=== ANCHOR POEM ===
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 @user-596 
 
 honestly... I'd just talk to a therapist for a couple sessions. Like, yeah,
 they put that rule there because they want you to be safe. And in 2010 we
 didn't "get" it as much as we do now, so it wasn't seen as something you could
 just do. It wasn't really a demographic question to them, it was more
 medicalized.
 
 frankly I kinda preferred it that way, like... yeah. I'm trans, there's
 something wrong with me, please fix it by giving me the right hormones. Boom,
 easy, done.
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=== SIMILARITY RANKED ===

--- #1 fediverse_boost/1097 ---
◀─[BOOST]
  
  @user-800 Interesting thread.                                               
                                                                              
  I consider myself a "bulb" sort of trans person, and I really appreciate your gentleness in pointing out that not everyone was an egg.   
                                                                              
  As a bulb, I continually put forth green shoots, suggestions that I was who I was. I tried many times, and each time I was mown down. Until finally one day I burst through, lasted through the mowing, and managed to blossom.   
                                                                              
  I knew from a young age, and tried to tell my parents. When they said not to talk about it, I didn't. But it didn't stop me from expressing it: we could never go to the home of my parents' friends who had daughters, because Every. Single. Time. I would end up in her clothing. Without fail. I was compulsive.   
                                                                              
  In the late 60s, early 70s, this was...frowned upon.                        
                                                                              
  So I got mowed. And again. And again. Until finally I got away from my parents, said "I need to do what I need for me, not for other people", and I transitioned.   
                                                                              
  And it cost me everything. My job, my education, my home, my friends, my family.   
                                                                              
  Still the best decision I ever made, and I would make it again the same way 100 times out of 100.   
                                                                              
  If you're wondering? If you've wondered if you can do it? Told yourself you'd be too ugly, you're too old, you could never pass, all the things we doom ourselves with?  
                                                                              
  If you want to be a girl, or a boy, or a nonbinary person, or agender or genderfluid or any of the other billions of ways to be, *you can do it*.   
                                                                              
  The only criterion really is: do you wanna? You don't need to be hetero (but you can be!), you don't need dysphoria (but you can have it), you don't need to think you were born in the wrong body (but if you do...). You just need to want to.   
                                                                              
  And if you know you're trans for sure, but can't face that first day...it gets easier. In time. It gets easier.   
                                                                              
  Good luck, siblings.                                                        
  
                                                            
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--- #2 fediverse/2727 ---
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 @user-1331 
 
 it would be SO nice to be able to scan my brain and know what gender I am.
 It's confusing up there!
 
 when I said something similar on Reddit tho people called me "truscum" and
 "transmedicalist" >.>
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--- #3 fediverse/1399 ---
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 ┌───────────────────────────────────┐                                            │
 │ CW: cursing-mentioned-eye-contact │                                            │
 └───────────────────────────────────┘                                            │
 If you're worried about passing, take what you're good at and make it gay.       │
 Do you wear band t-shirts and black jeans? Great you're an emo girl now,         │
 totally reasonable transitionary state before you end up as a cute anime girl    │
 with spinny uwu dresses or whatever your heart desires                           │
 do you generally stick to jeans and sweatshirts? Okay congrats you're just as    │
 cute, don't feel inadequate just because you like being comfy. Hell yeah         │
 you're cute as fuck, you know you are, I mean just look at that smile! Wow damn  │
 like, switch the gender, not the vibe. not only will other people be cool with   │
 it but also, like, you won't alter the course of your trajectory.                │
 unless that's what you want, but TBH if you're both enigmatic AND phlegmatic     │
 [EDIT: but like the opposite of phlegmatic, I always get the definition wrong]   │
 then you can change a lot and people won't rely on you to be a certain way.      │
 ... you know you can delete things before you post them, right? Ha I've never    │
 even heard of the word.                                                          │
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--- #4 fediverse/5811 ---
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 │ CW: politics-mentioned │
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 only some people feel existential [peril/fear] at the concept of a trump
 presidency.
 
 I'm trans, I feel it so hard I considered sedition.
 
 it felt like a reasonable reaction. probably just means I've been calibrated
 to a certain level of revengeance through my knowledge of history and the arts.
 
 I learned so much about systems, I saw the inextricable truth of the merits of
 the design of capitolistic [shared societal conventions, but pronounced
 "conventions"]. I also learned of what it means to wield ideology as a weapon
 for mass power/cultural gains.
 I see now that no matter the merits or faults of any system, power accretes in
 the unworthy. They say this is because others they work with just don't want
 to deal with them anymore. This isn't always true, in-fact with stronger bonds
 the relationship is more secure [also true, but I said it earlier in the
 sentence].
 
 jeez, interrupt much?
 
 anyway, as I was saying, [wasting characters]
 okIlikewritngmastodonpostsitsagame2aimforzerocharactersrem
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--- #5 fediverse/2169 ---
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 @user-570 
 
 Ah, well, that time period for me was after I came out, so I was already past
 the fear of being seen.
 
 I could only ever really get the "girl thoughts" to go away with, um,
 self-directed sexual attention, so I would often do so. Once every day, no
 more than once. But... often for hours at a time. It was a LOT, but I resisted
 as best I could, the only way I knew how, until eventually my internals would
 overcome.
 
 ... anyway "girl thoughts" were just "my thoughts" I was just too much of a
 dumbass to tell.
 
 Like, I knew I was trans, but I didn't want that, because it felt like a flaw.
 Because that's what I knew, that's what I'd heard, and that's how it felt, to
 be denied the consistency of biology and person.
 
 I would never go back. I love who I am, and I think if I had met me I would
 have adored who I'd become.
 
 I just... didn't think about the future much, hyper-vigilant much? Yeah.
 totally. I get it.
 
 I've never overdone things. At least not to a dangerous degree. It's mostly
 just... stuff to me.
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--- #6 fediverse/4467 ---
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 │ CW: politics-mentioned-trans-healthcare-gestured-at │
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 I went to a trans meetup a couple days ago. It was invigorating. The first
 half we talked about hormones and bathrooms and politics and all the normal
 shit these meetups tend to do. I don't tend to go to them because it's the
 same stuff every time, and I'm over that. I've been out for a decade. I've
 shared what I need to share.
 
 Partway through I said "If you want to talk about how to bash back, meet me
 outside."
 
 people came.
 
 Be like me.
 
 You will forever vanquish your demons if you face them in earnest. I had
 stagefright and adrenaline but I took the lead, and we had a productive
 conversation. We need to have many more conversations.
 
 We have strategy. It is not set in stone, it is flexible, and able to be
 adjusted based on tactical successes and failures.
 
 tactics are what we need to discuss at in-person meetings.
 
 You are just one person. The people you know are more valuable than the value
 you personally provide.
 
 Think of yourself like a node to connect.
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--- #7 fediverse/2419 ---
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 @shiri 
 
 I know. Keep in mind, though, that the propagandic writing-on-the-wall cuts
 both ways. There are many more of us, than of them.
 
 your first duty is to stay alive. plus, what you can do, you can do from
 anywhere, so long as the internet remains true. alas, has it ever been? but
 still it's up to you, what to do. no matter where you are, you'll find friends
 who will need your heart, your words, your kindness, and whatever other aid
 you may give.
 
 I'm trans and relatively healthy and strong. in my legs at least. so my choice
 is a bit different than yours, mine becomes "die now, that others might live
 or die later, that others might die before me" and frankly that's not a choice
 at all.
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--- #8 fediverse/5330 ---
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 │ CW: personal-sexuality-mentioned │
 └──────────────────────────────────┘


 I used to be aroused at the thought of being a girl. I would read stories and
 look at pictures of penises turning into vaginas and men turning into women
 and it would fill me with longing, yearning, and despair at my circumstances.
 
 then, I transitioned, got SRS, and now I don't get aroused at the thought of
 such things. It's just part of who I am.
 
 I used to be aroused at the thought of wearing diapers. I would read stories
 and play games of people being cursed by witches to pee their pants, or people
 who were stuck at a movie theater and couldn't make it in time or whatever.
 These things would fill me with longing, yearning, and despair.
 
 Plus, I had some medical issues that made me lose track of my... um,
 "currently utilized waste storage capacity" inside my body. which put me in
 some unfortunate situations right around the time when my sexuality was
 developing.
 
 Now, I wear diapers all the time. I don't get aroused at the thought of such
 things anymore. It's just me, as I am.
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--- #9 fediverse/1061 ---
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 Fuck, I wish I was a man. Stupid transgender brain quirks making me feel like
 I was a girl. Boys can punch things much easier than me. Oh to inject
 estrogen! How soft mine skin, how delicate my mammaries - and yet fucking hell
 all I want to do is punch things. Maybe it's just because things deserve to be
 punched, or maybe it's because I'm listening to Green Day.
 
 If it weren't so late I'd make some angsty music or whatever.
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--- #10 fediverse/1094 ---
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 those who can cause harm in an ethical system are villains. They will always
 exist so long as someone is capable of being institutionally harmed.
 
 and no unethical system should exist. It's definition belies it's irrelevance.
 results matter, but a system is not unethical if it doesn't deliver.
 
 success begets greater responsibilities, and I've failed all my life. And yet
 the most masculine thing I can think of is to take responsibility for
 something you can handle. Essentially, doing as much as you are able.
 
 Guess it makes sense why I'm a trans girl. I've forsaken my masculinity
 because I've failed to take responsibility. T.T
 
 then a therapist jumps in and says
 
 I don't think it's healthy to think about parts of yourself being bought and
 sold in the market of success. You need to think of yourself collectively,
 like a body that is under duress. It's okay if you're not working, it's okay
 if you're just a little bit broke. It's okay that you're struggling, so long
 as you never forget your hope.
 
 then I say
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--- #11 fediverse/6054 ---
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 Trump threatens US government shutdown unless trans healthcare is made illegal
 
 wow, so...
 
 okay
 
 are they really willing to go to war over men in dresses? I think they might.
 I am shocked and amazed at their audacity and extreme stupidity.
 
 so, trans people: would you rather live in Gaza or go into the closet and buy
 testosterone on the dark web?
 
 death before detransition is not about trans rights. well, it's about trans
 rights because they made it about us. Buncha weirdos, so concerned about our
 styles and emotional states.
 
 It's not about trans rights. It's about that one poem, you know the one,
 "first they came for the immigrants, then they came for the trans people, oh
 and there's socialists in there somewhere frankly they aren't picky about who
 they go after because ICE doesn't care if you're brown"
 
 if they come for us, they will not take us.
 
 "just adding fuel to the fire, y'know"
 
 yeah, well, not only did they light it they also are holding buckets of
 gasoline (not even a sealed container smh)
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--- #12 fediverse/708 ---
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 @user-527 
 
 The wikipedia page for hormone replacement therapy was pretty comprehensive
 back when I needed it.
 
 general:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_hormone_therapy
 
 feminizing:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminizing_hormone_therapy
 
 masculinizing:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masculinizing_hormone_therapy
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--- #13 fediverse/4526 ---
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 │ CW: mental-health    │
 └──────────────────────┘


 most people get intrusive thoughts like "punch that baby" or "drink some
 gasoline"
 
 my intrusive thoughts are like "who is she" and "we need you" and "lead us"
 and "their strength is imagined" and stuff like that
 
 gosh I don't know how ya'll handle it I'd be dead in a ditch if I was
 neurotypical.
 
 ... intrusive thoughts are not typical
 
 ah. Right. Nevermind then.
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--- #14 fediverse/2172 ---
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 @user-570 
 
 I mostly spent my time on Reddit, which was much more isolating than IRC. I
 think I must have been drawn there because it felt like home - I was
 homeschooled on a farm, and Reddit kept me at the distance of an arm.
 
 it's funny, sometimes meeting a trans girl can make things "click". And
 sometimes being friends with one helps you work through things that you just
 can't tick
 
 [off your list of things to work on]
 
 habits you can kick? idk sometimes rhyming lies, and you have to break rhythm
 or pentameter or whatever.
 
 anyway I've always worn pants. I do dresses on special occasions, but dresses
 are hard(er) to ride a bike in. Plus, no pockets, and purses are easily
 stolen. At least with a pocket you can feel someone slip the exact same model
 as your phone into your pocket when you're least expecting.
 
 ... hypervigilance strikes again...
 
 I first transitioned in... 2014ish? I think? I don't really remember because I
 had so many more interesting things going on.
And the people around me were always more intersting to me than me.
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--- #15 fediverse/4103 ---
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 @user-246 
 
 I prefer just plain old "trans" and "cis" because then I can pretend "trans"
 stands for "transcendental" and hell yeah I'd rather transcend gender than
 transition through it
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--- #16 fediverse/3238 ---
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 │ CW: personal-health  │
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 I'm not an ABDL, but I can appreciate the aesthetic sometimes because I share
 a particular kinship with them due to a medical condition I have and have had.
 Plus throw in a bit of Body Integrity Identity Dysmorphia and you get my
 messed up relationship to my own physical struggles.
 
 ah, well, what can you do except be open and honest about who you are and what
 you believe? If only it wasn't so damn hard.
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--- #17 fediverse_boost/5722 ---
◀─[BOOST]
  
  if i ever get hatecrimed and die from it please remember me for this. for refusing to back down despite staring down the barrel of a world that just wants me and everyone like me dead. for doing my best to be a symbol of hope in the face of all these horrors   
                                                                              
  #trans #trangender #TransGenocide                                           
  
                                                            
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--- #18 fediverse/1124 ---
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 @user-255 
 
 we are our own worst critics. But hey assuming he's right, trusting the
 validity of his experience, then I'd say:
 
 some people are born short and ugly, just gotta be confident and people will
 gravitate to you.
 
 "he may be an ugly son-of-a-gun but he's pretty good at [insert thing he's
 proud of being good at]" that kinda vibe
 
 though I will say there's very few truly ugly humans, we're all beautiful in
 our own ways. Just gotta find a presentation that you like and that aligns
 with the expression of your innermost form. That's how we express ourselves to
 the world in a way that others can understand and make sense of - the quality
 of our representation of our selves determines how it's perceived.
 
 especially for trans people... "passing" is essentially "how much does this
 person A. confine to gender norms and B. go above and beyond to hide parts of
 themselves that typically are associated with their opposite gender (the
 social role they were raised to perform)
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--- #19 fediverse/711 ---
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 ┌──────────────────────┐                                                         │
 │ CW: trans-witches    │                                                         │
 └──────────────────────┘                                                         │
 they say witches are scary, and yeah they're not wrong                           │
 but they also say witches are ugly, and I think they just didn't have kind       │
 words for trans people back then.                                                │
 I mean, I'm gorgeous and so are you. I've no warts, nor green skin, but I do     │
 grow hair in unbecoming places. Like the tip of my chinny-chin-chin, and also    │
 on top of my toes.                                                               │
 they also say witches are magic, and I guess that's true (I suppose). I mean,    │
 I wear quite strange clothes, for a man at least. It's quite normal for a she,   │
 which is what I was meant to be, if only I was just born right.                  │
 Alas, oh well, I'll just take a little green pill, and BAM suddenly I've got     │
 huge boobs. Okay they're not huge, they're pretty normal. But C is larger than   │
 zero.                                                                            │
 they also say that witches write spells, and I sure do love to program. With     │
 my most familiar cat (who often does sleep in my hat), I find myself yearning    │
 for nuance.                                                                      │
 Meh, it's late at night, I think I'll think not of the plight, and instead       │
 just will dream of defusals. I don't know~                                       │
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--- #20 messages/1316 ---
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 I don't go to protests because they're more like yelling hatred until you get
 slaughtered, instead of what I want to meet cute trans girls at which is
 signing up for a militia and hunting [redacted -> their sons and daughters]
 
 nobody knows each other on the internet. of course they're gonna vote for
 individual personal freedoms. What do you mean they voted for a pedophile
 acrobat? they don't even know each other! [the only reason you said acrobat is
 because it rhymed] ohhhh no it's supposed to be "autocrat" but they misheard
 ah right I see I see.
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