The Stories

“Sometimes I feel gender euphoria from just looking in the mirror, and seeing my hair do what I've always wanted it to do.”

______________________________________________________

“One of my coworkers sometimes calls me ‘sir’, and that feels really nice.”

______________________________________________________

“There’s a moment of gender euphoria whenever someone uses my preferred pronouns or my chosen name. It’s a bunch of little things, acknowledging me for who I am.”

______________________________________________________

“I was young when I asked for my hair to be cut short, like a boy’s. I remember running back and forth from the mirror to my mother, grinning ear to ear as she cut it shorter each time I asked.”

______________________________________________________

“I was always so excited when someone thought I was a boy, but at the time, I also enjoyed the moment of hesitation after hearing my name. The moment of temporary otherness, the space between being a boy and a girl. That was where I experienced gender euphoria at its peak.”

______________________________________________________

“…When another co-worker misgendered me… [my friend] comes up and yells, ‘They! They just said they go by they/them pronouns, so respect them!’ It was very amusing and also heartwarming.”

______________________________________________________

“I looked at myself in the mirror, binder and dick on. I had a dick! My body was now what I always wanted it to be. A man’s body. Almost all of my dysphoria was gone.”

______________________________________________________

“I couldn’t believe my eyes! My chest! It was flat! I felt so masculine, so strong. I saw who I wanted to see.”

______________________________________________________

“One of my favorite gender euphoria moments is singing along to Phantom of the Opera, and hearing how low I can get my voice to sing.”

______________________________________________________

“I love my hair. Every time I wash it, my heart soars with joy.”

______________________________________________________

“I love how I look in my binder, packer and boxers. The bulge looks so natural, and my chest looks so flat, I’m finally feeling as masculine as I’ve always wanted to.”

______________________________________________________

“When people use my name or they/them pronouns, it’s like a little jolt of bliss.”

______________________________________________________

“Receiving a lot of counter-affirmation from friends online…brightened me up. It instilled enough confidence in me to not feel insecure in my gender identity and I’ve rarely felt ‘invalid’ since.”

______________________________________________________

“One of my friends tackle-hugged me and told me that they love me and that they [are] so thankful that I'm so open about my gender and expression, and that my posts on social media…has helped them to figure out their own gender and expression.”

______________________________________________________

“Whenever [my partner and I are] intimate she's very careful and mindful of where to touch my body and always asks if it's okay to touch [certain] body parts.”

______________________________________________________

“I get euphoria when my partner, who’s not huge on sex, wants to try out a strap on with me because she knows that would make me happy to have even if we would end up never using it.”

______________________________________________________

“In middle school I casually mentioned to some friends that my birth name would have been ‘Joseph’ if I were AMAB, and my one friend got really excited and asked if he could call me ‘Joey,’ and I said yes…I still remember how much my face and whole spirit just lit up every time he called me that.”

______________________________________________________

“The first time I put on a binder I looked at my chest and I was amazed that it was finally flat…for the rest of the day I kept taking pictures of myself, something I never liked doing before.”

______________________________________________________

“The first time I heard [my dance instructor] use ‘they’ to refer to me, I felt so good!”

______________________________________________________

“[A] big gender euphoria moment for me was top surgery. I woke up afterwards and I immediately felt so much lighter…my body instantly knew and instantly responded with euphoria.”

______________________________________________________

“The concept of clothes making you feel good and more confident is still mind-blowing to me, even though I experience it regularly.”

______________________________________________________

“Every time I go get my hair cut I leave there feeling so inexplicably happy and comfortable within my own skin…Nothing can wipe the smile off my face.”

______________________________________________________

“When people – especially family – use my preferred name and pronouns, it lifts my spirits.”

______________________________________________________

“I love it when my fiancée calls me handsome.”

______________________________________________________

“A gentleman called me ‘sir’ in an elevator, and I couldn’t stop smiling.”

______________________________________________________

“An elderly woman on the bus saw my pronouns pin and talked about how her daughter, a university professor, puts her pronouns in her bio.”

______________________________________________________

“Last year, I was able to get top surgery and now my outlook on myself is completely different. I can look in the mirror and see a chest I like.”

______________________________________________________

“I remember distinctly the first time I asked to have my hair cut short. The hairdresser didn’t understand, of course, and nor did my parents…The next time I got it cut, nobody knew I was going to the hairdresser’s and after it was all done I remember running my hands over the shaved back and sides gleefully - it finally felt like my hair.”

______________________________________________________

“My first binder was bought in secret…When it arrived, I couldn’t wait to put it on. It fit perfectly. Looking in the mirror and running my hands over my chest, I felt so much healthier, so much more me, and so much more free, despite the restrictive cloth wrapped around my torso.”

______________________________________________________

“The first time I tried on a binder… It was an old one that I received from a fundraiser online but the moment I put it on and looked in the mirror it was like my reflection finally aligned with my true self. I remember not being able to stop smiling and wanting to cry from happiness.”

______________________________________________________

“Wearing a binder for the first time (and almost every time since).”

______________________________________________________

“Every time I get gendered correctly in a shop…It ranges from a simple ‘would you like a bag sir?’ to being asked if I would like any of the male aftershave on offer when I know the women served before me was offered the female version.”

______________________________________________________

“It's the simple things that the person saying them took all of 2 seconds to work out what to say, the inference made by just looking at me, that makes me gender euphoric.”

______________________________________________________

“Honestly anytime someone asks for my pronouns in conversations right off the bat…knowing someone is opening up that comfort and ease just fills me up with hope and I always feel absolutely giddy knowing they won't hate me just for my identity and language I use to describe it.”

______________________________________________________

“I remember when I was sixteen and presenting feminine, a gentleman had called me ‘sir’ and I realized that it felt great being called ‘sir.’”

______________________________________________________

“When customers I see call me ‘sir’ or even ‘buddy’ or ‘man’… It’s affirming my gender and it just feels so good to me.”

______________________________________________________

“When I came out as trans and my dad’s side of the family started calling me by my chosen name and by male pronouns…I not only felt the support from my family, but I had also felt gender euphoria about being seen as male.”

______________________________________________________

“When I bought my first binder…I put it on and a T-shirt over it, and I saw how flat my chest was due to it. I thought to myself ‘this is what my chest is supposed to look like.’”

______________________________________________________

“Before I was out to anyone other than myself, someone approached me in the train station…They said, ‘Excuse me, ma'am—’ Then frowned, brows furrowed. ‘ARE you a ma'am?’ It was my first time, and one of the closest things I've had since to, being gendered correctly by a complete stranger. I beamed and said ‘Sort of?’ They laughed and laughed. ‘Sort of! I like that, I like that!’”

______________________________________________________

“[My chiropractor] told me they wanted to be more inclusive and aware and she asked if I had a preferred pronouns. She also changed my gender marker in their system to X and noted that letters to me should neither address me as Ms. nor Mr. I was beaming the whole day and even told people about it who didn't know I was non-binary.”

______________________________________________________

“The first time I cut my hair really short was first time I felt really free.”

______________________________________________________

“The first thing that springs to mind is getting my first binder and trying on all of my clothes to see what they look like with my flat chest. I had such a big boost of happiness and freedom that I could now wear all these clothes and feel comfortable.”

______________________________________________________

“…Hearing my parents call me their son or my sisters call me their brother just feels so surprising…because I once was so distressed at the thought that I wasn’t their son or brother but now that’s how I’m seen and it’s so natural and right.”

______________________________________________________

“I love my name and I just feel like it perfectly suits me I feel so so connected to my name now.”

______________________________________________________

“I feel as a trans person there is often a lot of disconnect between our image of ourselves and…our bodies and society, so when there is that connect and it clicks into place it’s such a wonderful feeling. Being surrounded my other trans people is even better because…in a trans space everywhere feels like the right place.”