11 Years on Testosterone
What it means to continue existing after all this time
Before we dive in: Rey and the Archive exists because of paid subscribers. Your support helps me write, research, show up, and build the kind of queer community I wish I had growing up. If you value art, queer joy, resources, and community stories, consider subscribing for $5/month. It really does make a difference and keeps this work going. That’s the price of an iced coffee on a hot summer day.
🔒 Up next for paid subscribers: I apologize for my absence, everyone; I will address why I have been gone for several weeks on this platform.
On October 8th, 2014, I started testosterone.
On October 8th, 2025, it has now been eleven years since I first began my transition journey. I know, I’m a week late to the party. Writer’s block had me in a chokehold, you see.
But we aren’t here to talk about that. We’re here to celebrate a personal milestone. Eleven years of being a political scapegoat is no small feat, especially when most transgender people you find online are either just starting their transition journey or have begun within the last five years.
I still remember my milestones like they were yesterday:
On August 3rd, 2017, I received top surgery thanks to the annual Point of Pride Surgery Fund.
On February 29th, 2024, I had facial masculinization surgery.
And on January 20th of this year, I had my final surgery: body masculinization.
So much has changed since I first began this journey that I can’t help but appreciate how much easier it is now to find information about transgender and gender expansive people. How much easier it is to find a community health center or a telehealth platform that can prescribe hormones through informed consent.
And yet, even as I write about how much gender-affirming care has become more accessible, my heart aches for the younger generation now growing up under the Trump administration, where receiving this care has once again become close to impossible.
Insurance carriers denying surgery coverage left and right.
Families relocating for the sake of their transgender child.
LGBTQ+ books being banned from school libraries.
Funding revoked from colleges and universities.
The list goes on.
To my transgender community out there reading this, what does gender-affirming care mean to you right now?
And to the cis accomplices reading this, if there’s something you’ve always wanted to ask about being transgender but never knew where to ask, consider the comment section a safe place to start.





I don’t have any questions, I’m just an old lady bisexual who appreciates our trans brothers and sisters. So glad you are here.
I had an appointment with a Queer clinic. Then Donald erased the T. He pulled Testosterone out of my grasp. I am in mourning. I have no other words.