Dark times are upon us in these United States. The president-elect has promised to roll back protections for transgender people in schools, sports, military service, public accommodations, and in government services for the public. JD Vance has claimed kids are faking being trans to get into better schools. In some ways, that might be the most relatable thing he’s said—What trans person hasn’t felt like they were faking some aspect of their presentation, either to try to pass as their assigned gender or while exploring their expression? And I’m sure there’s been a few cases of people who’ve begun to transition around application time only to realize that’s not who they are, either. And that’s fine! That’s all part of figuring yourself out, that’s not faking.
Regardless of the political climate, being trans is hard. And most college students are just coming of age, and that can be a hard time no matter how you identify. Similarly, college and transitioning can both be very expensive. If you’re lucky enough to have a good insurance plan, your coverage might be at risk if your family doesn’t support your transition, not to mention any other support you might be receiving. Young adults from nontraditional families often have it especially hard trying to transition or trying to pay for college. There’s no FAFSA for transition. Even with great coverage, navigating insurance can be a challenge even for the most experienced and knowledgeable. And if your family cuts you off entirely, everything is a challenge. A quote from Ryan Mack has stuck with me since I first heard it over a decade ago: “It’s hard to teach someone who’s never been hungry that you need to save for food.” As a career civil servant who’s had to rely on food pantries to survive at points in their career and been turned away from other pantries when making even less, I can relate to that on a level so deep it makes my bones ache.
Not all trans people pursue medical intervention of any kind, and they’re no less valid. But many trans people feel whole for the first time when they begin hormone replacement therapy (HRT). When access to lifesaving care so basic as HRT is at risk, it’s just as dire as losing access to food or shelter. Historically, it wasn’t uncommon to lose access to them all at once, transphobic landlords happy to kick you to the curb and no protections to fight it. Our trans elders often had to suffer humiliating conditions for years on end because of the lack of protection under the law and the lack of passing privilege to evade their oppressors.
In an ideal world, access to care, food, and education wouldn’t be dependent on financial resources, nor would it be at risk on the whims of insurance companies. But in the present day, most students are balancing a dozen or more different programs to be able to attend college at all, between grants, scholarships, loans, savings they or their parents have built up, access to tuition and/or fee discounts, public and private programs of all stripes, employers’ tuition reimbursement schemes, and their own wages. Depending on where the student is, each of these can potentially be jeopardized by just the right transphobe or even just by being outed in states with some of the most antagonizing anti-trans laws.
For trans adults returning to school like myself, affording college comes with its own challenges. Being single and without family to support me or my academic expenses, and with many social safety net programs explicitly precluding participation by full-time students, the challenges are endless. Many complicating factors are more likely as we get older, like children, accumulated debt, and various other obligations. But perseverance is kind of our thing.
This post was written as part of my application for the Transgender First Scholarship.