00:00I knew I wanted to be a boy, but I was born female.
00:03I knew I was trans at two years old.
00:06Growing up, I dressed in all boys' clothes,
00:08and my mom thought I was probably a lesbian.
00:11At 11 years old, I came out to my mom as transgender.
00:14Dear Mom, I feel like a boy trapped in a girl's body.
00:18I was always a boy, and that's all I ever will be.
00:22I felt overwhelmed, but I also felt scared,
00:27because I've never done this before.
00:32I've been on testosterone for just over six years,
00:35and it helps me to maintain my facial hair,
00:39to keep my voice low.
00:41If I stopped taking testosterone,
00:43I would get monthly cycles, and my chest would start growing.
00:47So essentially, I'd start detransitioning.
00:50My name is Guy, and I'm 21 years old.
00:52I knew I was transgender at two years old.
00:54I feel like I was born in the wrong body.
00:57I knew I wanted to be a boy, but I was born female.
01:01Over the years, testosterone has really changed my body
01:04in so many ways.
01:05My legs don't come out as much as they used to,
01:08and they're a lot straighter and more masculine.
01:11My facial structure is always changing, too.
01:14My jaw is more pronounced.
01:19I started my medical transition when I was 12 years old.
01:22That's when I started my hormone blockers.
01:24I was 16 years old when I started testosterone.
01:26When I look in the mirror, I'm like,
01:28wow, like, I really like what I see.
01:31I'm able to wear this type of jewelry and earrings
01:34and not feel, you know, super dysphoric about it.
01:37So that's a really great change on testosterone
01:39that's helped me to feel really good when I look in the mirror.
01:44There were so many little things and little nuances
01:48that led up to where I am today.
01:50I made you some tea.
01:51You want to come and look at some photos with me?
01:54Wow.
01:55You're so tiny.
01:57Yeah.
01:58My little face.
02:00Oh, I love this one.
02:03At two years old, I was with my little friend,
02:06and I said, hey, Mom, why don't I have a male part
02:09like my friend over here?
02:11And my mom was completely taken aback.
02:13I was, like, thinking to myself, oh, wow.
02:17What does that mean?
02:19I think I made a mental note at that point
02:22to just wait and see and be open.
02:26Internally, I was thinking,
02:29you are probably going to be a lesbian.
02:33Around, like, seven or eight years old,
02:36I already noticed that I wanted to do things
02:39that were out of the norm of a regular girl.
02:43I dressed as a boy.
02:45I wore boy clothes, boy shoes.
02:48So I was always referred to as, like, the tomboy.
02:54Dilting your head.
02:55It's just so typically you.
02:57Yeah.
02:58There you were, like, 11.
03:01When I was about 10 or 11, I saw this documentary.
03:05Kids that are my age and younger
03:07expressing how they were assigned a certain gender at birth,
03:12and they transitioned into the opposite sex.
03:15I saw the hormonal changes that they were going through,
03:18and I saw the physical changes that they had,
03:20and I was like, wow, I want that.
03:22Guy, do you remember this?
03:24I certainly do.
03:26I can't believe you still have it.
03:27Yeah, I kept it.
03:29I saw this kid come out to his parents,
03:32and I was so scared to do it.
03:33I didn't know how.
03:35And as soon as I saw that he did it in a letter,
03:37oh, light bulb went off in my head.
03:39So then I wrote this letter to my parents.
03:42An important message for parents, in caps.
03:45I remember noticing that on the table.
03:48I left it in the kitchen, and then I left it in the living room.
03:51I felt really scared to know how they were going to react.
03:57Dear Mom, I am a boy.
04:00I feel like a boy trapped in a girl's body.
04:03So you already know that I'm a tomboy, but I'm more than that.
04:08On the inside, I was always a boy, and that's all I ever will be.
04:14My mom came back and said,
04:17hey, Guy, I read your letter.
04:22I hear what you're saying.
04:25I want to support you.
04:27I don't know exactly how to support you,
04:30but whatever next steps we have to take, we will do it.
04:33I don't remember exactly what I thought,
04:36but it was something akin to, there it is,
04:40and I've got to get my armor on,
04:44and I've got to be ready for this journey with Guy.
04:51I wanted to cry.
04:53I felt so happy.
04:55I felt so relieved.
04:58And a huge burden was taken off my body
05:01because I knew that I needed to express something at some point.
05:05I felt strong, but I also felt scared
05:10because I've never done this before.
05:14My mom actually ended up calling a therapist after that,
05:18and we did a trial thing for about five, six months.
05:21When I was 11, I was referred to this clinic.
05:24That's when I started my process of hormone blockers.
05:28I wasn't going to continue going through female puberty.
05:32I cut off my hair, losing a boy cut,
05:35and sometime after that, before you know it, I was on testosterone.
05:38Fast forward to now,
05:40and I am the most comfortable I have ever been in my body.
05:43I am so happy with it.
05:46I experienced very little dysphoria,
05:48and I am so grateful to the person
05:51that helped to make that happen for me.
05:54I'm so grateful to have a mom like the one that I have
05:57because if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be where I am today.
06:00I'm so proud of you.
06:02I've always been proud of you, and you've been such a joy.
06:07I know I'm not the greatest parent,
06:10but you're such a ball of light.
06:12I just want you to realize that.
06:14Don't let me take it away.
06:16I'm so proud of you.
06:21My girlfriend lives in England,
06:23and I met her on this really ridiculous app.
06:27When we first started talking online,
06:29she had no idea I was trans.
06:31I decided to tell her after I suspected
06:34that she was part of the queer community as well.
06:37I was like, hey, by the way, I'm trans,
06:39and she's like, oh, cool, and then moved on.
06:41Basically, we're both trans.
06:43Because we're all not trans.
06:45Because of my girlfriend, I started up a TikTok page
06:48about being trans and also a YouTube page.
06:50She helped to promote that bravery in me
06:52and that confidence in being myself.
06:54Hey, what's up, strangers?
06:56People are going to be talking about
06:58if testosterone makes you gay.
07:00Now, spoiler alert, it actually doesn't.
07:02Sharing about my experience being trans on social media
07:05have gotten so much backlash.
07:07There is just a basic ignorance
07:09and assumptions that are made and misunderstandings,
07:12which lead to people expressing their own opinions about it
07:16before educating themselves.
07:18I've gotten the range from,
07:20oh, you're destroying your body with these chemicals,
07:23to, oh, you're a girl.
07:25You're extremely mentally ill.
07:27There's something very wrong with you.
07:29Your parents did a really bad job at raising you.
07:36It really doesn't faze me,
07:38because at the end of the day,
07:40they're just not happy with themselves,
07:42and I hope they find peace.
07:43Negativity feeds off of negativity.
07:45I'm here to spread positivity and realness.
07:47It's really important for me to speak about my experience
07:50as a child, because if your kid
07:53ends up being trans,
07:55or if you are trans yourself or questioning,
07:57it's so important to have another voice to listen to.
08:00No matter where you are in your journey,
08:02just know that you're valid.
08:04I really hope that anybody seeing this
08:07understands that your identity is yours to own,
08:11yours to express.
08:13There's no right or wrong way.
08:15My journey transitioning has certainly been a rollercoaster.
08:18It was years and years of a process.
08:20It doesn't happen over a month or a year.
08:23In the end, I still can't believe till this day
08:25that I made it where I am now,
08:27and I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out.
08:50For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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