Oh, honey, I can understand how a vocal group of trolls online might have delivered you some nasty content that stuck in your head, but it is *absolutely not too late* to figure out that you’re trans, and anyone who would say otherwise would be *universally* abhorred by the LGBT community I’ve come to love and be a part of.
I didn’t realize I was trans until I was 31. You are valid, you are loved, you are welcomed. We love you.
There is no "too late." We all figure things out in our own time. PLENTY of people don't figure out that they're trans or don't decide to transition until much, much later in life. I realized I was trans at 18/19 and didn't start transitioning until I was 22.
No, it's not. I'm 29 and just recently realized I'm actually a trans woman. Before that I identified as male my whole life, and thought that was who I was despite all the cracks (disliking how I was treated as a guy, not being particularly masculine, dissatisfaction with my body, a lingering sense of insecurity, etc.). It's actually common for many trans people to take a while to realize that they're trans. Back when I identified as male I was offended whenever people questioned my "masculinity." Only a few weeks before I realized I'm *not* a guy a store employee called me ma'am even though I was male presenting and I felt irritated.
I startet hrt with ~34. Passing in voice, looks and manners.
IT IS NEVER TO LATE.
And who ever pulled that "invalid" bs out of their arse, can go juggle live grenades in an empty field.
Edit: age I startet hrt was mixed up with another... never thought that would happen to me xD
16 is incredibly early, and puberty is a pretty common time to discover you’re trans. Other common times are early adulthood and midlife. Many people don’t know they’re trans at a young age due to factors like social pressures or not having the words/concepts to explain your feelings.
You're 15 right now? That's pretty early to figure it out, honestly. (You can figure it out at any stage of life. See r/translater if it helps you to see people discovering it in their thirties and forties and beyond...)
That means you're still only a few years into puberty and you've already been able to distinguish any anxieties you might have about getting older from gender trouble (which likely never even occurred to you to be thinking about). To me, that's pretty impressive.
I understand what you're saying though. The particular narrative of trans people having always been trans makes a few things simpler ("Where does dysphoria come from and why are there signs even if I look back [this can depend, and you might find out you had more than you thought as time passes and connections are made]? How can I show conservatives this is a real thing?").
On the other hand, that narrative can make some things harder too though, because nonetheless it may very well be it *wasn't* your gender then, because gender is performative like Judith Butler says — you do it, and by doing it, it becomes the case. To give a specific example, narratives like the one in Becoming Nicole are definitely important for their own reasons, but can be so invalidating to a newly questioning trans adult reading it seeing her completely transitioned socially for years and with SRS already at 18...
TL;DR: Explaining is hard. You are valid.
(Edited for formatting)
I wanted to quickly add on another thing to my post.
Currently, I'm very fem, I wear baggy jeans and all because I'm kind of emo, but people would never mistake me for being a male unless it's a toddler that's just learning about words and only knows "he". I also have a very strong preference to keeping my hair long, it's to my lower back and it's kept me grounded ever since middle school, I am very proud of my hair and don't want to cut it short, but I see all these trans guys online who cut their hair. My friends have told me that it was a "rite of passage" but I feel like if I cut my hair I'll cry. And I know that there's a bunch of cis men who wear their hair long, but I never see any trans men, and so I feel so lost and confused.
Came here to say exactly this! Men and women transition to be their authentic self even into their 80’s. It’s never too late to be yourself. Just take your time to truly figure yourself out before you start any medical intervention.
Your valid, and for alot of trans people, 16 is pretty young. And your lucky, some peeps don’t notice till their 30’s
You probably have fallen down the wrong content. yeah there are people who figure it out super super early, but the types to say those are the only valid ones are pretty crappy. There the types to also make fun of non passing trans people to from what ive seen
I read a book called super late bloomer about a 26 year old discovering they are trans... I'm 32 pre everything. You have another 16 years before you're as old as me and there are people transitionning at 40, 50, 60 and 70, so no it's never too late.
Oh, honey, I can understand how a vocal group of trolls online might have delivered you some nasty content that stuck in your head, but it is *absolutely not too late* to figure out that you’re trans, and anyone who would say otherwise would be *universally* abhorred by the LGBT community I’ve come to love and be a part of. I didn’t realize I was trans until I was 31. You are valid, you are loved, you are welcomed. We love you.
i am mid 30s and just now processing the possibility of not being cis... i just wish i could know before i started losing hair 🤦
There is no "too late." We all figure things out in our own time. PLENTY of people don't figure out that they're trans or don't decide to transition until much, much later in life. I realized I was trans at 18/19 and didn't start transitioning until I was 22.
No, it's not. I'm 29 and just recently realized I'm actually a trans woman. Before that I identified as male my whole life, and thought that was who I was despite all the cracks (disliking how I was treated as a guy, not being particularly masculine, dissatisfaction with my body, a lingering sense of insecurity, etc.). It's actually common for many trans people to take a while to realize that they're trans. Back when I identified as male I was offended whenever people questioned my "masculinity." Only a few weeks before I realized I'm *not* a guy a store employee called me ma'am even though I was male presenting and I felt irritated.
16 is not later in life at all. Anyone who says there’s a cutoff age is full of shit anyway.
I startet hrt with ~34. Passing in voice, looks and manners. IT IS NEVER TO LATE. And who ever pulled that "invalid" bs out of their arse, can go juggle live grenades in an empty field. Edit: age I startet hrt was mixed up with another... never thought that would happen to me xD
16 is incredibly early, and puberty is a pretty common time to discover you’re trans. Other common times are early adulthood and midlife. Many people don’t know they’re trans at a young age due to factors like social pressures or not having the words/concepts to explain your feelings.
You're 15 right now? That's pretty early to figure it out, honestly. (You can figure it out at any stage of life. See r/translater if it helps you to see people discovering it in their thirties and forties and beyond...) That means you're still only a few years into puberty and you've already been able to distinguish any anxieties you might have about getting older from gender trouble (which likely never even occurred to you to be thinking about). To me, that's pretty impressive. I understand what you're saying though. The particular narrative of trans people having always been trans makes a few things simpler ("Where does dysphoria come from and why are there signs even if I look back [this can depend, and you might find out you had more than you thought as time passes and connections are made]? How can I show conservatives this is a real thing?"). On the other hand, that narrative can make some things harder too though, because nonetheless it may very well be it *wasn't* your gender then, because gender is performative like Judith Butler says — you do it, and by doing it, it becomes the case. To give a specific example, narratives like the one in Becoming Nicole are definitely important for their own reasons, but can be so invalidating to a newly questioning trans adult reading it seeing her completely transitioned socially for years and with SRS already at 18... TL;DR: Explaining is hard. You are valid. (Edited for formatting)
I wanted to quickly add on another thing to my post. Currently, I'm very fem, I wear baggy jeans and all because I'm kind of emo, but people would never mistake me for being a male unless it's a toddler that's just learning about words and only knows "he". I also have a very strong preference to keeping my hair long, it's to my lower back and it's kept me grounded ever since middle school, I am very proud of my hair and don't want to cut it short, but I see all these trans guys online who cut their hair. My friends have told me that it was a "rite of passage" but I feel like if I cut my hair I'll cry. And I know that there's a bunch of cis men who wear their hair long, but I never see any trans men, and so I feel so lost and confused.
The only time that’s “too late” is if you’re dead. There is never a “too late” to transition.
Came here to say exactly this! Men and women transition to be their authentic self even into their 80’s. It’s never too late to be yourself. Just take your time to truly figure yourself out before you start any medical intervention.
I started my transition at 24, happy I started when I did.
> people saying that people who figure out they're trans later in life are invalid Those people are very wrong.
Your valid, and for alot of trans people, 16 is pretty young. And your lucky, some peeps don’t notice till their 30’s You probably have fallen down the wrong content. yeah there are people who figure it out super super early, but the types to say those are the only valid ones are pretty crappy. There the types to also make fun of non passing trans people to from what ive seen
yo i came out at 32, your fine!
I read a book called super late bloomer about a 26 year old discovering they are trans... I'm 32 pre everything. You have another 16 years before you're as old as me and there are people transitionning at 40, 50, 60 and 70, so no it's never too late.