Hey guys! This is a stupid problem but I'm gonna post about it anyway. So I have a neurology apt tomorrow and a therapy apt later this week and I'm gonna ask both of them about HRT, but I won't be able to have surgeries for years yet. Even though I haven't started a medical transition yet, I still consider myself male. Is calling myself another gender appropriate without completely looking the part?
If you are talking about the M/F part of the paperwork, and you haven't started HRT yet, you have to put female on all your paperwork, as this could affect how doctors choose to treat you.
All that matters is how you feel. The world doesn't necessarily understand this yet, but it is important that we do. Many people identify as transgender but feel no need to transition, that is fine. Others feel the need to transition, that's fine as well. Gender is not something you do, it's something you are. It's not something that you change (unless you are under the genderfluid umbrella like me in which case we even break that rule) I'm going to be a bit crude here: Surgery is irrelevant, genitals are irrelevant. It's just you. For a MTF person, a penis still counts as female genitals as it is attached to a female. Long story short: You say you are a man, then that is all anyone should need.
^ Changing your legal gender depends on your location. Sometimes, hormones or some medical treatment (surgery, etc) is required. Other times, like in states like Oregon, you don't need anything, just the patience to fill out a few forms.
It has nothing to do with your biology and/or sex. If you identify as male you are male, that's all there is too it.
That is completely okay. Remember "gender" and "sex" are different things. Sex is the gender that you were born into, whereas gender is what you identify as. If you identify as a male, then your gender is that of a male.
A good question I struggle with myself. When I worked for the US Census bureau and went door to door I was told to write down whatever people told me as far as how they identified for any of the questions on the form. That's what the Census bureau says but as far as doctors? I have also heard that insurance companies can refuse to cover services for a gender they deem not matching with what their identification is for you. For instance a person identifies as male but has gynecological services. I have not run into that yet because I am very new to accepting myself as trans yet alone sharing it with the rest of the world.
