Some people know that they’re trans as soon as they have the language to announce it, and others have a longer road to fully realizing and understanding their gender identity. If you’re among the late bloomers, then we bet you’re going to try and see yourself in these three telltale childhood signs that you were trans, even though it’s really more than enough that you just know you’re trans now!
When you got the chance, you performed your true gender.
Whether it was playing imaginary games, putting on little plays, or choosing an avatar, you always gravitated toward roles that represented your gender as opposed to your gender assigned at birth. This could totally be a sign of your transness, if you want it to be. There are for sure people who did this who aren’t trans, and trans people who didn’t do this, and if you know you’re trans now, that’s really all you need to know. But take it if it feels good to you, we guess!
You identified more with characters of your gender.
Throughout childhood, you always identified more with characters of your present gender in books, movies, and TV. If you are trans, then you can go ahead and file this away as a sign of your transness. But also, if you were AFAB, then you may have identified with male characters due to a dearth of good representation, and it’s fine and good to identify with characters who are different from you, and a trans kid can do and look like anything, and so can a trans adult, and you don’t have to legitimize your transness by narrativizing it in a way that is legible to cis people. We know you’re trans and don’t require proof of a gender-non-conforming middle school dance outfit to prove it.
You dressed or wanted to dress in a way that differed from your assigned gender.
Some people were drawn toward clothing or accessories of their felt gender identity in childhood, and if that’s you, that’s great! But if that’s not you, YOUR TRANS ASS IS STILL TRANS RIGHT NOW REGARDLESS. Maybe you’re a girly boy, maybe you’re a straight lumberjack, maybe you’re a high femme top. Nothing you wore as a child changes this current reality xo.
So if you’re looking to eradicate doubt and create an impenetrable record of your transness, then this list probably didn’t help you. It’s true that our families, society, and culture can try to stomp our true selves out of us, and there can be power in reclaiming these personal histories. But also if you were daddy’s little princess and now you’re a testosterone fiend (or vice versa), we love that for you. The sign that you’re trans is you being trans, babe! Happy Pride!
