Casual reminder to talk to normal people about DIY-HRT.
The fact that it has become the de-facto standard for transgender healthcare around the world is a scandal and most people will see it that way, once they get a grasp of what is going on. Keep in mind that most cis people have no clue about anything related to trans people and that ignorance is very much not the same as malice.
And by telling them about DIY-HRT, I actually mean the full story: Online-pharmacies, homebrewers, bathtub-estrogen and how massively they differ in price. (A collegue of mine went from “I would never mix my own medication” to “I would totally mix my own medication” upon me mentioning that I was spending ≈100€ per month on pharmaceutical grade medication at the time). Explain how mixing works and why we are so confident in the quality that homebrewers produce (independent tests!). Mention that gel is primarily hand-sanitizer, so that even if they were to work in unhygenic matters, the result would still be estrogen-infused hand-sanitizer!
Talk about how stupidly low the regret rates are and that most effects reverse on their own if you really came to regret them. Be open, direct and keep refering to it as the de-facto standard of treatment. Make it clear why it is necessary, safe and widespread.
People who are somewhat open-minded can be convinced! And they will afterwards know how awful the hellcare systems around the world treat us and might mention it to others or argue in our favor. Keep in mind that we (trans people) are like 1% of the population, we need allies! And our allies need to know what we need and what our situation is!
The one caveat I will add: Talking to jornos and right-wingers is a different story, as many of them are malicious actors and will frame things in harmful ways, if given the chance!
#OpenHRT #DiyHrt #trans #transgender #transrights #HRT #transition