Detrans Awareness Day was created to break down stigma around detransition and raise awareness of the specific medical and mental health needs of people who detransition. On March 12th, please post #detransawarenessday on social media to show your support, and listen to some of their stories.
With her permission, we are featuring the story of Elie. (Read more here: https://post-trans.com/Detransition-English)
Elie is a 22-year-old social science student. She started taking testosterone at the age of 16, followed by a mastectomy at 17, and detransitioned at 20. She has done research on the topic of detransition and is devoted to working further to improve the lives of dysphoric people and gender nonconforming women and girls. This is her story in her words:
The main reason why I started to physically transition was the strong disgust and disconnection I felt towards my body. Testosterone treatment seemed like the only solution to make it better. I never understood why I started to suddenly hate my body so much. I thought it was simply because I was trans and that this dysphoria would go away with HRT. And it did. The price for it was to live socially as a man and to give up on my lesbian identity. So I lied to therapists, I lied to doctors, to my family and friends in order to have access to what looked like the only solution for me. I eventually started to lie to myself. Detransitioning for me means to stop denying the female experience I have. Detransitioning for me means taking agency over my dysphoria. Detransitioning for me means discovering the body I started altering since the age of 16 and finally working on accepting it exactly the way it is. Detransitioning for me does not mean trying to go back to my insecure 16-year-old self, but to move forward and become the strong female individual I want to be.
For more information about detransition and desistance:
Post-Trans Booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SyQESBr9DhjsYfqI94tucqbAP5KsF82T/view
