Evie 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈⚢💍Nov 29, 2022

Hey! #TransMastodon (#Transtodon???)  

How about we pool our combined knowledge & experience to bust some common myths about #transitioning?

Please post details of any myths you can bust to help others in the community, including any unhatched/hatching eggs 🥚

#trans #LGBTQIA #transition #HRT

Show threadMx. Alba  
@SleepyCatten Some people are "worried" because it looks like more and more kids are becoming trans and/or non-binary nowadays. But the simple answer is: it used to be much more repressed. The same thing happened when schools stopped forcing kids to write with their right hand. "Suddenly" more and more kids were lefthanded. But eventually it hit a plateau at 9-10%. It's not that there weren't any lefthanded kids before - they were forced into invisibility.
Nov 30, 2022 at 2:18pmWeb
Show threadSamboyNov 30, 2022
@MxAlba @SleepyCatten Indeed. I'm an electronic musician. Synth pioneer Wendy Carlos was trans in the 1970s, so being trans is nothing new for the synthesizer community.
Show threadChelle (she/her) 🐸☕Nov 30, 2022

@MxAlba @SleepyCatten Same goes for divorce rates tbh. They absolutely spiked when women were allowed to open their own bank accounts and then eventually leveled off.

Any time you stop repressing something there's gonna be a big spike as things even out.

Show threadMTRNord (they/them)Nov 30, 2022
@MxAlba @SleepyCatten and when it gets more secure in countries the number will likely increase even more. Its just extremely dangerous in some countries. (to me even mind blowing that this is the case...)
Show threadPhoenixSerenityNov 30, 2022
@MTRNord @MxAlba @SleepyCatten Coming out in some countries ends up with the trans person's death. I know ppl overseas who hide their trans & non-binary identities because it's too dangerous to be public with their real selves.
Show threadAvery Dame-GriffNov 30, 2022

@MTRNord @MxAlba @SleepyCatten

Also, the Internet made it possible for trans youth to easily communicate with each other. Before, trans youth often had limited contact with other folks like them unless they had access to a safe physical space. (I wrote about this last year: https://theconversation.com/how-the-bulletin-board-systems-email-lists-and-geocities-pages-of-the-early-internet-created-a-place-for-trans-youth-to-find-one-another-and-explore-coming-out-159681)

How the bulletin board systems, email lists and Geocities pages of the early internet created a place for trans youth to find one another and explore coming out

For trans youth who couldn’t be themselves in real life, the internet became a place for connection and self-expression.

The Conversation
Show threadMx. Alba  Nov 30, 2022
@apdamegriff @MTRNord @SleepyCatten Enby/trans facebook groups are LIIIIIFE
Show threadEvie 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈⚢💍Nov 30, 2022

@MxAlba @apdamegriff @MTRNord *shudders at the thought of Bacefook* 😖

I'm glad it's helped bring people together though  

Show threadBjørn Larssen 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈Dec 1, 2022
@MxAlba @SleepyCatten See also "why is everyone autistic these days?" – I was always autistic, only when I was a kid it was called "ugh, somebody tell the freak to leave us alone, he's too dumb to get a hint and I'm bored with laughing at him."
Show threadbnitzDec 1, 2022

@bjornlarssen @MxAlba @SleepyCatten

Baby-boomers were the first generation allowed to be openly left-handed in the US. And look at this graph, OMG soon all of us will be left-handed!

https://slowrevealgraphs.com/2021/11/08/rate-of-left-handedness-in-the-us-stigma-society

Rate of Left-Handedness in the US: Stigma & Society

Left-handedness has long been stigmatized in the US (and other countries). How did the rate of left-handedness seem to change over time? And what is the parallel between the rise of left-handedness and the rise of people identifying as queer? Click to access the slide deck, and learn more about math & content connections.

Slow Reveal Graphs
Show threadJadeDec 5, 2022
@MxAlba @SleepyCatten It's not just kids. I'm in my 40s, but I came out as enby a few years ago, simply because I was raised thinking that girl and boy are the only options. I first heard of gender being a spectrum on Tumblr and it seemed almost too good to be true. After spending decades being told that 1, I'm definitely a girl even if I don't feel like one, and 2, I'm really bad at acting like a woman and should try harder, I simply felt like a failure.
Show threadMx. Alba  Dec 5, 2022
@jade @SleepyCatten Saaaaaame! I was diagnosed autistic in my mid 30s. I'm 44 now. About a year ago my child came out as non-binary so I looked into what that is so I could support them better and found out that - damn - I'm enby too! My masculinity had just been a mask all those decades. And now my enby kiddo is in a relationship with another enby person and we're a perfect little enby family! :D
Show threadEvie 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈⚢💍Dec 5, 2022
@MxAlba @jade That's so sweet!!! 🥺💟