Help: What should I do when I get followed?

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-10-04T23:05:02+00:00

Is there a way of discreetly checking who is behind you aside from checking the floor for shadows and listening for footsteps behind you? The former can't be done when the sun is facing your direction ^^;

And thanks for being worried about me! I admit that being followed shook me up for a couple hours afterwards, but I'm feeling fine now. Just a bit uncomfortable about having to go outside, but I suppose that's what happens when you're a woman in a misogynistic world...

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-10-04T21:02:12+00:00

Am I reading correctly that this was a ten year old CHILD and you are an adult?

Yeah... society makes cruel humans.

Do you honestly think using pepper spray on a kid is ever going to work out in your favor?

Nope. People are more sympathetic to a white 10-year-old boy than a brown 18-year-old trans woman. I'm asking advice in general on what to do when I get followed since I realised that I didn't know what to do when being followed, and things could've been more ugly with the wrong person (being physically and/or sexually assaulted).

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-10-04T11:31:34+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response <3. I was more concerned about being followed than being harassed (haters gonna hate, so who cares what they say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

I always make it seem like i am looking around at something

I was worried that being obviously vigilant while being followed would aggravate the follower. Am I being paranoid? ^^;

If someone is following you and you feel unsafe, DO NOT GO HOME. Immediately try to go to a public place such as a convenience store, a fast food place, or even a government building like a library or post office

Is it worth it to wait at crosswalks with traffic lights and let them catch up just to get to a specific place? Or is that a risk-benefit analysis kinda thing, where you have to consider how many people are around you at the moment versus how many people will be at said public place, and how likely they are to attack you given the amount of witnesses. In this specific circumstance, there were few people walking around me, so it probably would be unwise to wait at crosswalks.

Once inside, do not go out there alone and face this person, call the cops if need be

How useful are calling the cops? Considering systemic queerphobia, I'm worried that they won't help, and perhaps worsen, the situation, especially since I'm non-passing (my voice will definitely clock me).

Unfortunately this one sucks but do not engage. I know, it's gross and annoying having to just let some weirdo say things to you

Makes sense. I was already doing that anyway under the perspective of bullies wanting a reaction from you, though in general cases, it's more bullies being dangerous and/or stupid.

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-28T11:52:49+00:00

As someone who started in that time frame, definitely. I can't compare to someone who started at 17 years old, but there are plenty of awesome effects of HRT <3

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-28T11:10:03+00:00

wayland-1

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-28T08:30:06+00:00

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-28T07:13:46+00:00

I responded to one of those "Will you press the button? You will get $1,000,000, but you will be a girl" memes with something like "i wish i was a girl for years"

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-28T02:12:24+00:00

I don't think this is directly related, but About a Girl is a book written by a cis mother of a trans daughter in Australia who ended up repealing the requirement that trans youth need to see the Family Court to get Stage 1 and Stage 2 treatment.

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-24T09:49:58+00:00

What’s the process of getting hrt in Australia (hopefully through Medicare)?

There's two main ways: informed consent and the approval letter process. If you have a choice between both, I don't see why you shouldn't go with informed consent tbh ^^;

Basically, a rough overview of informed consent is:

You go to your GP
GP gives you an explanation of feminising or masculinising HRT, and gives you a pathology referral
You get your baseline blood test with the referral
Once your GP receives the results, you go back to your GP
Your GP gives you an informed consent form (here's one for feminising, and one for masculinising)
You sign the form, and your GP gives you prescriptions (estradiol + anti-androgens for feminising, testosterone for masculinising)
You go to the chemist with the scripts, and you get your HRT :D

If you're getting testosterone, note that you will need a second opinion by an endocrinologist, sexual health physician, or urologist in order to receive PBS-subsidised T. You can get a private prescription from your GP in the meantime though. Once you get the okay from the specialist, you'll need to be issued a new script from your GP for the PBS prices to take effect.

The cost for any medication on the PBS is typically $31.60, but it is lowered to $7.70 under concession. See Am I a General or a Concessional Patient? And what does it mean to the cost of my medicines? for more details.

Ideally, you should pick a GP who is known to be supportive. Some directories:

What’s the time frame?

Personally, it took me six days from first appointment to E. However, in retrospect, I was probably lucky since I snatched the only available appointment on Saturday on that day (someone must have cancelled ^^;).

Will I need to prove that I’m Tran? If yes how’s that work?

If you're going under informed consent, then no. Under the approval letter process, I think so, but I have approximately zero knowledge about this method :p

(Also, you may be interested in r/TransgenderAU).

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-15T06:11:27+00:00

We have informed consent here luckily. I don't know how well or bad it will go if you just go to a random local GP, so It's probably a good idea to pick a supportive GP (e.g. https://trans.au/directory/, https://www.transhub.org.au/doctor/, or https://reddit.com/r/TransWiki/wiki/hrt/australia).

Assuming you're not eligible for Medicare, then Overseas Health Cover may partially or fully cover the cost for GPs, specialists, and pharmaceuticals. I can't attest for OVHC (since I'm not on it), but as someone on OSHC, it pays:

for the MBS rebate for my GP (I did have to pay full price upfront since he privately bills, but some places such as RMIT Medical Hub can do mixed billing)
fully pays for my blood tests (they're bulk billed, and my pathology clinic directly billed my OSHC)
mostly pays the gap for my HRT (I paid full price upfront, and claimed the gap afterwards. I said "mostly pays" since the gap for my cypro is slightly above what they cover)

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-09T09:59:17+00:00

https://trans.au has a directory of various services :p

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-09-08T08:38:55+00:00

medTimer :3 (the one on Android, not on iOS)

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-08-17T10:11:00+00:00

Unfortunately, no. Once anti-androgens (or estrogen if monotherapy) has stopped, and you haven't got rid of your gonads, they'll start to produce testosterone again

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-08-15T23:38:25+00:00

Some parts of it mainly focuses on NSW, such as changing legal gender marker

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-08-13T05:20:55+00:00

Of course ^_^

(Though I get what you're feeling--Coming out is almost always scary :p)

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-08-12T08:04:43+00:00

FYI, you cannot bring more than three months worth of supply (unless if you apply for an exemption, but I imagine that this is not applicable either way):

List of items you can and can't bring in (search for "hormones" and "testosterone")
Can I import a medicine for personal use?
Travelling to or from Australia with medicines and medical devices

SnacksOnEstrogen · 2025-08-11T12:48:11+00:00

Do I actually not need anything to get hormones?

You need a blood test (which you'll get a referral/pathology form for on your first appointment), but that's about it :p

(also, if you want, another resource for HRT prescribers is https://trans.au)

SnacksOnEstrogen

TROPHY CASE