How to Fight Internalized Transphobia
The monster inside us can be tamed
UPDATE 2023: I wrote all these essays back when I was immersed in trans ideology. I detransitioned and I’ve changed my mind about many things. https://youtube.com/@RayAlexWilliams?si=JIEdBcopAIxOPtEW
Transphobia is a foul beast but there is another monster, one that lives inside us, and that is internalized transphobia. It’s that thought inside you that tells you, “You’re not a real woman” or “You’re not valid.” It tells you that you’re ugly, that you’re not worthy of love. It tells you that the world is right to think you’re disgusting.
True, internalized transphobia is often fueled by transphobia itself. So many young trans people read the hateful screeds of TERFs or happen-upon the comments section of any internet article about trans people and internalize that hatred within themselves. They take the hate of society and bury it deep inside themselves, where it festers and rots from the inside-out. This can lead to feelings of worthlessness, and in the worst case, suicidal ideation, which is exactly why TERF rhetoric is not just harmless inquiry into the metaphysics of gender.
If you have a “successful” transition on the outside, you might pass as your gender to the world around you while still struggling to fight the demons within. This is why internalized…
