by Morgan Hadassah
Ways to support trans people:
- Ask trans people what they need. Performative allyship only goes so far
- Emotional support; listening, respecting, and just being a friend to the trans people in your life can go a long way.
- Stockpile reproductive hygiene products. Helps both cis women and trans mascs/nonbinary people who have uteruses. Recommend medium flow tampons and pads. Sterile, unused reusable menstrual cups are also good to have on hand. I recommend keeping plan b on hand as well.
- Provide weather appropriate clothes to places like Clock Inc. If you are providing refuge to a trans person take them to Clock Inc. or thrifting for weather appropriate clothes.
- Offering assistance with legal transition.
- Speak with your state and federal legislators and let them know you are opposed to their anti trans positions or in support of their pro trans positions.
Note to trans people: due to the recent executive order you should only apply for a passport when you have state based documents showing that you are your gender. And after you’ve switched social security number info over to your current gender.
- Assist with transportation to appointments.
- Make your home a refuge sanctuary for displaced trans people fleeing from anti-trans laws in other states. The same is true for cis women and immigrants. Given that you may live in a red state as well you could simply be a waypoint in between them and the area they are trying to go for legal protection.
- Get involved in local lgbtq efforts to make your local area more safe for queer folk.
- Assist with the purchase of binders and other shapewear. This requires a certain degree of comfort with the trans person in question because shapewear needs to be properly sized to be effective.
- If you are comfortable giving shots, some trans people are needle adverse and can get a lot out of having someone else stick them.
- Stock up on 1 ML Luer-Lock syringes, 21G x 1” needles( used for drawing from vials), 25g x ⅝” needles( used for injecting) and alcohol wipes. You can find all the needle supplies on Amazon or pharma websites in 100 piece quantities. Alcohol pads come in 100 to 200 piece quantities.Also, sharps containers. A cleaned detergent container and any other thick, hard plastic container can be used in place of official sharps containers. Mark with tape and Sharpie that the container is a sharps container and wrap the lid tight with duct tape.
- Stocking up or helping them stock up on hrt.
Note: due to T being a scheduled controlled substance, helping Trans mascs is assisting them buying early refills out of pocket. A friend I knew would draw multiple shots worth from their t vials and then vacuum seal and refrigerator their filled syringes for a later date.