Have you ever pondered the colors of your identity and how they meld into the tapestry of society? Join us as we unravel the complexities of the transgender and trans non-binary experience, with a special focus on the intricacies of transitioning. Kit will take you through his own story as someone who chose a social transition, sharing insights into the validity of each unique journey, whether it includes medical steps or not. We'll navigate the sometimes contentious historical debates within the community, aiming to foster understanding and inclusivity throughout our discussion.
This episode isn't just a conversation; it's a treasure trove of possibilities and empathetic support for those affirming their gender identity. We dive into daily gender expression tactics, like using mascara to simulate facial hair, and the role accessories play in shaping one's presentation. Bringing in the broader picture, we talk about the significance of finding affirming spaces and the impact of vocal training apps, and we don’t shy away from the hurdles and triumphs of updating legal documents. Our exploration is about embracing the diversity of experiences and expressions within the LGBTQ+ community.
To round off, we scrutinize the medical transition process with a lens of informed consent and the support systems necessary for a healthy journey. Discussing everything from puberty blockers to hormone replacement therapy and surgical options, we emphasize the importance of a collaborative relationship with healthcare providers. We share the care and consideration that goes into making these life-altering decisions, and we look back at historical perspectives, reminding us of the long road traveled by individuals asserting their true selves. Tune in for an episode that is not just informative but an homage to the courage and resilience of the trans community.
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Have you ever pondered the colors of your identity and how they meld into the tapestry of society? Join us as we unravel the complexities of the transgender and trans non-binary experience, with a special focus on the intricacies of transitioning. Kit will take you through his own story as someone who chose a social transition, sharing insights into the validity of each unique journey, whether it includes medical steps or not. We'll navigate the sometimes contentious historical debates within the community, aiming to foster understanding and inclusivity throughout our discussion.
This episode isn't just a conversation; it's a treasure trove of possibilities and empathetic support for those affirming their gender identity. We dive into daily gender expression tactics, like using mascara to simulate facial hair, and the role accessories play in shaping one's presentation. Bringing in the broader picture, we talk about the significance of finding affirming spaces and the impact of vocal training apps, and we don’t shy away from the hurdles and triumphs of updating legal documents. Our exploration is about embracing the diversity of experiences and expressions within the LGBTQ+ community.
To round off, we scrutinize the medical transition process with a lens of informed consent and the support systems necessary for a healthy journey. Discussing everything from puberty blockers to hormone replacement therapy and surgical options, we emphasize the importance of a collaborative relationship with healthcare providers. We share the care and consideration that goes into making these life-altering decisions, and we look back at historical perspectives, reminding us of the long road traveled by individuals asserting their true selves. Tune in for an episode that is not just informative but an homage to the courage and resilience of the trans community.
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Want to see the video? Check us out on YouTube.
is my mic extra phallic tonight, or what?
Speaker 2:it is. I wasn't gonna say anything, but you're right, it does have that vibe yeah, this mic.
Speaker 1:You're supposed to be three to four inches from the receiver, and so I try to position it like that, but it also just feels like it's in my face like a phallic object not cool.
Speaker 2:It's very strange. It's the shape it's. It's just like the microphone shape. It do it do be like that, not a lot, but a little bit. Yeah, a little bit. I think it's the shape. It's just like the microphone shape. It do be like that, not a lot, but a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a little bit. I think it's the trend, though now, right Like to have something like this sticking out of your face because you're a podcaster.
Speaker 2:No, especially alphas, the alpha bro podcasters that constantly have like the thing right here and it's like dude, I can't see you. What's going on?
Speaker 1:So today we're having a discussion surrounding socially versus medically transitioning for transgender individuals. Is it okay to say transgender individuals, or can we say people that are transitioning, or like what is? What do you think is the best way to refer?
Speaker 2:I mean honestly, I feel like any of them kind of work. Trans, non-binary people. I mean honestly, I feel like any of them kind of work. Trans non-binary people, trans and trans non-binary people, for queer people, for gender non-conforming people, you know there's an entire umbrella of identities that experience some extent of social and or medical transitions, transition. So there's definitely I don't even know if there is necessarily one umbrella term that can kind of cover all of the identities that experience some sense of transition.
Speaker 1:So I think for today, for the purposes of today, we can just say transgender individuals.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say trans and trans non-binary people is usually how I try to do it Transgender and trans non-binary people. That usually just kind of like encompasses as much of that umbrella as possible, because then it includes like all non-binary identities and all trans identities under like as short a thing as possible, without you know spending 10 minutes on just who we're discussing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the entire acronym. Yeah, no, I understand. No, that's the reason why I brought this up, because I just I want to be respectful and I understand that this can be a super sensitive topic as it is, you know. So just, I just want to let people know we plan to approach this topic with empathy and respect and as much sensitivity as we possibly can, and that we do understand that there's different and very diverse sort of within a spectrum of experiences for people to experience what it's like to be in the transgender community. So in the episode we're going to be talking about what distinguishes social transition from medical transition and how do these processes align with someone's gender identity.
Speaker 2:So to start it off, what is transition? Because do these processes align with someone's gender identity? So to start it off, what is transition? Because you know, that's kind of one of those things that's just like it's a word that you hear thrown around a lot and if you don't really understand what that means, it can kind of be a very daunting subject to broach, especially even just trying to figure out what questions to ask without coming off as crass or rude. And sometimes, you know, google can be a decent research resource, but not the best.
Speaker 2:So transition in this context is the act of changing one's physical appearance, pronouns, name and or documents to better reflect their gender identity. There are two main ways of transition technically three. But you know, it's kind of one of those things where legal transition is kind of caught under the umbrella of social transition a lot of the times because it's still a social process. But there is technically legal transition as well. There are social transition and medical transition and again legal, depending on how you want to look at it. I usually look at it under the umbrella of social transition. And again legal, depending on how you want to look at it. I usually look at it under the umbrella of social transition.
Speaker 2:Some transgender and trans non-binary people choose to both socially and medically transition, while some choose to social transition and not medically transition and they're just kind of content with their physical appearance. I am personally someone who has socially transitioned, identifies as trans, non-binary, but at this point in time has no plans of medically transitioning. I am content with the way I look, content with the way I sound. I did hormones for a short period of time. It lowered my voice a very little bit and I was like, ok, you know what? I think I'm content with this and I ended up stopping them. But for every trans person that journey looks different.
Speaker 1:But for every trans person that journey looks different in some to some respect. And I don't think that people realize. And I was thinking about it earlier and I was like people outside of the queer community, I don't think they realize. And then I said, wait a minute, even people in the queer community don't realize because they're not maybe not in the transgender community, or maybe they are in the transgender community and they don't understand that it's okay to just socially transition and that that is an option.
Speaker 2:There was actually a period of time, just to you know, go back again to 2010's Tumblr. I don't know, actually to this day, how strong this community actually is, but there was a period of time where there was a very strong sect of the trans community who labeled themselves as transmed, as transmed, and they basically stated that in order to be trans, you have to experience dysphoria and you have to want to medically transition in order to absolve that dysphoria. And then there was an opposite side of the coin which I think was called trans scum but I could be wrong about that. I'm so sorry if I am, but I do believe that's what it was called trans scum, but I could be wrong about that. I'm so sorry if I am, but I do believe that's what it was called which they called themselves that.
Speaker 1:Okay, I was going to say that's terrible.
Speaker 2:I think it was in and of itself an acronym for something, but I again could be mistaken on a couple of the details of it. I was not at that point in the trans community. I was just, you know, a queer person on Tumblr and kind of just happened to see a lot of this discourse occurring around my you know, like they can be treated the same way and you do not need to medically transition by any means in order to be trans. Social transition is enough, or whatever form of transition looks right to you is enough. And nowadays, like I said, I think the transmedic community is like I don't even think they really exist anymore. If I'm being totally honest, I haven't seen any discourse like that in a long time. But let me know if I'm wrong, please. I'm curious Is the transmed community still existing out there somewhere, writhing and screaming in a corner? I want to know.
Speaker 1:I love that the euphoria piece is such an integral part of the trans conversation. Now, though, instead of focusing on the dysphoria, I mean, a lot of times that's like okay, that's a given right, because if you weren't feeling a little bit dysphoric then you wouldn't be interested in transitioning in the first place, so that's kind of like a given in most cases. And then you're looking at euphoria and I'm saying like wow, that's, that's the positive way to look at it. That's that's affirming, you know, it's affirming somebody's experience and focusing on something that makes them feel good, rather than focusing on what's wrong and how can we fix it.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. And even if, like you know, someone doesn't actually really feel dysphoria, I personally feel, I definitely feel like euphoria can be a stronger indicator of things than dysphoria. I I because I have found in recent years, following euphoria more than dysphoria has led me to a happier place. You know what I mean, even though I still have moments of dysphoria where you know it happens literally constantly. You know it's especially when I'm getting dressed. Good, fucking god, but yeah, but you know it is a lot of.
Speaker 1:I can relate to that too, to focus on?
Speaker 2:what is it that brings the euphoria? What is it that, even if you know it doesn't match up to what someone else's idea of what should bring me gender euphoria is, what is it that brings me that? And just following that and just letting that kind of be like the general marker for what I do with my hair, what I do with you know my fashion sense, mind you, it's not like the general marker for life, but it's just like the general marker for the way I present myself to the world. I've found much more peace with how I present myself to the world, more confidence, which is something I've struggled with for, oh my God, so long.
Speaker 1:I can relate to that too. A transgender person or trans non-binary people take to align their outward presentation or their social roles, interactions with others to sort of better reflect their gender identity. The social transition can encompass a bunch of different things, and what I find fascinating is that there's no two processes or timelines between transgender or non non binary trans. Am I saying that right? Yeah, that are the same.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely it's. That's one of those things that absolutely like is so cool about it for me is the fact that for literally every single person, just like a lot of things in life, guys, hint, hint. For every single person this looks different, and that's okay, that's. That's. That's the point. It's not supposed to look the same for every single person. This looks different, and that's okay, that's. That's, that's the point. It's not supposed to look the same for every single person. That's that's a good thing you know, and I love that.
Speaker 2:Um, so everyone out there knows we have, you know, the aspects of social transitioning written down. It can be a little, you know, boring, blah blah, but I will do my best to read these as excitingly as possible, with maybe some funny voices included. Let's go Adopting a new name. That's the fun one. Lists of names the amount of lists of names I had in my fucking phone, bro. Lists of names, that's a fun time.
Speaker 2:Changing pronouns, changing wardrobe or the way you dress, alternating hairstyle or the way your hair is worn, using a different restroom shaving, removing body or facial hair, or using beard dye to enhance already existing facial hair that's a fun one. Also, trans men out there mascara, brown mascara or even black mascara, you know, depending on your color of hair. Mind you, if you're a blondie, don't go using black mascara. You will look like an idiot, just like I did. But if you use a little bit of mascara on the facial hair already existing on your face because we all have facial hair, we all have a little bit of peach fuzz If you use a little bit of mascara on that facial hair, just like peppering it along, looks like five o'clock shadow. Wow, it looks like five o'clock shadow. You got to be real slow, real careful, really try not to get any clumps. If you can use like a brand new mascara, do it because that would be a lot easier because it's already not super clumpy from use. But I get it.
Speaker 2:I used a mascara that was like on its way out and I'm not getting a whole new mascara just to use on my face and then never use on my eyes. So I used one that was like okay, we're on the way out, let's go. And it worked. It was nice, it was very affirming. You know, not gonna lie. Every time I had an itch, of course I smudged it because I didn't know shit about like setting powder or setting sprays or anything, but it was a very affirming experience for a little 19 year old me. So for a bit of advice, mascara also works.
Speaker 1:A skill you need to develop. You know, like practice over time you can hone that in. But as I'm looking at your choker, I'm also thinking accessories too could help.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, hugely. Scarves, chokers, a lot of the ways, like when I was, you know, super self-conscious about my chest in the early days of binding and stuff like that. One of the big things that I would do was big hats, you know, like things in my hair that were very eye catching. My shoes would be very eye catching, eye catching parts of my body that had nothing to do with this area. I would try to draw the eye anywhere, but here on my outfit that's something that is absolutely all could do. That's a very, very, very good thing to do. It helps a lot.
Speaker 1:What about expressing yourself in ways that feel more in alignment or more authentic with your gender identity, such as body language or mannerisms or different types of gesturing?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, that would be a huge part of social transition. Actually, funny enough, didn't even write that down. That's yeah, that's, that's a huge part of social transition. Even like Googling, like how does a man walk versus a woman?
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:How does a woman walk versus a man? You don't even realize how different it is until you actually start to look into it and you realize like, oh, it's vastly different the way a man walks versus a woman, Just literally. Just because the shape of the pelvis guys, this has nothing to do with like this is literally just because of the shapes of our pelvises, we walk differently.
Speaker 1:It's anatomy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, With AMAB people the femur bones go straight down from the pelvis, but with AFAB people the femur bones curve in just like the tiniest little bit from the pelvis, which is just enough, so that when an AFAB person walks they tend to walk one foot in front of the other, Whereas when an AMAB person walks they walk side by side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those little nuances. They definitely make a difference in the way you present to the world, or even just in the way that you want people to perceive you.
Speaker 2:Even something that blew my mind was the way we flip people off. Afab people and AMAB people flip people off differently. Amab people tend to throw the thumb in, afab people don't. So if you're transitioning and you want to do that hand signal a little bit more like the other way, amab people tend to automatically just throw out the thumb with it, whereas AFAB people tend to tuck the thumb in.
Speaker 1:Interesting. You know how I flip people off this it's the fingers under the chin move.
Speaker 2:Is that the Italian way of doing it?
Speaker 1:I think so, yeah, but I love it. I love it so much, I do it all the time.
Speaker 2:So guilty. My father taught me that. My father taught me that entirely on accident.
Speaker 1:Different social activities too, and communities and just spaces that are safe, spaces that are affirming, and just interacting with people that are affirming that feel like they're not going to judge you or maybe they themselves are going through something similar. So just putting yourself in environments where it's supportive and you can actually just be you because the reality is you might not even know what the next step is for yourself and just making sure that you place yourself with other people that are just supportive, it makes a big difference.
Speaker 2:Absolutely being around people who respect you, respect your name, respect your pronouns. That is a big, big part of making sure that you are socially transitioning in a safe and comfortable way for your physical and mental health.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that connection piece and that that solidarity piece is is crucial, I think.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, 100% fine, find your local queer community, y'all it's. It's hella, hella important, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Also equally important finding workplaces that are affirming or welcoming.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. That is hugely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you want people to understand your gender identity or just respect it. They might not. They might not understand it, but at least they respect it. And you, you feel like you can go to work and not have to worry, or worry as much.
Speaker 2:We'll say you can feel safe while you're, while you're doing your job. You know, work already sucks hard enough, you don't. You don't need it to suck because, like you're, you feel unsafe Totally.
Speaker 1:You don't need it to suck because you feel unsafe Totally. I think, overall, socially transitioning just involves taking those intentional steps to navigate the social context in a way that affirms and validates somebody's gender identity. That's what it is, absolutely. So, whatever that looks like for you.
Speaker 2:There are also garment options when it comes to socially transitioning. There's binding, packing, padding, tucking, there's all of those aspects of socially transitioning that come with the way you present yourself to the world without having it to be, you know, surgically. Surgically, that's the word I'm looking for. Surgically invasive, I believe, is that whole idea. Yeah, makeup, makeup is always good. Like I said, a little mascara, a little contouring, bro, contouring will save you pre-hormones. If you look up on YouTube, there are so many tutorials from different trans men and trans women teaching you how to contour your face to look both more masculine or more feminine. I promise you it's possible, y'all. There are magic tricks out there.
Speaker 2:Working with a speech therapist is another fantastic way of assisting with your vocal dysphoria, pre-hormones. So if y'all are extremely interested in some form of vocal training, don't do what I did and smoke cigarettes to deepen your voice. No, no, no. Instead, what y'all should do is go to the app store and look for an app called EVA. There is a trans man and trans woman version of this app and it's basically free vocal training. Mind you, it's not super in-depth. It's not anything that's going to take you from where you are to 10 months on hormones or anything like that. It is still a phone app, and a free one at that, but it is a good way to get your foot in the door, of learning how to better pitch your voice to match your gender identity without actually damaging your vocal cords.
Speaker 1:There's actually a woman here on Long Island and she does voice therapy and specifically when I first started talking to her she said, yeah, I'm like I'm really intrigued by your transgender affirming therapy. And she said, oh girl, I was doing that back in the eighties before anybody even knew that was a thing. I love that. But for transgender people to do the voice therapy, it's the training that modifies your vocal pitch and it modifies your resonance and your speech patterns to better be able to match your gender identity, either through a social transition or after you medically transition, to have the voice and the vocal cords actually match your gender identity Super cool.
Speaker 2:That's pretty cool. And then, last but certainly not least, the act of changing your documentation, like your driver's license, your social security card and things of that nature. That is usually what people would consider legal transition as its own thing. What people would consider legal transition as its own thing but considering it's just like changing documents. I kind of just include it in social transition because I feel like that's just that's. That's that's a little too much. Three separate categories for just changing documents. I would just include that with social. I have. I have all UHD. I'm not sure I'm not trying to figure all that out. No, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah that's confusing.
Speaker 1:We know it exists, just we'll just lump it in. Exactly Good.
Speaker 2:Precisely. So, yeah, that's, you know, one of those things. And when people are discussing children and teens transitioning, most of the time this is what they're talking about. They're talking about social transition. They are talking about the act of changing their hairstyle, changing their name, not even legally, just you know, like with friends and family, changing their wardrobe, their pronouns, the restroom. They use just all of that stuff, the stuff that is not permanent, the stuff that could be easily reversed, the stuff that's just. Hey, I'm figuring this out. That is what is most of the time being discussed when discussing children and teens transitioning. Mind you, there are some children and teens who choose to go on puberty blockers. We will discuss those in a moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the medical transitioning refers to. It's a process that a transgender or non-binary transgender person undergoes, these medical interventions to help align physical characteristics with the gender identity, and this can involve a range of different things, just as the social transitioning does as well. But basically, like we were talking about before, it does alleviate gender dysphoria, but then it also can increase the gender euphoria.
Speaker 2:So first up on the list of options for medical transitioning we have puberty blockers. Puberty blockers are what are given to children and teens who are experiencing gender dysphoria. Puberty blockers were invented and created and first approved by the FDA all the way back in the 1980s, during the Reagan administration, for use in cis children who were experiencing symptoms of puberty too early or prematurely or even too in-depthly. There were some instances where it was given to kids who were like experiencing like too much puberty. They were like too much hair growth, too much rapid breast growth, things of that nature where it was like, okay, the hormone levels are a little off whack here. So they would be put on puberty blockers until they could figure out which hormone was off balance. Write that hormone by prescribing either. If it's estrogen, that's too much, then prescribe some testosterone, progesterone, whatever. I'm not a hormone doctor, I don't know the exact details, but that's kind of like how puberty blockers worked in their early days and even throughout the 90s, the early 2000s. That's what they were for. They've been around that whole time just vibing there for kids who are experiencing puberty too early or for trans children. That's something that even started a while ago. In like the early 2000s, kids started being prescribed puberty blockers when they were experiencing gender dysphoria.
Speaker 2:There has been. I think it was 0.2% of people who were prescribed puberty blockers ended up experiencing infertility. Most likely they would have been infertile anyway experiencing infertility. Most likely they would have been infertile anyway. Most likely they already were going to have some form of fertility issue. Puberty blockers are not just being handed out like candy. They are only given with parental consent, just like since the 80s with children experiencing puberty prematurely. If parents said no, I want to let this play out. That child was just left to suffer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, at least there's some options now and there's a conversation around it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Yeah, that's the basics of puberty blockers. If you all would like to know more, I heavily recommend going to these reputable websites and reading about them.
Speaker 1:Another thing is HRT, or hormone replacement therapy, and this is when you're taking the hormones to actually physically achieve the physical changes that align with the gender identity. So for trans masc people, which are assigned female at birth, testosterone therapy is prescribed to induce the masculinizing effects. Deepening the voice, growing facial hair, increased muscle mass is another one, and then other end of the spectrum you have for trans feminine people, you have estrogen therapy and also anti-androgen medications that are used to induce feminizing effects. So that would be breast development, redistribution of body fat and even reduction of body hair.
Speaker 2:And hormones can be administered through many, many different sources for testosterone. There are things like the injection, subcutaneous or intermuscular. There's the gel. I believe there's a spray. Just be careful with the gel y'all. I've been seeing some stories about people accidentally giving their cats testosterone because they would put on the gel and then touch their cats. Accidentally giving their cats testosterone because they would put on the gel and then touch their cats. So be warned, the gel she has her side effects. There was also a story I heard where someone's blood test came back positive for testosterone because her boyfriend is using testosterone gel and they cuddle.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so skin is really absorbent y'all.
Speaker 1:It's the largest organ of our entire body, very porous.
Speaker 2:Be warned if you're using yeah, if you're using the gel, just you know, try not to touch your friends or family for a little while until that you know, or put it on an area where no one's gonna touch. There's also for estrogen. There's the pill. There's also injections which I believe are done in the doctor's office rather than at home, like testosterone, though I am not 100% sure as I am not a trans woman. There's a patch. I believe there's an estrogen and a testosterone patch, which I think is really cool, kind of like a nicotine patch, but for hormones.
Speaker 2:Love that and I think that's it, but I could be mistaken. I didn't actually write down all of the different forms of estrogen and testosterone. I apologize for that, but again, that information is readily available. And also Planned Parenthood is another resource that, if you wanted to talk to a real person about the processes of medical transition, how to begin medically transitioning, such and such Planned Parenthoods offer transition options, so you can just contact your local Planned Parenthood and start trying to figure that out with them. That would be another really good option for people and very affordable.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, there's surgeries for transmasc, people.
Speaker 2:So chest masculization aka?
Speaker 1:top surgery.
Speaker 2:There's hysterectomy, there's ortherectomies, there's genital reconstruction surgery. Jaw and chin surgeries are something that I've seen. Some trans men get Trans women. Facial feminization surgery is an entire act of medically transitioning for trans women. I think it's brows, nose and chin, chin and jaw.
Speaker 1:That makes sense, yeah.
Speaker 2:Facial feminization surgery. I think it's those three areas, if I remember correctly. They always look snatched. I have, I have. I'm sorry, Y'all look snatched beforehand, but y'all look snatched after, Like stunning Trans. Women are goddesses.
Speaker 1:Beautiful.
Speaker 2:Anyway, I just I had to.
Speaker 1:Give a little shout out.
Speaker 2:There are some trans women who also decide to get breast augmentation. Estrogen, does you know, like Janine was saying, with the redistribution of fat, estrogen does provide breast tissue to the chest area. However, there are some trans women who just don't feel like that's enough and that is so fair, clean, pop off. Just do know that. You know, just like with every surgery, specifically breast augmentation can be a little dangerous. You know like there's a lot of instances of things popping and not really going well after a certain period of time and I want my trans siblings to be safe. So, you know, make sure you really look into things, really make sure you're finding the best surgeons and making sure that it is the best and safest option for you, your longevity, everything because we want you here a good long time.
Speaker 1:Exactly, I don't know if people know that. So for trans femme people, the name of the genital reconstruction surgery is actually called vaginoplasty and for trans masc people it's actually called phalloplasty. So those are the. Those are the medical terms, just so people know. I thought they were cool and fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like that. I like that a lot. That's great and it's, honestly, genuinely beautiful.
Speaker 1:I love it.
Speaker 2:And then we have a good amount of options for those who are socially transitioning, because, you know, I feel like even after you medically transition, like there are some times where you're just constantly in transition. I don't know, it's an evolution.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I don't know, maybe that's just me, but I was talking about it with my one friend who will hopefully one day be on the podcast with us for an episode as an interviewee, and they were saying that they feel like they're just constantly in transition and that's okay, like they're just constantly in transition and that's okay, and it was like like almost the idea of being born to just transition and and and continue to evolve and grow and become.
Speaker 2:I was like they make me cry sometimes. I love this person. I can't wait for them to be on.
Speaker 1:Isn't the idea of being queer, the fact that we don't like being put into a box, we don't like the binary, we don't like the black and white of things? So it just makes sense in my mind that you're always in transition, you're always exploring, you're always just kind of open to being more fluid, even if you do have a quote, unquote label. It's not as much of being put into a box as people want to interpret it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, I don't know. I really like that. I think it's great to constantly be learning new things about yourself.
Speaker 1:Totally.
Speaker 2:And I think that that the people who do decide to stop doing that after a certain point, you're boring, I'm sorry. Yeah, you're boring. You're a boring person, right? Yeah, what do you mean? What do you mean? You don't want to know more about yourself? Okay, then you must be boring. So, yeah, we have a whole bunch of products and queer-owned, gender affirming products for playtime that we will definitely be having listed there. There's a bunch of clothing companies, underwear, just anything you could think of. There's literally one that I love here, called Hot Butch H-A-U-T-E-B-U-T-C-H hot butch. I love it and the clothes were so cute. The clothes were so cute.
Speaker 2:I was like okay, this is. I appreciate this Like just some of the slayest button ups I've ever seen. So we will be having all of these on our Instagram and our threads. So, everyone you know, go check us out there, follow us there. And yeah, I recommend checking these places out because there are a lot of really cool places. And we will also be including a company called Folks Health in this and they allow for remote online acquiring of hormone treatment, basically, so you can just get your hormones delivered to your door without any hassle, without any issue, without having to worry about a transphobic pharmacist, because that's a real thing that we have to worry about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no kidding. Before we jump to the fun fact, I wanted to add one more thing about medical transitioning. Sometimes people will choose to do like a fertility preservation before they start the hormone therapy or undergo some of the surgeries that could later down the line like impact someone's fertility ability, and so they have different options for sperm and egg banking, which I thought was pretty neat, because you never know, like, how you're going to feel after the fact. So that's cool, that that's. That's an option.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely, actually, that's. I'm glad you mentioned that, because it's actually very important. If you are going for your informed consent paperwork for hormones and your doctor doesn't mention that, I would probably leave. That is that planned parenthood. Even when I was going to planned parenthood for hormones, they gave me the option of freezing my eggs through them.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like through Planned Parenthood, If your doctor, if your physician isn't giving you that option, go to a Planned Parenthood. Go to a Planned Parenthood because that is one of those things that has to be given as an option, as a part of informed consent, because a part of informed consent is informing you that your fertility could be affected by the hormones that you are choosing to take. That's like a whole section of it. There's also a whole section about hair loss. There's a whole section about. There's sections about literally everything.
Speaker 1:Informed consent goes over literally everything and that's why it's important to to just, you know, talk about why you know there are different ways of transitioning. Sometimes medically transitioning is not good for some people. Sometimes it's it's great for other people. It's like this basic premise of medicine that people have the right to choose. They have the right to make the decision for themselves. They have the right to discuss whatever is best for them with their support team, their team of doctors and, with that, accessing mental health support and counseling. I just feel like that's a really, really important step of the medical transition because it can help people to better navigate the emotional and the psychological aspects of their transitionary process, because sometimes there's underlying health concerns and sometimes they don't come up until later. They don't come up until you're working with the professional that focuses in on that specific thing. So it's really important because you don't want to do something prematurely and then have irreversible effects later had you had talked to the right support team initially 100%, 100%, and also be honest with your doctors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Be honest.
Speaker 2:Especially since you literally have to be clean from things like nicotine and weed and things like that in order to get these surgeries. Just be honest with your doctors, because either way they're going to blood test you, either way they're going to know yeah you're cheating yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you're cheating yourself and putting yourself at risk. It's kind of like I mean just for like something to parallel say you're going to the gym and you're cheating your reps like you're going to suffer. Of course that doesn't have as serious as effects, right as not telling, being truthful with your doctor, right? Yeah, exactly, but you're just you're cheating yourself. So be honest and just be truthful.
Speaker 2:Kit, you want to jump to the fun fact Absolutely 100%. Oh, my goodness. So the year is 1648. An unnamed French military drummer was sentenced to death for sodomy, which was considered a crime of the worst kind. According to the Journal of Jesuit Fathers, these Jesuit fathers intervened to have his sentence lowered from death by hanging to a life of hard labor, giving him the choice of becoming the colony's new executioner, to which he agreed. His partner was never put on trial, leading historians to believe he was indigenous and thus outside of French religious law. Outro Music.