Trans activists Fox and Owl: Dating as trans person is a ‘horror story’

Fox and Owl are trans and non-binary rights activists—and they’re a couple.

Before meeting each other though, dating was an ordeal as they faced misgendering and having to come out, not knowing how dates would react.

Fox and Owl both grew up with little access to information about what it means to be transgender or non-binary but now hope young people won’t have to go through the same isolation.

They’ve written an informative book, Trans Teen Survival Guide, which they say is “the book I really needed when I was growing up.”

Fox tells PinkNews: “Growing up as a teenager, it was a really difficult time for me. My first puberty, the wrong puberty as I call it, was an absolute nightmare.

“With every day, I felt increasingly disconnected from my body and my mental health suffered as a consequence so I turned to drugs and alcohol and attention in all the wrong places.

“I’d hate for people to have to experience what I went through—it wasn’t a good time at all. I’m just happy to be alive, actually.”

Owl grew up in rural Iceland with little access to information about being transgender, and no internet until the age of 16.

They said: “It’s an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and if that wasn’t rural enough, the farm I was living at was incredibly rural in that context.

“There was absolutely nothing about trans people so finding people who are like me was impossible and I didn’t have the agency or the words to explain [how I felt], and I didn’t have any role models. I didn’t see anybody like me.”

Fox and Owl have written a Trans Teen Survival Guide (PinkNews)

• Nov 29

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