Transgender Inclusion

Chapter 3A Basic Understanding of Transition

Many transgender individuals desire to transition. Sadly, not all of us are able.

There are three widely recognized forms of transition in the transgender community: medical, legal, and social transition. A person may transition in none, some, or all ways. Transition is not a prerequisite for membership in the transgender community. There are many reasons a person may not transition or may only transition in some ways but not others (finances, access, safety, physical limitations, or desire, to name a few). You are not any less transgender if you do not transition. It is imperative that transitioning not be used as a means of gatekeeping the transgender community. But it is important to understand social, medical, and legal transitioning.

Social Transition

Social transition is the most readily available and, likewise, the most widely accessible. Social transition has everything to do with how you show up in the world. It is how you dress, your chosen name, and your chosen pronouns; it is how you relate to the world and how you express your gender to those around you. Gender is a social construct, and we are socialized to view certain things through a specific gender lens. For example, certain clothing items, career paths, and names are socialized to specific genders.

While social transition is the most common form of transition, not all individuals transition in this way. There are several reasons for this. A person simply might ...