TransHelp/about.md

% About

We especially welcome those who are questioning (people who have discovered they are trans, and are looking inwards on their life and exploring their gender identity), and wish to provide support for them. This also includes trans people currently in their transition who have regret or discover that they have a different identity (e.g. trans woman or trans man who discovers that they are non-binary, and vice versa).

We also welcome family (parents, partners, children, etc) and friends of trans people, if they have any questions or would like to understand their trans relative or friend more. More information will be posted on the site later on.

We also recognise that not all trans people have gender dysphoria; some have gender euphoria. We welcome those people. We also welcome trans people who don't want to transition, for whatever reason, or those who only want certain parts (e.g. HRT without surgery, or vice versa). We recognize that the world is not binary.

Unlike many other sites and communities, we are also pro-DIY. It is common for trans women to wait years on the NHS for hormone therapy for instance, where they cannot afford private care (which is often still slow, and gatekeepery). This website will soon contain information about how to order hormones on the internet, and how to take them safely at safe doses, and common pitfalls to avoid, as well as mentioning risks and how to mitigate them, things to check for, how to battle with the NHS for getting blood tests, etc.

We believe in informed consent, provided on the NHS, and one of the goals of TransHelp is to campaign in activist activities to force the government and healthcare providers to end the gatekeeping forced therapy that many trans people are subject to, which in many cases stops them from being able to get HRT or surgery, due to travel costs and other factors. We believe that if you have the blood tests and endocrinologist's approval, that you should be able to start HRT and get surgery whenever you want, even within days after requesting it at your GP. In many countries, this is currently not the case (it's a few years, not days, especially if using the NHS).

We also believe that children should be allowed to transition. This includes hormone blockers to block their genetical puberty. We believe that children (at any age) should be allowed to have surgery. Currently, children are not allowed surgery. People are also not allowed to start HRT until they become adults; hormone blockers are provided to some kids, but even then it's often at a point where they've already been damaged by their genetic puberty. We think that full HRT should be provided to any child that is of puberty age, even if they are younger than 16 years old. We think that preventing children from transitioning is ethically disgusting. Children should not be forced to suffer gender dysphoria, as they currently are.

We believe that a person should be able to change their birth certificate with a simple form, without gatekeeping. This is currently not the case in most countries.

More generally, we want to campaign in activist activities to raise public awareness about trans issues, and to help bring about a culture where trans people are accepted by society and have equal rights compared to cis people. This is currently still not the case in most countries.

People from all over the world are welcome to join our community.