Gender transition

Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, as opposed to the gender assigned to them at birth. There are two major facets of gender transitioning: a social transition, and a medical transition; almost all transgender people will socially transition, and most will undergo some degree of medical transition.

A social transition may entail coming out as transgender^[a], using a new name and pronouns, and changing one's public gender expression.^[1] This is usually the first step in a gender transition, and may occur at any age.^[2]^[3] Socially transitioning does not involve medical intervention or gender affirming surgery, but it may be a prerequisite to access transgender healthcare in some regions.^[4]^[5]

A medical transition, on the other hand, may entail pursing cross-sex hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (which chemically develops cross-sex secondary sex characteristics), transgender voice therapy, (training to masculinize or feminize one's voice) and gender affirming surgery (which surgically alters physical attributes). In many cases, medical transition is offered after a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, the diagnosis being a form of medicalisation.^[6] However, recently there has been a move towards informed consent model of treatment, wherein adults may not require a diagnosis to medically transition.^[7]

The distinction between gender expression and identity is important to note, as while people who undergo gender transition often change their gender expression, people with non-normative gender expression (i.e. tomboys, cross-dressers, drag queens) do not, necessarily, wish to transition.

Transitioning is a process that can take anywhere from several months to several years. As a personal journey, there will never be a one-size-fits-all approach to transition.

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^ Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism – For Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professionals Jossey-Bass: San Francisco ISBN 0-7879-6702-5
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^ Johnson, Austin H. (2019). "Rejecting, reframing, and reintroducing: trans people's strategic engagement with the medicalisation of gender dysphoria". Sociology of Health & Illness. 41 (3): 517–532. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12829. ISSN 0141-9889.
^ Schulz, Sarah L. (2017-12-13). "The Informed Consent Model of Transgender Care: An Alternative to the Diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria". Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 58 (1). SAGE Publications: 72–92. doi:10.1177/0022167817745217. ISSN 0022-1678.

[Brown&Rounsley-2] Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism – For Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professionals Jossey-Bass: San Francisco ISBN 0-7879-6702-5

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[j624-7] Johnson, Austin H. (2019). "Rejecting, reframing, and reintroducing: trans people's strategic engagement with the medicalisation of gender dysphoria". Sociology of Health & Illness. 41 (3): 517–532. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12829. ISSN 0141-9889.

[c152-8] Schulz, Sarah L. (2017-12-13). "The Informed Consent Model of Transgender Care: An Alternative to the Diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria". Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 58 (1). SAGE Publications: 72–92. doi:10.1177/0022167817745217. ISSN 0022-1678.

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