Detransition Platforms and Community

Over the past few years, an international online community of detransitioners has emerged.

Learn more on this site: Detrans Community and Post Trans.

Online community

Over the past few years, an international online community of detransitioners has emerged. Well-known platforms include the Detrans subreddit, the Pique Resilience Project and various YouTube channels where detransitioners share their experiences. Notable individual voices include Helena, with her Substack Prude Posting, Michelle Alleva and Maia Poet. The American website TransRegret is not a collection of testimonies, but an information website for young people and adults who are questioning or regret a transition.

The Dutch context

In the Netherlands, detransition is addressed by, among others, Transspijt.nl and the Voorzij Foundation. A formal advocacy organization for detransitioners is currently being established.

Tensions with the trans community

There is sometimes tension between detransition platforms and parts of the transgender community, particularly around issues of mediation, policy and youth care. A growing number of voices argue that detransition experiences should be taken seriously without this having to come at the expense of care for those who do benefit sustainably from transition.

How the community emerged

People who reversed their transition found little support for a long time among clinics and LGBTQI organizations, so they sought one another out online. The r/detrans forum on Reddit grew into a community with tens of thousands of members. transgemeenschap.nl explains what happens on that forum in an overview of r/detrans. In 2019, young women in the United States founded the Pique Resilience Project, and in Europe Post Trans began as a project by and for women who have detransitioned. Since 2021, March 12 has been International Detrans Awareness Day.

What the platforms do

The platforms provide peer support, practical information about stopping hormones and the medical consequences, and a place to share one’s own story. Some organizations refer people to therapists with experience in this area. Researchers recruit study participants through these channels. This has produced valuable data, but it also means that the findings cannot automatically be applied to everyone who stops.

Political implications

Detransitioner stories are used in legislative debates, especially in the United States. Some members of the community welcome that role; others feel exploited and primarily want better care. These differences also exist within the platforms themselves. See detransitioner experiences, support after detransition and external sources.