It is harmful to share pre-transition photos, and to misgender girls or women who are trans by referring to their assigned gender at birth — it replays the false and misleading narratives that attempt to deny a trans person’s gender, and their lived experiences.

Transitioning is layered, and different for everyone, and it’s different when a trans person chooses to share their pre-transition photos because that’s their choice, and their right. But for some trans folks, there can be a lot of discomfort in being confronted with photos that don’t reflect who we are, and that take us back to times we couldn’t access comfort within ourselves.

And when other folks share those photos, it perpetuates the false narrative that trans people aren’t who we say we are, as it attempts to deny a trans person’s gender, and their lived experiences.

In simple words: Girls who are trans are girls. Women who are trans, are women. (Trans girls are girls, and trans women are women).

And if folks believe that trans children deserve human rights, and that they deserve the right to participate in their childhood in a way that’s comfortable and safe, then they would understand that these nationwide attacks on trans kids are heartbreaking and a violation.

Excluding trans girls and trans femme children from participating in sports has negative outcomes for trans and non-trans women too: “It invites gender policing that could subject any woman to invasive tests or accusations of being ‘too masculine’ or ‘too good’ at their sport to be a ‘real’ woman,” ACLU reports.

Read about the trans youth directly affected by these bills, statements by organizations that have fought for women’s sports, and myths about trans athletes: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/the-coordinated-attack-on-trans-student-athletes/

And here’s an article on why ‘Trans people are dreading Caitlyn Jenner’s run for governor’: https://www.vox.com/22409461/caitlyn-jenner-california-governor-recall

Here are four facts that debunk common myths about trans athletes: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked/

Note: The word ‘transgender’ is an adjective, not a noun. So it’s incorrect to say ‘a transgender’.
Preferred example: ‘a transgender person’

Photo by Chris Boland / www.chrisboland.com