March 12, 2021 the inaugural ‘Detransition Awareness Day’, provided an opportunity to raise awareness of detransition and of the stories of detransitioners.
While Keira Bell is perhaps the most famous of the detransitioners. Many others have found it necessary to unite and to campaign for better treatment, both by society and by the medical profession.
This is explained particularly well in this video by Sinead Watson:
Support groups for detransitioners have been formed, and one in particular, Post Trans, has produced a booklet on detransition which can be downloaded or ordered from their website:
During the course of the day, detransitioners added their voices to the hashtag #DetransAwarenessDay
This testimony from a detransitoner tweeting as @MediocreDruid is shocking and informative:
I am a detransitioned woman who first transitioned as a teen almost 10 years ago under GIDS, I’ve been attending Gender Clinics for 9 years now. I’m also someone who detransitioned because of transition regret. When I first went back to my GIC about my regret in early 2020, I didn’t recieve support. Instead I was met with resistance, they acted dismissive and told me they thought my regret was somehow a result of my ASD, and that I should try to “consolidate my male role”.
I told them I had stopped Testosterone and requested Estrogen to maintain my health as I had SRS and could no longer produce hormones myself. They told me no. I was made to go 8 months without hormones and suffered menopausal symptoms, low mood and low energy as a result. I told them, “I am a woman and I regret my transition” and they told me that I was not female anymore. They said I could prove my “female identity” by dressing femininely and wearing wigs. My gender non-conformity was used against me as some sort of “gotcha”.
Thankfully, they’re finally listening and helping me. They’re no longer requesting I dress a certain way and I’ve been on Estrogen for 7 months now. I’m with an understanding (as best they can) psychotherapist and I’m moving forward in figuring out what can be done for me.
But what I experienced those first 8 months was awful. I felt like I was never going get anywhere.
I hope with detransitioners speaking out today people will begin to listen to us and our needs for better care and treatment will be heard.
Addition because it wasn’t clear: I’ve been attending Gender Clinics for a total of 9 years. This is divided between GIDS (2012-2014) and my current adult GIC (2014-current). My experience in detransition has all been under my adult GIC.
@mediocredruid
Dr Lisa Littman, who carried out the research which pointed to ROGD being a separate phenomenon, had this to say:
Clinicians should care about all outcomes from the interventions they promote. Ignoring the experiences of detransitioners when they are inconvenient to a preferred narrative is beyond irresponsible.
Lisa Littman
The people and organisations behind Detransition Awareness Day are:
