Menstruation Does Not Define Me
Gender and sex cannot be reduced to reproductive organs
Here we go again. Amid a global pandemic and worldwide protests in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, a straight White cisgender billionaire can still grab headlines with trans-antagonistic tweets, taking issue with the fact that people other than women menstruate.
I am one of those people. I was assigned female at birth, but I am agender. In 2014, I transitioned to male for legal and medical purposes and began testosterone therapy. After enduring decades of unwelcome menstruation from unwanted reproductive organs, I was glad to put an end to their function.
Unfortunately, I recently began menstruating again. As has happened to many trans people, my medical care was interrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Before lockdown, I had been getting biweekly shots at my doctor’s office. In mid-March, among other social distancing measures, medical offices began deferring nonurgent appointments and “elective” procedures.
