FAQ
Q: How do I submit a question to the blog?
A: Email us at transadvicecolumn@gmail.com, or use the "Ask us a question" link at the top of this page for an anonymous option.
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Q: Who can submit questions?
A: Anyone! More specifically, we're happy to take questions from people of any gender identity who are looking for information about gender diversity, advice on navigating specific situations, and guidance on effectively supporting trans and gender diverse folks.
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Q: What kinds of questions can you cover?
A: Try us and ask; we'll definitely tell you if we don't know something. Chances are we'll suggest some resources in addition to our own opinions. Potential question types include but are not limited to the following:
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Basic information:
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"What does agender mean?"
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"Do all trans people get surgery?"
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Information on navigating the world as a trans or gender diverse person:
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"Can I put my pronouns on my resume?"
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"How do I stop my family from asking me all the questions they have about trans people?"
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Advice on how to handle a situation:
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"My friend is out to me, but I don't know if they are to other people–how should I talk about them?"
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"How should my workplace ask for people's personal information in a gender-inclusive way?"
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Questions that you may have an answer to, but that you'd like additional opinions on or would like a public reply that you can point people to instead of answering yourself. (Trans and gender diverse people get a lot of questions that we shouldn't be expected to answer; part of the goal of this blog is to provide a place to ask that isn't just the nearest trans person.)
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Q: Can I ask a question anonymously?
A: Yes! You can email us or use the contact form under the "Ask us a question" link, which doesn't require your name or email or any information except the question you want to ask. For posting, we keep all questions anonymous, changing the language to do that if necessary.
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Q: What are the different kinds of posts on the blog?
A: Most of the blog consists of actual questions that people have submitted that we answer. Occasionally we'll do Nobody Asked posts, which means that we felt like writing about a topic without a question having been sent in. PSAs are very short posts on topics that we want to say something brief about, usually because something has annoyed us.
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Q: Why do you say "trans and gender diverse" instead of just "trans"?
A: Trans/cis is just as much a limiting binary as male/female. There are all sorts of culturally specific genders that pre-date the cis/trans binary, many of them Indigenous, that aren't cis but don't inherently fall under the trans umbrella (although some individual people may still self-identify as trans). "Trans and gender diverse" is our way of describing the variety and range of genders that exist in the world.
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Q: What are your qualifications to run this blog?
A: We're both trans people, so we draw on our own lived experience a great deal. In addition, we both write and present on gender inclusion as part of our professional work. That said, there is no universal trans experience, so it is almost certain that our opinions on something won't reflect those of all trans and gender diverse people. We'll try to acknowledge that in our answers, and it's a good thing to keep in mind in general when talking to and about people of any identity–none of us speaks for everyone. Our answers do not override the opinions of other individual trans people.
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Q: Who are you?
A: S (ey/em or he/him) is a white trans person from the northeastern United States. K (they/them/their or he/him/his) is a mixed Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) non-binary trans person.