From Florida to Washington, DC, there’s no denying that trans and genderqueer identities are under attack by the Trump administration. 

Since taking office in January, Donald Trump has signed directives targeting trans people in the military, denying access to trans healthcare, and eliminating trans inclusion in schools. Trump’s team deliberately misgenders trans women in its fear-mongering and proposed policies, using tactics that are reflective of Nazis burning trans history in 1930s Germany.

While it’s comforting to know that advocacy organisations like Lambda Legal are tirelessly fighting back, these dangerous policies are impacting trans people every day, and many countries, including Ireland, have issued travel warnings for transgender citizens who are considering visiting the United States. The potential ripple effects on LGBTQ+ rights and the wider trans+ community are concerning, particularly as misinformation is spreading. 

In a sea of overwhelming headlines, it can be easy to forget that young queer people are just trying to navigate everyday life in the US right now. Moving the spotlight from the politics to the people, GCN had the pleasure of chatting with Jack Canter about his experiences growing up trans in Florida.

Meet Jack
Jack (he/him) grew up in Pinellas County, Florida. He currently splits his time between Florida and North Carolina, although neither state is known for being a safe place for trans people.

Florida’s infamous ‘Don’t Say Gay’ policy aims to restrict any mention of sexual orientation and trans identity in the classroom, a policy Jack called “absurd and ridiculous”. He added: “It blatantly infringes on our constitutional right to free speech, therefore it is unconstitutional. How would they even enforce the policy?”

While North Carolina is more inclusive in some ways, the state was known for its 2016 HB2 bathroom law, which tried to force people to use public restrooms that corresponded to their gender assigned at birth. The law spurred a wave of criticism before it was repealed in 2020.

Jack shared: “I’m trying to decide on a more permanent residence, but with the political climate of today, it’s difficult to figure out where I will be safe and content.” 

Coming out
While conversations about trans people dominate the US news cycle today, there was hardly any talk about transgender identities when Jack was growing up in Florida. Jack always wished he had been assigned male at birth but didn’t realise looking or sounding more masculine was an option until he started college. 

When Jack began studying at a liberal arts college in 2015, between the HB2 law in North Carolina and Caitlyn Jenner coming out as a trans woman, transgender identities were a focal point of discussion. At the time, he identified as a female lesbian and had a close group of lesbian friends. “But that identity never felt completely right for me,” he said. Jack knew there was something different about his own experiences, even compared to the masc lesbians in his friend group.

One night, while Jack’s friends were hanging out at a strip club, a new friend casually asked him if he was transitioning. Jack was genuinely confused by the question until his friend clarified that she was asking about his gender identity: “You just seem so masculine to me and I was wondering if you were trans.”

Jack was caught off guard by the comment, but said, “It didn’t offend me at all. In fact, I was elated that she said I seemed masculine.” 

That night, Jack went home and immediately looked up ‘female to male transgender’.

“I spent hours watching YouTube videos of trans guys talking about their transitions, sharing crucial information about what it means to be transgender, how they realized that they were trans, finding gender-affirming care, taking testosterone, consideration of surgeries, the reactions of their families, friends, and society.”

A big part of Jack’s comfort level with beginning his own transition was seeing the representation of other trans men. “For the first time in my life, I witnessed the potential to live happily as a trans man.”

Jack said he hadn’t explored transitioning before because he “was afraid of being even more different from heteronormative society” than he already was. But watching those YouTube videos changed everything. He spent the following months educating himself about trans experiences and learning how he could take testosterone, change his voice, and grow facial hair to appear more masculine. 

“I saw the bravery of these guys living their lives the way that they wanted to. I saw that they had people who still loved them. Watching those videos showed me the possibilities of living my life outwardly as I had always envisioned myself in my mind and how I had always felt in my soul.”

Once he realised that living openly as a trans man was possible, Jack questioned if he could live the rest of his life contently as a lesbian, and realised the answer was no.

Early trans experiences
Looking back, it’s obvious to Jack that he was always trans.

When he was only three years old, Jack clearly remembers changing into a pair of blue jeans instead of the dress he was supposed to wear. He grabbed a bandana and asked his mother to tie it on his head and call him ‘Max’.

Max was an obvious choice because several of his favourite childhood movies, including Hocus Pocus, Free Willy, and A Goofy Movie, all had a main character called Max. 

Jack’s mother, whom he describes as his greatest source of support, gladly agreed.

Jack’s childhood is full of experiences where he identified with traditionally masculine toys and games over feminine ones. In elementary school, when Jack’s teacher asked the class to form separate lines for girls and boys, Jack immediately jumped into the boys’ line. This was the obvious choice, and he felt confused when he was corrected and instructed to move into the girls’ line instead. 

Jack says he never felt like a girl or a woman, but “We don’t have a little voice in our heads that spells it out for us. There’s no clear vocalization in our minds that says the words, ‘you are transgender’. It’s an innate feeling, an intuition, an inherent sense.”

When Jack came out as trans, he called many of his close friends and family members personally. One of the first calls was to his cousin, Zane. After Jack said he had something important to tell him, Zane said, “You’re transgender, aren’t you?” He said he just had a feeling.

Jack shared: “I have been very lucky that my closest friends and family have been accepting of me, although I find it a sad thing that it isn’t just a given that my loved ones would still love me and accept me for who I am.”

While Jack said he feels grateful for their acceptance and support, “There is still a lingering doubt that I have about how most of them truly feel, though. You can’t ever know exactly what people think.” 

Gender-affirming care
Jack was 25 years old when he began accessing gender-affirming care. It came after a friend from college introduced him to another student who was a trans man.

“I asked him if he could refer me to the doctor who helped him with his gender-affirming care and he sent me her information. I contacted her office, set an appointment, and was able to see her within a few weeks. She asked me some questions to get to know me and determined that I had gender dysphoria. I set a follow-up appointment for my first T-shot (testosterone shot) and began my hormone replacement therapy.”

While Jack knew it was possible to adjust his physical appearance to be more masculine by taking testosterone, he struggled with “the inevitable hate and criticism” he’d face as a trans man and questioned if he wanted to deal with that on top of the struggle he already faced as a lesbian. 

Eventually, he took the brave steps to begin his transition. 

After years of wearing sports bras and binders, Jack had top surgery in 2018. He describes the experience as “literally and figuratively a big weight off my chest…Now when I look in the mirror, my reflection matches much better with who I am on the inside.”

Jack added, “The decision to have gender-affirming surgeries is a very personal thing and shouldn’t be taken lightly. They aren’t required in order to be trans, but they can absolutely help to alleviate much of the dysphoria.”

Passports under the current administration
Jack admits that he’s been having a difficult time during these first couple of months of the Trump administration, which have been plagued with transphobic legislation. 

He had intended to apply for his passport prior to Trump taking office, but he didn’t complete the application in time. He tried to update his passport the day after the inauguration, but in what Jack describes as “a blessing in disguise”, the woman in charge of managing passport applications unexpectedly left work early. 

While Jack was irritated at first, explaining he fears he may urgently need to leave Florida and the country for his own safety, he knows that some trans and non-binary people have had their identification documents confiscated when they tried to renew or apply for a passport if the gender marker on their documents does not match their sex assigned at birth.

Celebrities like Hunter Schafer have since shared that the US State Department changed the gender marker on her passport without her knowledge or consent.

Jack said: “If I had a passport, I would absolutely leave the US. I wouldn’t hesitate to move to a country where I could feel safer and not worry as much.”

In the coming years, we may see more people seeking asylum in Ireland. While Ireland has decent legal rights and protections for trans people compared to the US, Ireland remains the worst country in the EU for trans healthcare and the cost of housing in Ireland is a barrier for many people.

Allyship
I asked Jack how friends can signal their support and help fight misinformation during this administration, and he said: “Trans allies should reach out to their trans friends and family to let them know that they are there for them in these trying times.

“It makes a big difference to know that friends and family are paying attention to trans issues and care enough to reach out to show their support. Otherwise, it seems like they don’t care, and it’s a defeating feeling to think that even my loved ones don’t care enough about me to let me know that I have their support.” 

He added: “They can also share posts related to trans people to spread awareness and show their support for trans people to others. It shows that they aren’t embarrassed to be an ally, for one thing, and it helps others to feel comfortable to show their support. Perhaps the singular most important thing that we can do is to destigmatize being trans, or anything other than cisgender and heterosexual.”

For Jack, it feels increasingly important for trans and non-binary people to be able to share their stories. So many cis people are unfamiliar with trans experiences, so the first things they learn about trans people come from misinformation. 

Jack said he used to have imposter syndrome and wondered if his story of growing up in Florida was worth sharing, but the more he talks with people about trans experiences, the more he realises how important it is to educate others. He shared: “Our stories can offer valuable and even crucial insight into our psyches in order to help people understand why we are the way we are and why we need to fight for our right to exist in the way we feel we are best suited. Destigmitization begins with curiosity, compassion, and education. We need it now more than ever.”

Now, he encourages everyone to educate themselves, ask questions, and stand up against anti-trans rhetoric, bills, policies, and laws. He added: “You don’t have to understand something to respect it, at least enough to leave it alone. Live and let live.”