This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, the account "EmpireStateAngst" appears to be authentic.
There are no serious red flags indicating it is a bot or a bad-faith actor. The comments demonstrate:
- Personal, nuanced experience: They share specific, complex opinions on medical detransition, social dynamics, and personal health scares that are consistent with a lived experience.
- Emotional investment: The tone is passionate, often angry, and deeply personal, which aligns with the warning that detransitioners can be "very passionate and pissed off."
- Internal consistency: Their views, while strong, remain consistent across many months of commenting. They critique both left and right-wing perspectives from a specific, detransitioned viewpoint.
- No scripted behavior: The language is varied, complex, and responds directly to the nuances of different posts, unlike repetitive bot-like behavior.
This user exhibits the profile of a genuine, highly opinionated individual who is deeply engaged with the detrans community based on their personal history.
About me
I was a teenager struggling with my changing female body when I found communities online that convinced me transition was the answer. I took testosterone in my early twenties, but the permanent changes it caused only made me feel more disconnected from myself. I realized I had made a terrible mistake and stopped, but I'm now left managing the physical consequences every day. I believe my discomfort was from anxiety and trauma, not from being born the wrong sex. I feel isolated and failed by a system that offered a medical solution for what were really my deep-seated personal issues.
My detransition story
My journey with gender started when I was a teenager. I was deeply uncomfortable with my body, especially during puberty, and I had a lot of anxiety and low self-esteem. I think a lot of this was tied to a general discomfort with growing up and the changes that came with it. I found a lot of escape online, and I was heavily influenced by the communities I was in. They made transition seem like the only way to solve these deep feelings of unhappiness.
I started to believe I was transgender and began identifying as a man. I socially transitioned and then, in my early twenties, I started taking testosterone. I thought it would fix everything, but it just created more problems. The changes it caused were permanent and, for me, deeply distressing. It didn’t feel like I was becoming more myself; it felt like I was becoming something else entirely, and it made the disconnect between my body and my sense of self even worse. I started to see how exhausting it was to try and live as a man, to always be worrying about "passing." It felt like a performance I couldn't keep up.
I eventually realized I had made a mistake. I stopped taking hormones and began the process of detransitioning. This was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I have a lot of regrets about the medical interventions I underwent. The testosterone left me with permanent changes, like facial hair, that I now have to manage constantly. It’s a daily reminder of a choice I wish I could take back. I feel like I was failed by a system that was too quick to offer medical solutions for what were really psychological and social issues.
Looking back, I don't believe I was ever truly a man trapped in a female body. I think I was a troubled young woman who was trying to escape from herself. My thoughts on gender now are that it's a social construct, and the intense focus on medical transition is dangerous. It doesn't address the underlying reasons why someone might feel so uncomfortable with their sex, like trauma, autism, or internalized homophobia. I benefited greatly from therapy that wasn't just about affirming a new gender identity, but about exploring the root causes of my distress.
The whole experience has left me with serious health concerns. I worry about the long-term effects of the hormones on my body, like my cardiovascular health. I also feel a deep sense of social isolation. Being visibly altered by medical transition means I don't fully fit in anywhere, and that’s a very lonely feeling. I'm not religious, but I believe our society has created a situation where people like me are left as outcasts, and that's not right. Everyone deserves a chance to heal and live a good life without being defined by a medical mistake.
Here is a timeline of my journey based on what I remember:
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| 14-15 | Started experiencing intense puberty discomfort, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Felt influenced by online communities. |
| 19 | Began socially identifying as a man. |
| 21 | Started taking testosterone. |
| 24 | Stopped testosterone and began detransitioning. |
| 26 (Present) | Living as a detransitioned female, managing the permanent physical effects of testosterone. |
Top Comments by /u/EmpireStateAngst:
I'm against systems which force women in Germany into being raped as opposed to getting government benefits. By all means, please continue to out yourself as someone complicit in horrific systems of violence but at least you aren't the scary political boogey man constructed in the minds of people we have seen outright lie about medical reality numerous times.
I have no issue with talking about being unsupported by radical feminism, but the pandering towards "sex work" is revolting.
No no no no no no A MILLION TIMES NO. That case proves NOTHING in any direction and is scientifically null. Both brothers killed themselves after what money did to them. It is an example of SEVERE medical and scientific ethics violation and needs to stop being treated as a political football.
They are there because it is more about control of narrative than anything else. Which, honestly if they don't want to be called a cult they need to stop acting exactly like a cult does. Any community which uses abuser tactics and only MAYBE relents once someone rejoins isn't healthy
Literally in another thread I have someone alleging they only give this to people in tanner stage two. I just... I am so so so tired of feeling like I am being gaslit on this topic! OP, I hear you and I believe you. this is just all so so so so maddening
A lot of those "terfs" just wanted a few events, communes or spaces to themselves and were supportive of trans people having their own spaces or other various compromise. Literally a trans woman who threatened Michfest goers with weapons at the gate ended up escalating to murdering a lesbian couple and their adult son. (Dana Rivers) Think twice about what you are supporting when you paint such a one sided moralistic version of history.
This sounds like a very upsetting and complicated situation which would require me to spend hours reading very triggering material to understand. I don't want to be insensitive to this person's plight but also I legitimately have had so much taken and destroyed in my life from my transition experience that it is a miracle I can even function on a daily basis. I agree with ClydeFallon about not being callous towards those who have difficult narratives for us. There is virtue in having grace even towards those who one feels unsympathic towards.
A lot of the left leaning detrans people are kinda at our wit's end with the right leaning folks, to be completely honest. Like, a left leaning detrans only space is completely warranted. You shouldn't be expected to take on an educator or emotional care taker role for men while healing your own trauma and stuff. You have every right to put these boundaries up.
So, we actually do not know what the long term effects of these interventions are. Regardless of cause, the issues need proper diagnosis and evaluation. There is a chance it isn't the hormones and the main concern here is that you properly the issues you do have. Experimental HRT is frankly scary for those who experience health complications from it and I don't blame your parents for being so concerned. (I do think phones are bad in their own way though)
If the fear of HRT impacts starts getting in the way of their ability to help you get a medically valid diagnosis and treatment, then I'd bring it up. Maybe explain that while the HRT has unknown effects, the possibility of pre existing health conditions is also real. Knee jerk responses will not help those already impact understand risk mitigation.
The trans demographic has a very nasty habit of creating and sustaining their own enemies. Literally if they just chilled for five minutes, most people who are progressive leaning would still be open to reasonable accommodations and compromises for them. They often go on and on about transformative justice and "doing better" Okay, it has long been overdue their turn to #dobetter.
Mods are asking people to ID their sex in addition to their detrans or desisted status from what I can tell. I am very much not a mod, I am a rocker. Someone who is detrans or desisted should have zero issues stating their sex whereas a flair abuser might have a hard time with that