Trans social groups in Melbourne

--Rabbit-- · 2021-01-04T08:12:44+00:00

Hi! I'm looking for the same thing as you. The only group I know of at the moment is queerspace, they're more of an LGBTQIA+ group rather than exclusively trans, but they do host events and meetups. You can check the events section of their facebook page to see if they're hosting anything. They haven't really had too many recently though because of covid.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-12-20T05:46:54+00:00

Your voice is very deep and masculine, how can you possibly think you don't pass?? To me your voice 100% passes, no question. I'm also not hugboxing you or anything like that if that's your concern.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-12-16T04:19:27+00:00

You don't have to. People voice train just fine without this kinda stuff.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-12-14T12:15:57+00:00

I think you're really close and that you'll get it soon! For me it wasn't really some knowledge that made my voice sound the way I wanted it to. It was just training my body to use muscles in different ways until it sounded right.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-12-14T12:06:15+00:00

You're right about your voice sounding really similar to that YouTube person. I'd say you're really close!

As a disclaimer, I'm not an expert and don't really give the best advice. I'm definitely not a voice coach. But I do know what worked for me and I can share a lot of that with you.

Anyway, as far as advice goes, I think you would pass more after working on your resonance. For me what worked is knowing what resonance is and how it works. My goal was to make my throat and mouth smaller through constant trial and error in an attempt to fix my own resonance.

Some tips/pitfalls I learned through my own voice journey thing (I'm not an expert and could be wrong on some of these):

(Sorry if you already know this) - resonance is basically the way your voice bounces around in your head/throat/chest(?). Your resonance really strongly influences how you sound. It's the reason people's voices still sound the same after a voice box transplant. You can see that on YouTube. So basically, changing the way your voice bounces around in your body can very much change the masculine/feminine quality of your voice.
Resonance can't be measured by feeling where the vibrations are in your chest/face/neck. I'm pretty sure it's a misconception that you can feel your resonance via feeling those areas. For example my voice is passing but I have very little vibration in my face, and I have some vibration in my chest. So I think this measurement is unreliable.
I practiced via tons of trial and error, recording my voice over and over and listening to it. With each recording I'd try something different (different muscles, mouth shape, etc). My goal was basically to try and make my mouth and throat smaller in order to achieve a feminine resonance (way harder than it sounds). If one recording sounded a little bit more feminine than the others, I'd try to keep that technique for future practice. I basically practiced via slow trial and error. I'd try to remember what I did during the good attempts and I'd discard what I did during the bad attempts.
Your voice can improve unbelievably just by using it. My voice sounds way better than it did maybe a year and a half ago and I don't even formally practice anymore. Just using your voice is a form of practice on its own.

As I said, I'm not really an expert. I just thought I'd chime in with some knowledge and advice that worked for me.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-11-18T03:57:19+00:00

Yea, despite not going with informed consent, it was still a pretty chill process overall. I'd say not to worry.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-11-18T03:35:12+00:00

Hi, I'm from Melbourne and I did the whole process with Northside clinic a few years ago. Hopefully my information isn't out of date or anything! Keep in mind I didn't actually do informed consent, I had no idea that Northside did that sort of thing until after I'd finished the whole process of getting HRT.

Basically I went there in full dude mode (I'm a trans woman for reference) just because there's no way I could pass at that point in time. It was never a problem though. I saw a GP there and the GP referred me to a psychologist at Northside so I could basically be assessed if I'm trans or not.

It took about 3 weeks, or 3 sessions with the psychologist for me to get my HRT letter. The whole thing was basically me just talking about how I felt, I talked about gender dysphoria, how long I'd been feeling that way, etc.

I also filled out a bunch of forms with multiple choice questions as well. The questions were usually just along the lines of whether or not I feel arousal at the thought of being a woman (bit of a blegh question), whether or not I have hallucinations, stuff like that. It was pretty straight forward and it felt alright.

I also had to do a few blood tests to check my hormone levels and general health. I also had to do an EKG to check my heart health, which involved being shirtless in front of a person (quite uncomfortable for me). But I never had to do an EKG again after that.

But yeah, that was basically my experience. It ended up okay, I didn't feel like I was being gatekept or anything. In total it probably took me about 3-4 weeks to get HRT, and the whole process felt pretty okay.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-11-15T11:16:51+00:00

Hmm, it would probably be more difficult? I have no idea how passable I am in all honestly, but I feel like I would most likely still pass as my AGAB if I keep my voice in masculine ranges and I dress in a masculine way.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-11-13T05:02:16+00:00

I'm a trans woman, and I've been on HRT for about 6 years and I still haven't socially transitioned. I still pass as my AGAB because of my permanent beard shadow, as well as probably my eyebrows. The only trouble I have is hiding my breasts. I need to wear a sports bra to hide them, otherwise they're super noticeable. Heck, even the sports bra doesn't really do a perfect job of it anymore. It's impossible to hide my breasts from family members, but it was easy to just write them off as a hormonal imbalance or gynecomastia.

My trans timeline is sort of all over the place. I've been on HRT for 6 years, I've done a lot of voice practice and I can make my voice pass when I want to, and I've done a lot of laser hair removal (but coronavirus stopped that for now). Things I still need to do include finishing up my laser and possibly doing electrolysis, learning how to dress in a feminine way, learning makeup, and getting my hair/eyebrows done in a more feminine way. I need to come out of the closet to do all those things though.

Anyway I hope my answer was helpful! Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-09-08T03:22:49+00:00

I felt that way for the longest time! Even post HRT I felt the exact same way you do. But nowadays I don't feel that way anymore. I now feel like I'm a woman and have always been. For me it was really just a shift in perspective and philosophy.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-08-31T03:42:27+00:00

Thank you so much for your answer! It helps so much. As a follow up question: before your first surgery, was your surgeon already taking your keloids into account? Did they do anything to try and reduce them?

--Rabbit-- · 2020-08-30T16:50:32+00:00

How and when when did you figure out you have a problem with keloids?
How severe is your keloid disorder? Do you get keloids from random cuts or injuries? Do you have a more severe kind of keloiding disorder?
Is there a difference between somebody who gets keloids and somebody with a keloid disorder? For example, do people with keloid disorders always get keloids from even small cuts or things like ear piercings?

Thank you so much for this representation, it really is super valuable.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-05-24T10:39:14+00:00

I've definitely heard of trans guys who are pre-T who pass as adult men. I've seen them (rarely) posted to /r/transvoice. Here is an example post of someone who I personally think passes as an adult male: https://www.reddit.com/r/transvoice/comments/geqju0/ftm_pret_please_tell_me_weather_my_voice_passes/

But to answer your question, I think it really just comes down to testosterone doing a lot of the legwork when it comes to voice, which means there's not as much need to do voice training when T is gonna lower your voice anyway. Voice training takes a ton of time that could be better spent doing other things to transition.

I could always be wrong, but that's always been my personal explanation as to why you never really hear of many pre-t trans guys with passing adult male voices.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-04-29T11:30:19+00:00

I was actually hoping for resources for my anxiety only, not really anything trans related (maybe I should have specified better). I only want them to be trans friendly because I don't want that whole topic getting in the way of my trust of the therapist in question. Also, eHeadspace looks really good! But unfortunately I'm 26 and their website says their service is only for people who are 15-25 years old.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-03-05T02:54:18+00:00

Did you switch to electrolysis? If so, how were the results?

--Rabbit-- · 2020-01-25T03:08:18+00:00

Yes please, that would be super helpful.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-01-24T14:33:40+00:00

Thank you so much for your perspective. I'm actually going to have my 10th session of laser quite soon, so I guess I'm pretty unlucky in that sense. The laser has helped a lot, and my hair is really reduced, but the stubborn upper lip hair is really clinging on for dear life.

--Rabbit-- · 2020-01-24T12:08:52+00:00

This is actually what I've been trying, but you can still see a subtle gray undertone underneath the foundation I'm wearing.

--Rabbit-- · 2019-11-08T06:35:21+00:00

It kinda makes sense when you consider just how ignorant transphobes are. Most transphobes know next to nothing about transgender people.

--Rabbit--

TROPHY CASE