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I was expecting this to happen eventually, but not soon.
I spent February in the UK with my sweetheart. ~80% positive experience even though I spent most of it either sick or grotty from asthma. It also served as early warning to update my passport (3yrs early), when the border guard got a colleague to double check that my face matched my photo ID.
At the same time, my interactions with officials on both sides of the international border—as well as occasional service professionals across the pond—were uncomfortably gendered. There wasn't any moment of hesitation to select a pronoun or honorific, as people had towards me in many U.S. contexts since the post-COVID reopening. It's about as dysphoria-inducing as being consistently "ma'm"d when other's default perceptions of me were feminine.
I still feel vastly better with my sex hormones balanced towards testosterone, but damn if I like the side effects.
I spent February in the UK with my sweetheart. ~80% positive experience even though I spent most of it either sick or grotty from asthma. It also served as early warning to update my passport (3yrs early), when the border guard got a colleague to double check that my face matched my photo ID.
At the same time, my interactions with officials on both sides of the international border—as well as occasional service professionals across the pond—were uncomfortably gendered. There wasn't any moment of hesitation to select a pronoun or honorific, as people had towards me in many U.S. contexts since the post-COVID reopening. It's about as dysphoria-inducing as being consistently "ma'm"d when other's default perceptions of me were feminine.
I still feel vastly better with my sex hormones balanced towards testosterone, but damn if I like the side effects.
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