This story is from the comments by /u/PocketGoblix that are listed below, summarised with AI.
User Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, this account appears to be authentic. There are no serious red flags suggesting it is a bot or a bad-faith actor.
The user's perspective is highly consistent, detailed, and nuanced over a long period. They describe a personal journey of social transition, internal conflict, and detransition rooted in self-acceptance as a gender-nonconforming female. Their arguments against transgender ideology are complex and stem from their lived experience, not just repeating slogans. The emotional tone—frustration, reflection, and a focus on healing—aligns with a genuine person who is passionate about the harm they perceive.
About me
I started identifying as a trans man at 16, believing being male would make me happier and free me from the pressures of being female. My severe gender dysphoria and mental health struggles led to a hospital stay, where I came out to my supportive parents. Right after receiving their acceptance, my dysphoria completely vanished because what I truly needed was to feel seen in my pain. I socially detransitioned a year later and now live comfortably as a woman who is free to express herself however she wants. I've learned that self-acceptance, not changing who I am, was the key to finding peace.
My detransition story
My whole journey with gender started when I was a teenager. I became convinced that I was a trans man. Looking back, I think a lot of it was because I believed being a boy would mean an easier, happier life. I had this idea that being a girl meant you were ugly and never good enough. I had every single symptom of gender dysphoria you could think of; I hated the idea of being seen as a woman and I really disliked having breasts. I saw getting top surgery one day as a goal, not because I wanted to be a man, but because I found breasts annoying and uncomfortable.
I socially transitioned completely. I used a different name and pronouns, and I came out to everyone in my high school classes. It was a huge deal. I even got diagnosed with gender dysphoria by a psychiatrist at a hospital. I wrote essays and essays trying to prove to myself and my parents why I was really a boy. My logic at the time felt solid. I thought that if I had gender dysphoria, then being trans was the only logical explanation.
A big turning point for me was when my mental health got really bad. I was struggling with severe depression, anxiety, and self-harm. I felt like nobody was taking my pain seriously. I ended up being admitted to a mental hospital because I was suicidal. While I was there, I called my parents from the hospital phone and came out to them as trans, thinking my life was over if they didn't accept me. Thankfully, they did accept me, and I felt a massive sense of relief.
But something strange happened after that. All my feelings of gender dysphoria just vanished. It was like a switch flipped. I realized that what I had been searching for wasn't actually to become a man, but to feel seen and supported in my pain. Once I got that attention and care for my underlying mental health issues, the need to transition disappeared. I spent about a year identifying as trans, but after that hospital stay, I knew it wasn't for me.
I started to detransition socially during my senior year of high school. It wasn't a big, dramatic announcement. I just stopped correcting people when they used my birth name and she/her pronouns. Everyone switched back pretty quickly, and it was surprisingly easy. I graduated early and went to college where no one knew my past, which gave me a clean slate.
My thoughts on gender have completely changed now. I don't really think about it much anymore. I believe that gender, as a concept, is mostly a set of social customs and pronouns, but it doesn't define a person. I think the idea that you can change your gender is flawed. For me, being female is a biological reality; it's like my ethnicity—I can't change it, I can only choose to accept it or fight it. I've chosen to accept it.
I realized that I can be a woman and still do whatever I want. I can dress masculinely, have short hair, and even still want top surgery someday purely for comfort, without it meaning I'm not a woman. The boxes of "male" and "female" aren't as confining as I thought. The problem was that I was gendering everything—clothes, hobbies, mannerisms—when they don't have a gender at all.
I don't regret my transition experience. It was an important part of figuring myself out. I'm just glad I stopped before any permanent medical changes. I feel a little embarrassed about it sometimes, like it was just a phase, but it taught me a lot. The main thing I learned is that self-acceptance is the most important thing. Learning to value yourself for who you are, not for how you appear to others, is the key. My life is much more peaceful now that I'm not constantly thinking about my gender identity. I just wake up and live my life.
Here is a timeline of my journey:
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| 16 | Started identifying as a trans man, socially transitioned with a new name and pronouns. Experienced severe gender dysphoria and mental health struggles. |
| 16 | Admitted to a mental hospital for suicidal thoughts. Came out to parents as trans from the hospital. Received their acceptance, and gender dysphoria subsided shortly after. |
| 17 | Began socially detransitioning during senior year of high school by no longer correcting name/pronouns. |
| 18 | Graduated high school and moved to college, leaving past identity behind. Now living comfortably as a gender-nonconforming woman. |
Top Reddit Comments by /u/PocketGoblix:
I used to be this person…
Thankfully I never said that stuff out loud but here’s how I justified it in my head:
I believed that being called a woman/girl in a way meant people didn’t acknowledge I was trying to be trans. I didn’t want to be cis, and I didn’t want to be recognized as cis. So when people would use the terms woman/girl, I took it as a personal attack that they didn’t respect the fact I was trying to be trans?
It was really stupid and I should’ve realized that sooner.
That statement “They view being transgender as a permanent state and being cisgender as temporary” is a perfect way to encapsulate this issue.
When people transition, we have to accept them as if it’s never going to change - you can’t doubt them or question them or anything because then it’s “invalidating” them.
I think the best tactic to working through your gender dysphoria is to try your best to avoid thinking about it. Avoid thinking of things in gendered ways - it’s not boy vs girl clothes, it’s clothes. It’s not boy vs girl mannerisms, it’s just your mannerisms. It’s not boy vs girl body, it’s just your body. Over time you will begin to form your own opinions about yourself; it wasn’t until I did this that I realized I was cis.
They tell you growing up what things “boys” do and what things “girls” do. There is no need for this separation. People try to act like the trans movement agrees with this but they turn around and tell young girls that if they like wearing this/doing this/these pronouns they are “most likely” actually a boy simply because of those things.
The whole “girls don’t want to be boys unless they are boys” argument is so stupid. It’s normal for girls to want to be boys, to want to be born as boys, and to dress/look like boys - why? Because of male privilege. It doesn’t mean you are not a girl, Lmao. I don’t even know how people come to that conclusion.
I hate the argument of “you were only trans for 1 week” in regard to detransitioners.
Nobody is “transgender” for a week. Sure, someone might ask to be called a different name/pronouns/dress differently for a week, but it could have been months of dysphoria that led up to that moment.
I identified as trans for only a year and some months, but the social impact of that has really affected my current identity and highschool experience as a whole.
And as for “why do they make it their whole personality” - I haven’t told literally a single person about being detrans besides my family (obviously). Posting online is so much different because it’s not the same as irl.
As someone studying nursing I think that they don’t realize just how fucked up a vaginoplasty is. They’re probably reading really glorified over-simplified explanations of what the procedure actually is. Splitting the penis isn’t even the worst part, is the fact they make a literal wound cavern in their body that has no self cleaning mechanisms and is always trying to heal shut. Nothing sexy about that.
Yeah my old post on this sub (that did fine in this sub) keeps coming back to “haunt” me when I try making comments in other subs. People will go through my post history, find it, and then use it against me like it’s some kind of weapon (ie. “OP thinks transgender people are faking, they’re clearly just transphobic) (which is not what the post was discussing)
I also got banned for “admitting I had gender critical views”.
The post I was commenting on that sub was something like “Why do detrans tend to have gender critical views?” And so I said “As a detrans person, I have a few gender critical views mostly because of my experience” and said absolutely nothing else.
I was permanently banned. For literally just saying that. Lmao
I’m sorry this happened to you but honestly…who tf would get a semen sample casually for no reason? It’s like telling a person who was poisoned from a snake bite “well we can’t say you’re poisoned because we didn’t test your blood before it was bitten.” What they should do is assess your condition NOW, and offer you some sort of free treatment. But I understand that’s not how it works, and I’m sorry.
I threatened suicide when I was younger for this reason, but more in a “If my family doesn’t accept me, then I can’t live with myself” kind of way.
When my family did accept me, while I was calling on the phone from the mental hospital, I felt a huge sense of relief.
All my gender dysphoria just disappeared after that phone call. I no longer felt any desire to transition.
I think what I had been searching for was support for my depression, for someone to finally take me seriously. It took me going to the mental hospital to finally satisfy that.