So I'm going to cover a little bit of what I wrote about in my article here in case it's useful to anyone. Whether you're questioning if you are nonbinary yourself or you want to be an ally to someone in your life who is nonbinary. Or maybe this is your first time ever hearing the term nonbinary and you're curious and open to learning more. I'm happy to answer any questions and to be supportive in any way I can in the space of this well and conversation going forward
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:43
Every person's gender journey is unique, whether they identify as nonbinary gender fluid, ftm, meaning female to male or mtf, male to female, gender nonconforming, sometimes also seen as GNC, or they use any other language that resonates with their experience. Most of us are familiar with the binary masculine or feminine, man or woman. So what does transition mean for those of us who are both and or somewhere fixed fluid, or both and in the spaces in between or outside the binary completely?
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:22
My transition story started when I was a kid growing up in the never quite felt like a girl, though I was assigned female at birth, also known as Afab or Afab. You may see it written as in some places, I liked boys clothes and video games and TV shows, and I generally saw myself more in the boy characters I saw on TV than I did the girl characters. But sometimes I liked wearing dresses, and I liked that my friends who were girls thought I was like them too
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:47
There is no one right way to transition. And the process doesn't have to be linear. Someone may transition once or many times throughout their gender journey. What feels right for a trans and or nonbinary person right now may change over time. What's most important is prioritizing whatever you need to move from any feelings of gender dysphoria to experiencing more gender euphoria throughout your journey
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:54
For some nonbinary people, gender affirming hormone therapy, also sometimes seen as GAHT, sometimes also called hormone replacement therapy or HRT, plays an essential role in feeling more at home within themselves, whether that means utilizing estrogen, testosterone or other medications. Hormones are often used to support nonbinary binary folks no matter where they are in the transition, along with various kinds of genderforming surgery. Though I'm still uncertain about how hormones may or may not play a role in my gender journey long term
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:41
However, hormone therapy and surgery aren't what everyone wants or needs to feel a sense of euphoria and alignment with their experience of their gender and identity. For many nonbinary and gender nonconforming people, changing their name and pronouns is not only a good way to begin experimenting with what feels right for them, but is also often enough to feel a greater sense of ease and peace with their gender and identity. For me, I was surprised at how much relief changing my name and pronouns alone made for me
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:06
Things like vocalization exercises can also be supportive in understanding how you want to sound to yourself and in conversation. During my transition, I attended group therapy specifically with other trans people. Part of the group process was experimenting with and working on our voices. We talked about how our voices sounded now, how some of the affect we learned was cultural, and how some of it was just how our voices sounded. Some of us worked on exercises that made our voices higher, lower, fuller, or a combination
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:16
No matter what transition means for you, practicing ongoing self compassion and care for yourself and relying on your community when you need support are essential. Plume is also there to help wherever you are in your gender journey and whenever you may need us. And like I said, please feel free to respond here and we can be in conversation about anything I shared in relation to my personal experience and any other resources that I could share