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Why we are trans
The simple answer is trans people have some form of gender dysphoria which they seek to resolve. The complex answer is that no two trans people will give you the same answer or same set of answers because why we are trans is as individual as the person answering the question. This is the crux of why discussing trans issues is nuanced and complex, and why those people looking from the outside in never get the same answer twice. It is also why the trans people in the public eye attract such critique and scrutiny, as their framing of identity will invariably alienate a segment of the trans community they purport to represent.
I can tell you why I am trans, just as any other trans person will do the same. Here I want to examine why we externalise this self-understanding, and why trans people often get defensive about their personal understanding of self when others have a differing conception. If you spend any amount of time in trans spaces you will see the same arguments put forth as to why trans people exist and the reasons for trans identities manifesting in society. Engaging in these conversations is a matter of personal choice, though usually their boil down to how much you care that others understand and accept your personal truth as the version of trans truths.
When I first started transitioning in 2000 it was at the tail end of the analogue era, where trans support groups, newsletters and physical interaction was the norm of trans people. To be trans was to begin to experience the emerging internet, with Geocities and list servers giving online trans people a way to connect. All of this relied on coding skills and a willingness to share, meaning that the narrative power to define why someone is trans lay in white, middle class, affluent trans people who could afford hosting fees and the time to build a site. MySpace and other early social media help democratise this, though unless you had a certain narrative to tell your personal reach was limited to your own sphere of friends.
Fast forward to 2025 and we have experienced the social media explosion that has shredded the old gatekeeping dynamics, yet in many ways the conceptions of trans identities from the analogue age remain. The only aspect that everyone can agree on is that to be trans is not to be cis, namely that your conception of self differs from that of your assigned sex at birth…
