang it and neither should you. happy pride, go get some grit, girls, some meat on those bones, some radical queerness in that heart, some good old fashioned survival skills and punk-y determination and get out there like the world is yours to take, because darling it is. pick your favorite battles and fight to win em all. don't let them tell you you can't chase those dreams, or you can't travel, or be who you want to be, or that you have to live Small, or any of that junk. Do it all because you're trans, because you're you, because you've made the choice to Live and get to get out there every day and fight for everything you want and need. because the thing they want most is for you to be so much more afraid than you Ever need to be. the first step to being brave is being a little crazy, and i know I'm only gonna be crazier from here . hell yeah.

also I have a hot date with a pretty girl on Friday so like that's neat and gay right?

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Hey all, Bella again. For those who don't know me, im a 17yr old tgirl living in most C+ / B- tier city in the nation (Colorado Springs). I wanted to post an update while also asking for advice. This will be in the style of my last "serious post" for the record, so sorry if it sounds like all of a ramble. Got a lot in my brain and just need to let it out
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the time of writing this post, its now been just about 7 months since I started Estrogen (which, give or take, I have taken about 205 pills since then, since I've missed a few days) . I've decided to play it safe for the most part about it all. I've been on 2mg / 50mg for the entire time and don't plan on bumping up my dosage atm because of both my issues with paying for it and not wanting the effects to be that noticeable for the time being, since I still live in my extremely socially conservative evangelical household.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honestly, HRT has been a mixed experience for me. The first month and a half felt great, and I felt on top of the world, but since then I've kind of just felt, well I guess the term is meh? About it all..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TW: Discussion SH and ED (though in a positive light) for the next part.
On the one hand, Estrogen has been great for me in a few ways. The mental clarity for the first twoish months was great, and I have noticed some chest growth and slowing of body hair growth which is always nice. Its also helped me better handle my issues with SHing and my ED fairly well, and while I still struggle with both of those things its now a much less consistent thing for me. It feels good in that sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the other hand, Estrogen has had its downsides, which I feel like not a lot of people talk about, although I feel like this is because not a lot of people have the same experiences I have had in my life. In a sense, I feel both guilty being on E while also feeling like I am wasting the opportunity from it. I feel guilty because I feel like I'm wasting it. In all metrics but on the medical standpoint, I'm not transitioning. I can't socially transition safely yet. The lack of motivation to do barely anything anymore means I have basically near given up on even attempting to train my voice to sound even vaguely fem and not awful and masculine. I have exactly one (1) IRL connection in my life who I talk to often who knows Im trans, and even then I have not seen them in months due to various circumstances. I don't even own any more feminine clothes anymore because, well, to make a long story short, I had to get rid of them. It makes me feel wasteful of it, honestly. I feel like.. I don't deserve it. I know people in much different positions than me (be it they are older, socially but not medically transitioning, having parents who actually love them but aren't socially or medically transitiong, w/e) who absolutely deserve this medicine more than I do, yet somehow I'm the fcking idiot on it. I get there's "being stealth" and stuff but honestly.. I don't know. It just doesn't.. feel like that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought Estrogen was going to help me deal with my dysphoria better or something, but honestly? In a weird, completely twisted way, I feel like its has barely changed anything -> even making it slightly worse? I want to be a woman so badly, and I want to feel comfortable in my own skin, and in a sense I feel like I should be. Estrogen should be making me happier with myself. Estrogen should be helping me deal with my dysphoria better than it does atm. Instead, I feel like all this medicine going in my body is nothing but just placebo to me. It's supposed to make me feel like a woman more, but it doesn't. In my mind and in the mirror I still see a man taking some fucked up medication to mutilate himself, and I hate it. I don't like the feeling at all and I just want it to stop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I guess my point with this post and all is how am I supposed to deal with these feelings? How do i stop feeling completely guilty about the opportunity I was given with my medication and how can I get myself to like myself more even in a situation I find myself in?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm sorry for being in a ramble again and ruining the mood the previous messages had. I hope everyone takes care of themselves.
 
Hey all, Bella again. For those who don't know me, im a 17yr old tgirl living in most C+ / B- tier city in the nation (Colorado Springs). I wanted to post an update while also asking for advice. This will be in the style of my last "serious post" for the record, so sorry if it sounds like all of a ramble. Got a lot in my brain and just need to let it out
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the time of writing this post, its now been just about 7 months since I started Estrogen (which, give or take, I have taken about 205 pills since then, since I've missed a few days) . I've decided to play it safe for the most part about it all. I've been on 2mg / 50mg for the entire time and don't plan on bumping up my dosage atm because of both my issues with paying for it and not wanting the effects to be that noticeable for the time being, since I still live in my extremely socially conservative evangelical household.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honestly, HRT has been a mixed experience for me. The first month and a half felt great, and I felt on top of the world, but since then I've kind of just felt, well I guess the term is meh? About it all..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TW: Discussion SH and ED (though in a positive light) for the next part.
On the one hand, Estrogen has been great for me in a few ways. The mental clarity for the first twoish months was great, and I have noticed some chest growth and slowing of body hair growth which is always nice. Its also helped me better handle my issues with SHing and my ED fairly well, and while I still struggle with both of those things its now a much less consistent thing for me. It feels good in that sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the other hand, Estrogen has had its downsides, which I feel like not a lot of people talk about, although I feel like this is because not a lot of people have the same experiences I have had in my life. In a sense, I feel both guilty being on E while also feeling like I am wasting the opportunity from it. I feel guilty because I feel like I'm wasting it. In all metrics but on the medical standpoint, I'm not transitioning. I can't socially transition safely yet. The lack of motivation to do barely anything anymore means I have basically near given up on even attempting to train my voice to sound even vaguely fem and not awful and masculine. I have exactly one (1) IRL connection in my life who I talk to often who knows Im trans, and even then I have not seen them in months due to various circumstances. I don't even own any more feminine clothes anymore because, well, to make a long story short, I had to get rid of them. It makes me feel wasteful of it, honestly. I feel like.. I don't deserve it. I know people in much different positions than me (be it they are older, socially but not medically transitioning, having parents who actually love them but aren't socially or medically transitiong, w/e) who absolutely deserve this medicine more than I do, yet somehow I'm the fcking idiot on it. I get there's "being stealth" and stuff but honestly.. I don't know. It just doesn't.. feel like that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought Estrogen was going to help me deal with my dysphoria better or something, but honestly? In a weird, completely twisted way, I feel like its has barely changed anything -> even making it slightly worse? I want to be a woman so badly, and I want to feel comfortable in my own skin, and in a sense I feel like I should be. Estrogen should be making me happier with myself. Estrogen should be helping me deal with my dysphoria better than it does atm. Instead, I feel like all this medicine going in my body is nothing but just placebo to me. It's supposed to make me feel like a woman more, but it doesn't. In my mind and in the mirror I still see a man taking some fucked up medication to mutilate himself, and I hate it. I don't like the feeling at all and I just want it to stop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I guess my point with this post and all is how am I supposed to deal with these feelings? How do i stop feeling completely guilty about the opportunity I was given with my medication and how can I get myself to like myself more even in a situation I find myself in?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm sorry for being in a ramble again and ruining the mood the previous messages had. I hope everyone takes care of themselves.
Don't blame yourself for not being able to "properly" transition under your circumstances.
It's not your fault when it's not safe for you to socially transition yet. As long as you're dependant on your family, it's the right choice to be careful.
Remember to live a little tho. If you can hide clothes or makeup somewhere, absolutely do experiment with it.
Also E takes time. Since the changes happen gradually, you won't notice them right away unless you're looking for them
 
Hey all, Bella again. For those who don't know me, im a 17yr old tgirl living in most C+ / B- tier city in the nation (Colorado Springs). I wanted to post an update while also asking for advice. This will be in the style of my last "serious post" for the record, so sorry if it sounds like all of a ramble. Got a lot in my brain and just need to let it out
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the time of writing this post, its now been just about 7 months since I started Estrogen (which, give or take, I have taken about 205 pills since then, since I've missed a few days) . I've decided to play it safe for the most part about it all. I've been on 2mg / 50mg for the entire time and don't plan on bumping up my dosage atm because of both my issues with paying for it and not wanting the effects to be that noticeable for the time being, since I still live in my extremely socially conservative evangelical household.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honestly, HRT has been a mixed experience for me. The first month and a half felt great, and I felt on top of the world, but since then I've kind of just felt, well I guess the term is meh? About it all..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TW: Discussion SH and ED (though in a positive light) for the next part.
On the one hand, Estrogen has been great for me in a few ways. The mental clarity for the first twoish months was great, and I have noticed some chest growth and slowing of body hair growth which is always nice. Its also helped me better handle my issues with SHing and my ED fairly well, and while I still struggle with both of those things its now a much less consistent thing for me. It feels good in that sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the other hand, Estrogen has had its downsides, which I feel like not a lot of people talk about, although I feel like this is because not a lot of people have the same experiences I have had in my life. In a sense, I feel both guilty being on E while also feeling like I am wasting the opportunity from it. I feel guilty because I feel like I'm wasting it. In all metrics but on the medical standpoint, I'm not transitioning. I can't socially transition safely yet. The lack of motivation to do barely anything anymore means I have basically near given up on even attempting to train my voice to sound even vaguely fem and not awful and masculine. I have exactly one (1) IRL connection in my life who I talk to often who knows Im trans, and even then I have not seen them in months due to various circumstances. I don't even own any more feminine clothes anymore because, well, to make a long story short, I had to get rid of them. It makes me feel wasteful of it, honestly. I feel like.. I don't deserve it. I know people in much different positions than me (be it they are older, socially but not medically transitioning, having parents who actually love them but aren't socially or medically transitiong, w/e) who absolutely deserve this medicine more than I do, yet somehow I'm the fcking idiot on it. I get there's "being stealth" and stuff but honestly.. I don't know. It just doesn't.. feel like that.
Hi! I'll give my perspective, which is one of multiple.

I understand where your feelings are coming from, I have had experience with similar feelings, and they are completely normal and expected, but a good starting base is that they are incorrect thoughts. You do deserve HRT, and you are already a woman. Of course, dealing with the feelings is not as simple as saying that, but understanding the truth rationally / surface-level can be helpful even before you fully internalize it.

Another good rational-logical starting point is that you did not ruin the mood at all. You used this space for its intended purpose with thoughtful and vulnerable perspective.

The fact that other people don't get access to Estrogen is not your fault. You deserve it because you are a trans girl. We all deserve to chase happiness, comfort, and self-realization, to live as our true selves and pursue our best lives. That other trans girls do not get Estrogen is a failing of society, not you.

Your impulse to sacrifice something so critical to you, just so someone else you don't know can have it, is rooted primarily in not valuing yourself enough and thinking you don't deserve it. Sacrificing and helping others can be great and healthy, but only when these actions are rooted in healthy views of yourself, others, and ideas. As you continue growing and learning and understand how to value yourself more, your impulse to change will change into a healthier form. Sacrifice rooted in self-diminishment just eats away at you and allows others to exploit you. Nobody and nothing is entitled to you eating away at yourself, to you destroying your heart, for its sake. Great sacrifice can be noble, but it must come freely, and not from obligation. Our lives and very selves are all more precious than that.

I plan to talk about your feelings of liking yourself more and doubting your womanhood in another post.
 
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I thought Estrogen was going to help me deal with my dysphoria better or something, but honestly? In a weird, completely twisted way, I feel like its has barely changed anything -> even making it slightly worse? I want to be a woman so badly, and I want to feel comfortable in my own skin, and in a sense I feel like I should be. Estrogen should be making me happier with myself. Estrogen should be helping me deal with my dysphoria better than it does atm. Instead, I feel like all this medicine going in my body is nothing but just placebo to me. It's supposed to make me feel like a woman more, but it doesn't. In my mind and in the mirror I still see a man taking some fucked up medication to mutilate himself, and I hate it. I don't like the feeling at all and I just want it to stop.
Your reaction is not weird at all.

Estrogen is a helpful tool to internalize and accept the truth – that you already were and are a girl. But it is just a tool, and only one tool. We need combinations of tools that meet our many wants and needs. I think Estrogen is part of your winning combinations, that you should keep taking it, and finding a good set of other tools alongside it will support it.

You're in the phase of life where you're learning what combinations of tools work for you. Your taking Estrogen has been part of this process. Alongside taking Estrogen, you can learn more about what other tools work well alongside it in your combinations.

I spent much of the past 5 years intensely searching for tools, and here is some of what I learned.
  • Tools often feel most helpful a short while into their use, and less helpful after. It is empowering to discover a new dimension of yourself or solve a problem, but this high doesn't last forever. That is normal and healthy.
  • Some tools are still useful, or have potential to be useful, after this high. These tools should stick around. Some tools were valuable in the moment of the high but won't be after, and these are OK to move on from. Both types of tool interactions are normal and healthy. It's good to both keep some tools stable and change other tools around.
  • Different parts of ourselves often link into each other. Helping one part of ourself helps others. This isn't just physical-mental links, like diet, exercise, and outside time helping us clear up our mental world. Different mental dimensions often support each other - or strengthen each others' dysfunction.
  • Searching for tools takes a lot of personal investment and a lot of time. Doing whatever you are internally motivated to do - even if it feels silly, or not enough - means a lot. After all, making progress in one area often helps another area. You get stronger over time.
  • Healthy support of you, both from yourself and from other people, is helping your journey to becoming the person you want to be, not what other people are hoping you'll be.

Learning what combinations of tools work for you, and facing obstacles on the way, is not being an idiot. That's growing up. You don't have the answers because you're finding them now, and you can't have them before you've found them!

You're so young, and with so much potential. You're 10 years wiser than your 7 year old child self. There will come a time you're 10 years wiser than the you of today. And then 20. And then 30. And more and more and more.
 
Hey all, Bella again. For those who don't know me, im a 17yr old tgirl living in most C+ / B- tier city in the nation (Colorado Springs). I wanted to post an update while also asking for advice. This will be in the style of my last "serious post" for the record, so sorry if it sounds like all of a ramble. Got a lot in my brain and just need to let it out
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the time of writing this post, its now been just about 7 months since I started Estrogen (which, give or take, I have taken about 205 pills since then, since I've missed a few days) . I've decided to play it safe for the most part about it all. I've been on 2mg / 50mg for the entire time and don't plan on bumping up my dosage atm because of both my issues with paying for it and not wanting the effects to be that noticeable for the time being, since I still live in my extremely socially conservative evangelical household.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honestly, HRT has been a mixed experience for me. The first month and a half felt great, and I felt on top of the world, but since then I've kind of just felt, well I guess the term is meh? About it all..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TW: Discussion SH and ED (though in a positive light) for the next part.
On the one hand, Estrogen has been great for me in a few ways. The mental clarity for the first twoish months was great, and I have noticed some chest growth and slowing of body hair growth which is always nice. Its also helped me better handle my issues with SHing and my ED fairly well, and while I still struggle with both of those things its now a much less consistent thing for me. It feels good in that sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the other hand, Estrogen has had its downsides, which I feel like not a lot of people talk about, although I feel like this is because not a lot of people have the same experiences I have had in my life. In a sense, I feel both guilty being on E while also feeling like I am wasting the opportunity from it. I feel guilty because I feel like I'm wasting it. In all metrics but on the medical standpoint, I'm not transitioning. I can't socially transition safely yet. The lack of motivation to do barely anything anymore means I have basically near given up on even attempting to train my voice to sound even vaguely fem and not awful and masculine. I have exactly one (1) IRL connection in my life who I talk to often who knows Im trans, and even then I have not seen them in months due to various circumstances. I don't even own any more feminine clothes anymore because, well, to make a long story short, I had to get rid of them. It makes me feel wasteful of it, honestly. I feel like.. I don't deserve it. I know people in much different positions than me (be it they are older, socially but not medically transitioning, having parents who actually love them but aren't socially or medically transitiong, w/e) who absolutely deserve this medicine more than I do, yet somehow I'm the fcking idiot on it. I get there's "being stealth" and stuff but honestly.. I don't know. It just doesn't.. feel like that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought Estrogen was going to help me deal with my dysphoria better or something, but honestly? In a weird, completely twisted way, I feel like its has barely changed anything -> even making it slightly worse? I want to be a woman so badly, and I want to feel comfortable in my own skin, and in a sense I feel like I should be. Estrogen should be making me happier with myself. Estrogen should be helping me deal with my dysphoria better than it does atm. Instead, I feel like all this medicine going in my body is nothing but just placebo to me. It's supposed to make me feel like a woman more, but it doesn't. In my mind and in the mirror I still see a man taking some fucked up medication to mutilate himself, and I hate it. I don't like the feeling at all and I just want it to stop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I guess my point with this post and all is how am I supposed to deal with these feelings? How do i stop feeling completely guilty about the opportunity I was given with my medication and how can I get myself to like myself more even in a situation I find myself in?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm sorry for being in a ramble again and ruining the mood the previous messages had. I hope everyone takes care of themselves.
many people have said good and thoughtful things both here and to your previous post so i dont have a ton of input but

yeah E takes time. but really, you probably wont notice a lot of changes even if you ARE looking for them. everyone is impatient with their own progress, it came free with the dysphoria - odds are other people may notice changes better than you. ofc perfectly normal to be frustrated about it, but as mentioned above, your self perception is intrinsically warped. you could live in lib city with rich gay parents with all your friends in fifteen polycules and start to transition at 12 or whatever the fuck and you would still deserve it. its not about circumstances being greater or lesser, seeking out the things you need isnt playing into some imaginary zero sum game. you are being productively proactive about your transition, which is good! anyway, very happy for all the girlies who rave about HRT like its magical fairy dust, but the reality HRT is not a panacea even if youre juiced to the max and physically transitioning for most of us is a slow hot mess. work and save to get the hell out, grind to get a scholarship, exercise, take care of your diet, seek out safe spaces in your city, tap into gender neutral clothing, find more queer people to talk to online, play the deranged horse gacha game that every trans person except for me seems to be on, anything you can manage to make it a little less miserable is worth it. if being trans has done anything for me its at least given me something to work towards. just remember to zoom out and look at the big picture sometimes
 
Hey all, Bella again. For those who don't know me, im a 17yr old tgirl living in most C+ / B- tier city in the nation (Colorado Springs). I wanted to post an update while also asking for advice. This will be in the style of my last "serious post" for the record, so sorry if it sounds like all of a ramble. Got a lot in my brain and just need to let it out
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At the time of writing this post, its now been just about 7 months since I started Estrogen (which, give or take, I have taken about 205 pills since then, since I've missed a few days) . I've decided to play it safe for the most part about it all. I've been on 2mg / 50mg for the entire time and don't plan on bumping up my dosage atm because of both my issues with paying for it and not wanting the effects to be that noticeable for the time being, since I still live in my extremely socially conservative evangelical household.
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Honestly, HRT has been a mixed experience for me. The first month and a half felt great, and I felt on top of the world, but since then I've kind of just felt, well I guess the term is meh? About it all..
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TW: Discussion SH and ED (though in a positive light) for the next part.
On the one hand, Estrogen has been great for me in a few ways. The mental clarity for the first twoish months was great, and I have noticed some chest growth and slowing of body hair growth which is always nice. Its also helped me better handle my issues with SHing and my ED fairly well, and while I still struggle with both of those things its now a much less consistent thing for me. It feels good in that sense.
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On the other hand, Estrogen has had its downsides, which I feel like not a lot of people talk about, although I feel like this is because not a lot of people have the same experiences I have had in my life. In a sense, I feel both guilty being on E while also feeling like I am wasting the opportunity from it. I feel guilty because I feel like I'm wasting it. In all metrics but on the medical standpoint, I'm not transitioning. I can't socially transition safely yet. The lack of motivation to do barely anything anymore means I have basically near given up on even attempting to train my voice to sound even vaguely fem and not awful and masculine. I have exactly one (1) IRL connection in my life who I talk to often who knows Im trans, and even then I have not seen them in months due to various circumstances. I don't even own any more feminine clothes anymore because, well, to make a long story short, I had to get rid of them. It makes me feel wasteful of it, honestly. I feel like.. I don't deserve it. I know people in much different positions than me (be it they are older, socially but not medically transitioning, having parents who actually love them but aren't socially or medically transitiong, w/e) who absolutely deserve this medicine more than I do, yet somehow I'm the fcking idiot on it. I get there's "being stealth" and stuff but honestly.. I don't know. It just doesn't.. feel like that.
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I thought Estrogen was going to help me deal with my dysphoria better or something, but honestly? In a weird, completely twisted way, I feel like its has barely changed anything -> even making it slightly worse? I want to be a woman so badly, and I want to feel comfortable in my own skin, and in a sense I feel like I should be. Estrogen should be making me happier with myself. Estrogen should be helping me deal with my dysphoria better than it does atm. Instead, I feel like all this medicine going in my body is nothing but just placebo to me. It's supposed to make me feel like a woman more, but it doesn't. In my mind and in the mirror I still see a man taking some fucked up medication to mutilate himself, and I hate it. I don't like the feeling at all and I just want it to stop.
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So I guess my point with this post and all is how am I supposed to deal with these feelings? How do i stop feeling completely guilty about the opportunity I was given with my medication and how can I get myself to like myself more even in a situation I find myself in?
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I'm sorry for being in a ramble again and ruining the mood the previous messages had. I hope everyone takes care of themselves.

Most changes don’t happen until you’re in year 2-3, and even then, they happen so gradually that you might not be noticing it at that point in time. There are also lots of other factors that come into play with how hormones affect your body. I didn’t notice any changes until I was a year on hormones, and I was on a higher dosage than you. This is a marathon, and you have to be willing to do the long run to see the changes.
 
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Hey all! I'm transfem!! (I think) :3

I'll prefer she/her but I won't be able to transition irl (or even change the pronouns on my discord bio to she/her because people irl have my discord) anytime in the foreseeable future because of where I live, the relatively hostile climate towards LGBTQ+ people here, traditional Chinese values & the fact that people I know irl are generally bigots so don't worry too much about pronouns.


Never really thought about my gender too much until recently when I nicknamed myself "Princess Cresselia" in a couple of discord servers with friends & I loved feeling be cute & being treated femininely. After this, something hit me a couple of days ago that I might not be cis, from then on, after talking with a few friends online, I came to this conclusion & came out in some very supportive discord servers like the Smogon Diplomacy discord & among the EiPP community.

There were definitely clues before this- for one, I enjoyed playing female characters more in video games- always told myself & people irl I was playing them based on mechanical reasons (F!Byleth in fe3h being able to autorecruit Sylvain, F!Alear in engage being able to take better advantage of some personal skills, May in Emerald having to read less dialogue from the rival, Zelda in ssbu being a fun character to play etc) although looking back these advantages were frankly quite minor & I was probably making excuses solely to have a reason to play the female character rather then actually playing female characters because of the mechanical benefits.

I also always loved the color pink & cute things- my parents disliked this & people irl thought I was weird for liking the cute Pokemon more then the edgy ones so I pretended for years my favorite color was blue/red & that I disliked cute Pokemon/characters in video games. Sounds super silly now, but then it felt like something I had to do. This facade only really came off not that long ago when I accepted that my favorite Pokemon was Cresselia & that Rosado from fe engage is one of my favorite fictional characters ever

I still have some doubts though. Rationally I definitely think I'll be happier female & I would 100% click a button that would turn me into a girl & make everyone I know think I was a girl the entire time, but obviously that is not possible irl. I don't feel like a girl whenever I look into the mirror or talk & it makes me feel like I'm just pretending online sometimes & it feels like shit.

My irl environment also sucks a lot- I hear slurs daily at school & basically every person there is extremely bigoted despite my school being quite progressive for a school in HK. My parents found out I was trans after my mother went through my Discord dms because I slipped up a bit irl, and she called me brainwashed & called the friends who were incredibly supportive of me bad things that I know they aren't. We had a massive argument and I ended up kicking a door really hard & broke a toenail after the terrible things she said about my friends & her calling trans people mentally ill. She did end up saying I'll always be her child regardless though so idfk what to think, but this argument still fucked up my irl pretty badly and I have been emotional & grumpy & useless & ridiculously sleepy (napping for 3 hours+ for like 3-4 days in a row) ever since it happened. I know logically this can't continue but sleeping to cope feels so fucking good because I can just pretend nothing ever happened while hugging my pillow.

With that said though, people online have been amazingly supportive of me in contrast to how fucked up things are irl. It might be unhealthy, but I feel much closer to people I know on the internet as compared to irl. Shoutouts to people in the EiPP community who have been nothing short of perfect & amazing & made me feel as comfortable as possible: SwiftIsSlow teamo Mossy Sandwich OM Munchy_Axolotls FrootLoops007 Sabby60 YashGreninja and plenty more people who don't have/use smogon are some of the greatest people I've ever interacted with & I count myself lucky to know you all. I also deeply appreciate the circus/smogdip community: LonelyNess a fairy Celever Dead by Daylight pulsar512b sunny004 Alice Kazumi StupidFlandrs48 Blazade Magic Mayhem Maiden JALMONT Da Letter El and many more - you all are so cool & supportive & it warms my heart that I'm able to interact with you. Finally, shoutouts to ionnss USN and tkhanh sundays for being great friends in APTH & my entire Smogon journey. I truly love all of you.

Apologies for the textdump- but it felt nice getting that off my chest and even though it won't solve my probkems venting it out did make me happier & its better then bedrotting like I've done for the past couple of days. Thank you if you read all of this- truly appreciate it.
 
Hey all! I'm transfem!! (I think) :3

I'll prefer she/her but I won't be able to transition irl (or even change the pronouns on my discord bio to she/her because people irl have my discord) anytime in the foreseeable future because of where I live, the relatively hostile climate towards LGBTQ+ people here, traditional Chinese values & the fact that people I know irl are generally bigots so don't worry too much about pronouns.


Never really thought about my gender too much until recently when I nicknamed myself "Princess Cresselia" in a couple of discord servers with friends & I loved feeling be cute & being treated femininely. After this, something hit me a couple of days ago that I might not be cis, from then on, after talking with a few friends online, I came to this conclusion & came out in some very supportive discord servers like the Smogon Diplomacy discord & among the EiPP community.

There were definitely clues before this- for one, I enjoyed playing female characters more in video games- always told myself & people irl I was playing them based on mechanical reasons (F!Byleth in fe3h being able to autorecruit Sylvain, F!Alear in engage being able to take better advantage of some personal skills, May in Emerald having to read less dialogue from the rival, Zelda in ssbu being a fun character to play etc) although looking back these advantages were frankly quite minor & I was probably making excuses solely to have a reason to play the female character rather then actually playing female characters because of the mechanical benefits.

I also always loved the color pink & cute things- my parents disliked this & people irl thought I was weird for liking the cute Pokemon more then the edgy ones so I pretended for years my favorite color was blue/red & that I disliked cute Pokemon/characters in video games. Sounds super silly now, but then it felt like something I had to do. This facade only really came off not that long ago when I accepted that my favorite Pokemon was Cresselia & that Rosado from fe engage is one of my favorite fictional characters ever

I still have some doubts though. Rationally I definitely think I'll be happier female & I would 100% click a button that would turn me into a girl & make everyone I know think I was a girl the entire time, but obviously that is not possible irl. I don't feel like a girl whenever I look into the mirror or talk & it makes me feel like I'm just pretending online sometimes & it feels like shit.

My irl environment also sucks a lot- I hear slurs daily at school & basically every person there is extremely bigoted despite my school being quite progressive for a school in HK. My parents found out I was trans after my mother went through my Discord dms because I slipped up a bit irl, and she called me brainwashed & called the friends who were incredibly supportive of me bad things that I know they aren't. We had a massive argument and I ended up kicking a door really hard & broke a toenail after the terrible things she said about my friends & her calling trans people mentally ill. She did end up saying I'll always be her child regardless though so idfk what to think, but this argument still fucked up my irl pretty badly and I have been emotional & grumpy & useless & ridiculously sleepy (napping for 3 hours+ for like 3-4 days in a row) ever since it happened. I know logically this can't continue but sleeping to cope feels so fucking good because I can just pretend nothing ever happened while hugging my pillow.

With that said though, people online have been amazingly supportive of me in contrast to how fucked up things are irl. It might be unhealthy, but I feel much closer to people I know on the internet as compared to irl. Shoutouts to people in the EiPP community who have been nothing short of perfect & amazing & made me feel as comfortable as possible: SwiftIsSlow teamo Mossy Sandwich OM Munchy_Axolotls FrootLoops007 Sabby60 YashGreninja and plenty more people who don't have/use smogon are some of the greatest people I've ever interacted with & I count myself lucky to know you all. I also deeply appreciate the circus/smogdip community: LonelyNess a fairy Celever Dead by Daylight pulsar512b sunny004 Alice Kazumi StupidFlandrs48 Blazade Magic Mayhem Maiden JALMONT Da Letter El and many more - you all are so cool & supportive & it warms my heart that I'm able to interact with you. Finally, shoutouts to ionnss USN and tkhanh sundays for being great friends in APTH & my entire Smogon journey. I truly love all of you.

Apologies for the textdump- but it felt nice getting that off my chest and even though it won't solve my probkems venting it out did make me happier & its better then bedrotting like I've done for the past couple of days. Thank you if you read all of this- truly appreciate it.
I said it on Discord before but I’m really proud of you that you’re far enough in your journey of self-discovery to be able to talk about it openly and publicly.

It’s really sad to hear about the situation you’re in, where the people you have exposure to hold these bigoted beliefs, and it’s absolutely understandable that you need to take into account all of these factors when evaluating when you can embrace the person you truly are.

But trust and believe that when you’re in a position where you can safely and confidently embrace the woman that you are that a social network will form around you, trans people and people who accept trans people find each other and you will be in a position to thrive.

It’s hard to have hope for the future in general but things should work out, most parents’ main concern is that their children are happy, and as you enter the stage in your life where you get more freedom you’ll have the ability to prove it to them no matter what gender you are. Your mother already seems to have approached acceptance, so when it becomes evident how amazing of a woman you are she should get on board with your current identity.

And yeah, don’t apologise for the textdump. It’s an amazing thing to be this open and vulnerable with people, give credit to yourself for getting to the stage where you can do that.
 
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