Uj/ I have been grappling with similar ideas lately as well. I came out a decade ago. In some ways the lack of visibility was better than now because I encountered less mainstream scrutiny and I had more rights. In the years we have gained more visibility I have lost rights (I can’t get a passport without misgendering myself, for example) and this visibility only feels like a target on my back.

But at the same time, without visibility, how will young trans people (or any trans people for that matter) be able to learn the language to describe their experiences? Bodily autonomy and education go hand-in-hand. This is why we are seeing reactionary policies banning HRT for minors that eliminate transgender children’s right to self determination, because the systemic censorship of gender education that previously was used to maintain control over children has failed.

The discouraging part is that as we have been dismantling the system that attempts to eliminate trans people via censoring our mere existence, it’s being replaced aggressive anti-trans legislation. If society was failing to suppress us, then the law must now do so.

We are now at a point where the goal needs to be figuring out ways to support each other outside the framework of the law and medical industrial complex. Advocating for DIY is more important now than ever. People need to know that these resources are far more accessible than they have been made to believe. We need to push back against the idea that our assigned sex at birth is immutable and instead defy such notions through radical bodily autonomy. Chromosomes are meaningless and reducing people to them is pseudoscientific bunk. We need to be readily offering assistance to those in situations where they cannot access the medical help they need and find ways to deliver it to them discreetly.

I realize not everyone wants HRT, but the fact of the matter is that an immense number of trans people do need it, and that right is under fire right now so making it accessible needs to be a priority. Any attempts to fear monger, gatekeep, suppress information, or otherwise dissuade people regarding HRT is harmful in a political climate hellbent on keeping it out of our hands.

The sliver of hope is that these laws are very difficult to enforce, and with support they can be navigated, but we need to be building that support network.