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We hear more and more about efforts to restrict how trans young people can exist in public as legislators try to limit the kind of health care they receive, which bathrooms they use, and the names they're allowed to be called in school. And we know that this barrage of anti-trans legislation can be harmful to trans youth and their mental health.
But the trans experience is much more than the efforts to silence it. This Trans Awareness Week, The Trevor Project collected stories of trans joy, asking trans youth what makes them experience gender euphoria, the “satisfaction or joy caused when one’s gendered experience aligns with their gender identity, rather than with the gender they were assigned at birth,” according to the report. The overwhelming answer? Being treated as any other kid would be.
The Trevor Project broke down the responses — pulled from its 2023 US National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People — into four common themes: affirming communication, inclusivity and belonging, appearance affirmation, and support and respect. The ways in which the young people surveyed describe feeling euphoria should be instructive for trans allies, according to the report.
“These findings provide a roadmap for allies and adults to support transgender and nonbinary young people, which can foster feelings of happiness and confidence about their gender,” the report reads. “Using affirming language, treating young people in alignment with their gender identity, complimenting their appearance, and expressing support can help transgender and nonbinary young people feel euphoric about their gender and potentially have positive impacts on their mental health.”
So, want to know what makes trans youth feel gender euphoria? Here are some of their answers, according to The Trevor Project:
