Does God bless your transsexual heart?

 Being as I am in fact transfemme, I thought I'd take this time to debunk some common myths revolving around trans people (mostly trans women, since that's what I am and all).

Myth: Trans women don't get periods.
Fact: While we don't menstruate, we do still have hormone cycles (assuming we're on HRT, that is) and that can still cause us to get period-like symptoms every month. What those symptoms are varies from person to person, but can include feeling bloated, constipation, feeling irritable/cranky, tired, random aches and pains in our bodies, etc.

Myth: All trans people eventually have surgery.
Fact: Some choose not to. Dysphoria manifests in many ways, and genital dysphoria is only one of those ways, and not always present in trans people. Some are totally fine with their genitalia not matching their gender. This does not make them any less trans than others, and surgery is not like... the definitive final step in transitioning or anything like that.

Myth: The proper terminology is "transsexual" for someone who has had genital surgery, and "transgender" for someone who hasn't.
Fact: "Transsexual" is seen as a rather outdated and potentially offensive term nowadays, as it creates a divide between "trans people who have had surgery" and "trans people who haven't had surgery", which invalidates the point made above. Most trans people prefer the term "transgender", regardless of whether or not they've had surgery. And as an aside note, it's "transgender", not "transgendered". It's an adjective, not a verb.

Myth: The abbreviation for "transgender" is "trans*".
Fact: Extensive polling actually found that most trans people prefer "trans", without the asterisk.

There are several myths about HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy), so I'll just do a quick mass debunk here. Estrogen does not make you stop growing facial hair. (Sadly, trans girls still have to shave regularly, unless they get extensive laser/electrolysis done to remove the hair completely.) It does not change your voice (that's why trans people still have to do voice training in order to sound like the gender they identify as). It does not change your sexual orientation.

The amount of estrogen contained in soy and fenugreek is negligible and wouldn't make a difference without testosterone blockers anyway.

Myth: Trans people are never bigoted or prejudiced.
Fact: It's actually very common for trans people to have internalised prejudices, most often stemming from their upbringing. And yes, they can even be transphobic too. Though it's important to note this does not "disqualify" them from being trans - a transphobic trans person is still a trans person. On the other hand, them being trans also does not give them free rein to be transphobic.

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