Authors: Luci and Alex, transgender people

While most people who transition are happy with the outcome, a small percentage may later cease to pursue gender-affirming care and/or take steps to detransition to their birth-assigned gender. These individuals are referred to as “detransitioners”, though not all identify with these labels.

Detransitioning happens for a variety of social/personal reasons, which include:

  • pressure from family members/peers/coworkers, or societal transphobia;
  • adopting a different identity (for example, non-binary or genderfluid);
  • no longer identifying as trans;
  • health complications/side effects of gender-affirming care;
  • lack of support;
  • difficulty accessing/affording healthcare;
  • facing difficulty in finding employment, housing, or social services, etc.

Detransitioning doesn’t always equal transition regret. It is also worth noting that some individuals detransition permanently, while others retransition later in life.

Still, despite this wide diversity of experiences, mainstream media is keen on adopting a singular detransition narrative: that of a “confused cisgender individual” who briefly thought they were trans, and later realized they had made a “horrible mistake”. The emphasis is often placed on the “irreversible changes” caused by hormone replacement treatment or/and gender-affirming surgeries. These changes are typically referred to as “disfiguring” or “tragic”, which highlights the negative viewpoint the cisgender majority has of trans bodies.

There may be a few instances that fit into this narrative – that of people who transitioned and it didn’t feel right for them, and their stories deserve to be heard. The problem arises when it becomes the sole focus of media attention, ignoring the stories of people who detransitioned because of societal transphobia, family/work pressure, or those who did not stop identifying as trans despite ceasing medical transition.

Why is this harmful?

Anti-trans forces often pit people who detransitioned against the happily transitioned ones, which may cause these two groups to feel threatened by one another, or even result in hostility. In the end, this poses no benefit for anyone, as both trans people and people who detransition are marginalized groups. Framing them as opposites only creates a favourable environment for the cisnormative majority where they use the “transition regret” narrative as “evidence” against transgender people in order to paint them as “confused” and “deluded”.

More often than not, we hear stories of people who were “pressured” into identifying as trans and pursuing medical transition, or who have “fallen” for the “trend” of being trans. However, in reality there is hardly any pressure put on people to be transgender. In fact, it’s the complete opposite: people are constantly pressured into being cisgender and catering to the demands of the cisnormative society, and there is no “easy way” to be transgender within a predominantly transphobic social environment. Therefore, deeming it a “trend” that is “turning people trans” acts as a mere tool for anti-trans forces to spread their transphobic agenda.

What can be done?

Recognizing the anti-trans agenda – learning to distinguish between facts and deliberate misinformation that demonizes the trans experience. The main thing to look out for is whether or not the source is framing the transition process as “a mutilation of a perfectly healthy body”.

Sharing diverse detransition stories – as mentioned above, the “mistaken and regretted transition” narrative receives a lot of media coverage, while other experiences get purposely overlooked. Bringing to light the trangender experience, as well as talking about why some individuals are forced to, or may choose to detransition, is essential to understanding the full picture. 

Avoiding framing people who detransitioned and those who transitioned as the “polar opposites” – someone detransitioning does not inherently mean they oppose gender-affirming healthcare for others. More so, one might still identify within the transgender spectrum, as being trans isn’t solely defined by whether or not the person has transitioned.

Having safe and non-judgemental spaces for people who have detransitioned – a lot of detrans folks feel anxious about sharing their experiences out of fear of being perceived as a “threat”, which is the direct consequence of anti-trans forces actively using them as a “weapon” to invalidate the experiences of transgender people. The presence of welcoming and secure spaces could play a huge role in bringing more diverse detransition stories to light. 

Remember, the majority of detransitions happen not because transitioning was a “mistake”, but due to outside factors such as inaccessible treatment, societal pressure and stigma, individual health risks, and many more. Detransition experiences are diverse in the same way transgender experiences are, and there is no singular narrative to accurately cover all of them. By attempting to generalize everyone’s experience we erase the voices of many people whose stories may be completely different, yet deserve to be heard and acknowledged.