#ftm england

[arsenenicholas]

https://goodlawproject.org/crowdfunder/nhs-cyp-guidance/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaadkVMoRUHpcFptnjlifnc1xJ0i7YGVi78tfv2vEXVaVIQDPTEp1-ozNcY_aem_AfqNP9xEERFn6GRCZCIP7B2RriLi8ZN7pVAFzmNwdvqIXW0nmc1mTe5Hq0UV3xC6VPWdYe1x64wHk7O6-HPOhIdf

Please share, tag someone who could bring this to a lot of people, and post to other platforms. Not originally mine, idk who is the source of the screenshots.

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In thick white text on black background-> NHS ENGLAND ARE PLANNING A HONEYPOT WHERE THEY SEND ALL KIDS ON GIDS WAITLIST TO CAHMS TO HAVE THEM BE ASKED IF THEY ARE TAKING BLOCKERS/HRT VIA PRIVATE OR DIY ROUTES

Text is broken and in the middle is an excerpt from a leaked nhs document-> a) For medication sourced directly (e.g via the internet), explain the increased risks of harm due to the unregulated nature of these medicines/products. These may include the use of counterfeit chemicals, unsafe/unknown ancilliary ingredients or variability of potency etc. More information can be found here (link to nhs website). // b) Do not initiate or continue prescribing puberty surpressing hormones or gender affirming hormones. The General Medical Council's guidance to medical professionals on 'bridging prescriptions (a course of endocrine intervention managed by a healthcare professional outside of the specialised gender service while an individual is waiting to be seen) does not apply to care offered to young people under 18 years of age. // c) If the child/young person or their carer disregards your advice and you consider that this puts the child/young person at increased risk, then a safeguarding referral might also be appropriate in line with standard safeguarding approaches. Discuss with your line manager and your organization's safeguarding team.

Thick white text on black background continues-> ANY WHO SAYS YES AND DO NOT DESIST FROM DOING SO WILL BE THREATENED WITH SAFEGUARDING REFERRAL (TAKEN INTO STATE CARE)

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In black text on white background, from the news article linked above-> It seems to us - and to those inside the NHS who have leaked the document to us - that what purports to be an "assessment" in fact an exercise in bringing very significant pressure to bear on trans youth and their families to cease private treatment, backed up with a threat of a safeguarding referral to social services if they do not. // We are concerned about what appears to be a misleading exercise in gathering data on which trans youth are obtaining private treatment from abroad, for the purposes of seeking to cause or compel them to stop treatment.

In the same thick white text on black background as previous image-> So an internal NHS document has been leaked basically asking trans kids on excruciatingly ling waiting lists to come to a 'mental health assessment' where the NHS will harvest their personal information & threaten their families with a social services referral if they're found to be on private blockers/hormones & refuse to come off them. // This country is for dogs i swear.

[phantom-of-the-memes]

Great news for trans people in the UK and Ireland!!!

[alurayehulsey]

aluraye 🐰

[orangejuicetastesgood]

Hi. I’ve realised my account has become very trans focused as of recently but I feel like this is important to mention.

THE NHS WILL NO LONGER SUPPLY PUBERTY BLOCKERS TO PEOPLE UNDER 18

This, is actually fucking STUPID. I’m so sorry to those of you in the UK who are trans and going through puberty.

People act as if getting access to trans healthcare over here is so easy, but you’ve got to jump through so many hoops just to get one appointment. People who are on hormone blockers will have been wishing years where they had time to consider their choice, it wasn’t just something you could randomly start one day, so I don’t know why the government and a lot of the general public acts like that’s the case.

I’m sorry to anyone who was planning on getting on hormone blockers in England anytime soon, I’ll share resources about this to try and share support the best way possible if I can.

[issyvoo-55]

AAAAAAAAA EXAMS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GCSES AAAAAAAAAAAA i am NOT a big boy, I CANNOT be doing exams this year PLEASE GOD

[pronounpinbadge]

hey trans people in the UK who want to stop getting their periods: buy Lovima

Lovima is an OTC (over-the-counter) contraceptive pill that stops pregnancy and most importantly, periods. It's got progesterone, not estrogen in it, which means you're not getting any of the feminising effects.

I was prescribed desogestrel by my GP in tandem with Tavistock, literally 75 micrograms like Lovima is, at 15 exclusively because I experienced such heavy dysphoria over having to deal with monthly periods. So it is legitimately prescribed as a transition resource!

You don't need to be a certain age to buy birth control in the UK, and if your local chemist gives you shit about looking young just ask if they want another teenage pregnancy taking out of their taxes lmao.

Goodluck! and if theres a US equivalent feel free to link it @ US trans peoples

[timetravelingsherlockian]

my mom: you wouldn't need a special tailor unless you had a fake dick

me: yes.

my mom: AND you wouldn't be able to go suit shopping unless you had it nearby and accessible

me, currently wearing my packer: yes.

my mom: do you currently have one nearby?

me, still wearing my packer, as I have been all morning: Yes.

my mom: I DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW THAT

me: I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL YOU

[stark-park]

I'VE JUST HAD TOP SURGERY! OMG! Can't believe it finally happened!

If anyone's curious, here's the timeline of my journey so far:

Referral to gender clinic sent via NHS England: April 2019

East of England gender clinic called: Jan 2022

Had 4-5 calls with clinic: Jan 2022 - May 2024

Jan 2022 = 1st call to take me off Tavistock list and onto EoE list. 2nd call week later to talk with them about myself, dysphoria, how long felt trans, where I fall on trans scale and how I see my gender, and most importantly: what I want from them, etc

Later 2022 = 3rd call that went through same things as 2nd but with a different person so they could compare notes and confirm gender dysphoria/incongruence diagnosis.

In both calls with the clinic, I expressed that my main dysphoria was with my chest and the thought of going on hormones beforehand would exacerbate feelings so I wanted to pursue top surgery (removal of breasts) first.

In both calls, I was asked if I had socially transitioned, who I'd told, how it made me feel, and experience that affirmed this was the correct path for me, etc. I had come out to my work as non-binary with a shortened version of my birth name. I knew this was temporary until I took the plunge and changed my name (ADHD procrastination is a bitch 😂)

August 2022 = I socially changed my name and confirmed the pronouns I'd like to be called. It didn't really come as a shock to anyone tbh, which was good. I think this was before my 3rd call with clinic, so I was able to tell them my new name.

Feb 2023 = I legally changed my name (big up the ADHD procrastination and finally the impulse to just DO IT!). I did this via Deedpoll and had 2 colleagues/friends sign as witnesses. I chose them as they had easy to understand jobs so would look more official than unemployed or self-owned company person.

March 2023 (I think) = I had my 4th call with the clinic, this was specifically for top surgery. They asked me about what kind I wanted, who/where I wanted to go with, if I understood the risks etc. I answered all bar who/where as I didn't have anyone bar really old names that I'd seen from YouTube. I asked them to send me a list so I could choose.

April 2023 = I chose My Andrew (Andy) Mellington at Nuffield Health in Brighton as my surgeon. I'm considered obese so I wanted a realistic BMI goal. Most wanted a BMI of 30 so I didn't even look at them (this was based off comments I'd see on social media, with some people saying a few surgeons weren't very nice), whereas his, and Mr Kneeshaw (I think) accepted a limit of 35 BMI. This was far more attainable for me. I did email them both (details on their websites to info emails can be found easily) and enquired. Mellington's team came back to me the next day asking me to send questions to a specific person, they then came back very quickly (same/next day). I'm still yet to hear back from Kneeshaw 😂 (a friend of a friend went with him which is why I considered him, but Mellington was quicker, had good reviews on social media and I was able to find someone who had my body shape, pictures, and replied to me! So that consolidated my decision.)

Aug 2023 = official referral from EoE gender clinic was sent to Nuffield requesting Mellington to take me on.

Nuffield team called me to confirm consultation date: early January 2024

At this point the team also sent a short form for me to fill in and requested pictures of my chest

Consult with Andy Mellington: late Feb 2024

I didn't expect him to talk about much of my trans experience tbh but he did ask a little (how long felt like this, how did you know etc.) before he then ran through what I requested and what I should expect

I asked for double masectomy. Due to my weight and size of breasts, this was 1 of a few options. Andy said looking at my chest pictures, it's likely my scars would be so close in the middle that to achieve a flatter chest, 1 long scar was gonna be best to avoid leaving a bulge in the middle.

I chose not to have nipples grafted. This was for a few reasons. 1. I don't like when I can see them through my shirt (big dysphoria). 2. I've watched a lot of vids of trans people's recovery and the nips are the grossest (they get removed and reattached so healing is a bit longer/itchier etc than just the main scar). 3. Someone said they were scared of scratching them off and uh...yeah that didn't help. 4. I saw vids of other people with no nips and it looked fine, there's gonna be a big ol' scar on ya chest so it's not like there's nothing to look at.

Andy did reassure that he's never had any nipples fall off of his patients, if that's what I was worried about too. But honestly, I just don't want them. And if I decide later that I want something there, then I could choose to get them tattooed on.

Nuffield team called to confirm surgery date: mid-March 2024

Date of surgery: 30th May 2024

Pre-assessment call 14th May 2024

Call from Nuffield team. Went through medical history and confirmed what needed to be done about getting bloods taken

Pre-assessment appointment: 21st May 2024

Went to my nearest Nuffield hospital (1 hour away) and had blood taken and MRSA swabs. Team were really nice and welcoming.

I got ill for a month and half so had to reschedule my surgery 😭: May 17th 2024

It was rescheduled: late Aug 24 but I asked to be kept on the list if anyone else cancelled, I was then re-rescheduled for late July 2024

And now, it's August! It's done!

In morning of July date, discharged the next morning.

2 week post-op meeting with Nuffield team will come. I will be able to take my binder off, they will check my scars. Expected to be about 30 minutes, can be in person or virtual (I was advised virtual is absolutely fine as I live far away, Andy was happy with results and no nips meant better recovery).

Then I have a gender clinic appointment expected around April 2025 to possible talk hormones.

It's been a long time to wait, and that's without all the dysphoria that comes with living in the wrong body for so long, but my god am I so relieved right now. It's (pun fully intended) such a weight off my chest!

[reygunsandreynbows]

‼️‼️TRANS STUDENTS IN THE UK‼️‼️

please share this as it is uncertain but likely and puts MANY students at risk

(this is likely to apply primarily to secondary school students but again we really dont know)

additionally just adding a preface i do not know all the information and have not fully read the paper however i do believe that these are firmly risks that people need to at least be aware of

tw: mention of detransition, suicide and endangering children

Following a centre-right paper about the threats of transgender students, sunak has announced there will be changes in advice/safeguarding laws concerning gender/transgenderism in schools.

this is the paper but i warn you it is incredibly disrespectful and dehumanising and hinestly terrifying so please have cautikn

https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/asleep-at-the-wheel/

although we do not know what the update will be these are the suggestions from the paper which are likely to be highly consideredconsidering previous anti-trans sentiments:

1. any student questioning their gender to a teacher will be outed to their parents as a "safeguarding" measure

(this will remove safe spaces for students who cannot risk their family knowing thus increasing the suicide rates. they want us dead)

2. schools cannot let students socially transition in any way (name, pronouns, sports teams etc)

(again this removes safe spaces and any form of gender affirmation from those they meet the most, again suicide rates. this will likely also result in forcibly detransitioning many students such as myself)

3. schools must show all pshe/sex ed material to parents to ensure their approval

(likely forcing schools to remove lgbtq+ topics including risks such as AIDS or the mere existence of queerness)

4. schools must change their approach to stop encouraging "gender distressed" children

(they want to bury our existence even if it hurts people)

5. bathrooms, changing rooms and competitive sports must be single sex

(removing gender neutral facilities and also for some reason mixed gender teams pushing ideas of boys and girls needing to be separated)

6. LGBTQ topics are safeguarding issues (legally considered as hurting people)

(demonises queerness and removes awareness)

7. schools must be punished for not informing parents that a student has questioned their gender in any way

(means schools are forced to out students regardless of whether it actually benefitd them)

8. schools cannot mention gender critical beliefs or ideas of sex being different to gender

(trying to hide our existence to snuff us out despite going against science and medicine)

overall? THE GOVERNMENT WANT US GONE.

weve seen whats happening in america and as with many things its been likely to happen here for a while now. until the start of the summer term were waiting for the other shoe to drop as to how bad this may be but it doesnt look good.

This will endanger many students either due to the outing or not being able to voice trans issues/ be accepted by those who previously would have- i myself am preparing for a long and diffcult conversation with various teachers that have constantly supported me

Also be aware that whatever happens may set a precedent for the future. even if youre not trans if youre in any way queer this might effect you from holding back education on queer relationships to potentially finding a similar rule set for sexuality.

if you can talk to teachers NOW about your name/pronouns before the official changes are made and they can claim having never known. play it safe. do not put yourself at risk

additionally, you are valid no matter how you are percieved, how you present or how you must act to ensure your safety.

love you all <3

[koolkat9]

i wanted to do arthur and little baby matthew but arthur starts being mean out of nowhere

Noooooooo! Arthur this isn't 2012s fanfiction 😭

[robin-hood-trans]

Enjoy these pics from the summer. It's not raining constantly here in the UK. I've got my top surgery on 13th Jan and so am trying to make the most of it for the next few months as won't be able to do much for 6 weeks.

[jikimo-world]

[Summary of the prologue of "Guigemar", lay of Marie de France, mediaeval writer]

One day Guigemar, a young man incapable of loving, finds a doe and her fawn in the forest. The animal is completely white with stag’s antlers. The knight, not bothered by the fact that the creature is a mother, fires his bow and struck the animal in the forehead. The doe falls immediately, but the arrow ricochets and penetrates Guigemar's thigh. He falls down beside the suffering animal, who suddenly speaks and curses the man for inflicting fatal injuries on her: "May you never find a cure…until you are cured by a woman's love. You will suffer for her and she will suffer as much for you"

"Dad, why didn't you tell us that mom was mortal?"

"I'm sorry, my deer"

[health-and-technical-product]

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[oh-dear-so-queer]

In March 2022, there were 43 trans women prisoners being held in England and Wales and 187 trans men: a total of 230 trans prisoners.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory

[absentfather]

Trans people of England, how/when did you start transitioning and how difficult is it to start transitioning medically?

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

will you please give us examples of resources to look at if we want to learn more about the concept of gender and maybe even transness in Medieval Europe? thanks!

whooooo boy right, there's a lot! I wanna start this by saying that I am very much not an expert, and I only have access to stuff I can find for free and the handful of books I can afford to buy second hand. Most of my research has been around gender as it relates to transness and GNC people. I am absolutely missing stuff, or have forgotten stuff, or simply lack the know-how to find stuff.

There's a few bits I've got on a TBR but haven't read yet - some I've included and some I haven't, depending on the source and how established it is.

Also: this is medieval Europe. The way pronouns are used to describe people don't really align with modern views of sex and gender. Also be aware of old-fashioned language use (for example, some texts talk about "hermaphrodites"). Remember that the way we talk about gender and trans identities is far different to how we even spoke about it 20 years ago.

So with that out of the way... I am chucking this under a read more, because it's long:

---

GENDER

Medieval ideas around gender were different to how we now think about it. The Hippocratic view of gender saw gender as a sort of wet/dry, cold/hot spectrum upon which men were at one end and women the other (and in the middle were intersex people). The male body was seen as hot and dry, and the female as cold and wet. The cold, wetness is what made women try to seek out heat from guys. A lot comes down to humors rather than genitals - if you're hot and dry, that innately means you grow a penis, because the heat sorta forces it out. So the marker is that penis = man, but you only have that penis in the first place because of your hot, dry humor.

Some people believed the vagina was an inverted penis - as in, the penis turned outside in. Some schools of thought believed that both men and women produced "seed", and that both were needed for conception. These thoughts and ideas shifted around a lot.

The Hippocratic view shifted towards Aristotelian ideas around the 12th Century, where the male/female divide was a lot stronger. There were also surgeons throughout all these periods who sought to "correct" intersex genitalia with surgery (how little things change).

This podcast (I've linked to a transcript, because I have more time to read than listen to things) with Dr Eleanor Janega is super interesting. In fact, I'd recommend reading her whole blog, which is fascinating. She also has a book out (but I've not read it so I can't give a yay or nay on that one)

The Meanings of Sex Difference in the Middle Ages by Joan Cadden seems to be a good source on this, but I've not read it so I can't vouch for it 100%.

I've listed below some real people who could fit into our modern interpretation of transness, and the fact that all of these people were only "outed" when arrested or at their death makes me think that there were probably a lot more people at the time who would also fit into this category. It does feel (to me, a layman) that you could rock up in a new town and go "hello I'm Jeff the Man" and people would just accept that.

It's also important to note that the majority of sources I've found are about people we could define as trans men (FTM). I've only found one person who could be described as a trans woman. If anyone out there has more sources for trans women, I'd love to hear them - specifically in medieval Europe/England.

There's also a big discussion to be had around the idea of women dressing as men to achieve a goal. People love getting into arguments about it. My general rule is that if someone lived as X gender, and was forcibly outed against their will or at death, then I feel we can more safely assume that their experience maps more closely onto a trans narrative than it does one of a woman taking on the "disguise" of a man.

---

TRANS & GNC ACADEMIA

Here's some of the sources I've been using that examine medievalism through a trans or trans-adjacent lens.

Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography, Alicia Spencer-Hall & Blake Gutt - a deep dive/collection of essays about medieval religious figures/saints through a trans lens, specifically about cross-dressing figures. Really fascinating, and available on open access.

How to be a Man, Though Female: Changing Sex in Medieval Romance, Angela Jane Weisl - goes into detail about medieval texts in which characters change their sex.

Transgender Genealogy in Tristan de Nanteuil, Blake Gutt - trans theory in the story Tristan de Nanteuil.

Trans Historical: Gender Plurality before the Modern, edited by Greta LaFleur, Masha Raskolnikov & Anna Kłosowska - A great big examination into trans history/gender. I desperately want this book.

Clothes Make the Man, Female Cross Dressing in Medieval Europe, Valerie R. Hotchkiss (book, no online source available) - Another look into women dressing as men and gender inversion.

The Shape of Sex, Leah DeVun (book) - A history of nonbinary sex, 200 - 1400BC. Not read this one yet but it's on my TBR.

In fact, I'd recommend all of Leah DeVun's work, which I'm currently making my way through. I'm currently reading Mapping the Borders of Sex.

The Third Gender and Aelfric's Lives of Saints, Rhonda L. McDaniel - An examination into the idea of a "third gender" in monastic life based around chastity and spiritualism

Erecting Sex: Hermaphrodites and the Medieval Science of Surgery, Leah DeVun - an essay about "corrective" surgery on intersex individuals in the 13th/14th centuries. (I've not fully read this one yet but the topic is relevant)

----

TRANS FIGURES

Joseph/Hildegund (died 1188) - A monk who, upon his death, was discovered to have a vagina/breasts.

Eleanor Rykener (1394) - A (likely) trans sex worker arrested in 1394 (and another source that isn't wiki)

Katherina Hetzeldorfer (killed 1477) - An early record of a "woman" being executed for female sodomy. Katherina dressed and presented as a man, and some scholars read them as a trans man.

Marinos/Marina the Monk (5th Cent) - A monk who was born a woman and lived as a man in a monastery. Marinos was accused of getting a local innkeeper's daughter pregnant. Their "true sex" was discovered upon their death.

-----

ROMANCES* & GENDER

If you're interested in the idea of gender presentation and trans-adjacent stories, I very much recommend taking a look at some contemporary sources. I've tried to take a sort of neutral approach to pronouns for these descriptions, but it's hard to marry the medieval and modern ideas of sex and gender! The titles are all links.

*Romances here means Chivalric Romances: prose/verse narratives about chivalry, often with fantastic elements. Not, like, falling in love Romances.

Le Roman de Silence (13th Cent) - in order to ensure inheritance, a couple raise their daughter as a boy. The baby is called Silence/Silentius/Silentia. The poem features the forces of Nature and Nurture, who argue about Silence's "true" gender - Nature claims they're a girl, and Nurture claims they're a boy. Silence has a variety of adventures, largely referred to in the text as a man with he/him pronouns, and at the end their "true gender" is discovered and, as a woman, they marry the king.

Yde et Olive (15th Cent) - to avoid being married to their own father, Yde, a woman, disguises themselves as a man and becomes a knight. They end up in Rome, where the king marries them to their daughter, Olive. After a couple of weeks, Yde tells Olive about their "true gender", but the conversation is overheard. The King demands Yde bathe with him to prove they are a man. An angel intervenes and transforms Yde's body into that of a man.

Iphis and Ianthe (Greek/Roman myth, but also in Ovid's Metamorphois, which first came to England in the 15th Cent) - Telethusa is due to give birth, but her husband tells her that if the baby is a girl he'll have it killed. When she gives birth to a girl, she disguises the baby as a boy. Eventually, Iphis is engaged to Ianthe. (Incidentally, this is also a really early example of same-sex romance, as Iphis struggles with their love for Ianthe "as a woman"). Before the wedding, Iphis and Telethusa pray at the temple of Isis, who transforms Iphis into a man.

Tristan de Nanteuil (11th/12th Cent) - from the Chanson de geste, after his alleged death, Tristan's wife, Blanchandin/e, disguises themselves as a Knight. Clarinde, a sultan's daughter, falls in love with them. Blanchandin manages to hide their "true sex", but when Clarinde demands they bathe with her to prove they are a man they flee into the woods. There, they meet an angel who asks if they want to be transformed into a man. Blanchandin accepts and he is turned into a man for the rest of the poem. (Incidentally the angel gives him a giant cock. Yes, the text specifies this).

Le Livre de la mutation de fortune (1403) - written in the first person by Christine de Pizan, the poem describes how the narrator is transformed by Fortune into a man after the death of their husband during a storm at sea. They maintain that 13 years after the event, they are still living as a man. (They also mention Tiresias, a Greek mythological figure who was a man transformed into a woman for seven years).

Okay, for now - that's about all I can think of. Happy reading!