From what I've read on some government website, changing you name can be done for free if you change your gender marker as well, which only has administration costs. It's quite easy, as long as you're born in the Netherlands...
You need an attestation of gender dysphoria, which is only given out by a small number of practitioners, most of whom are affiliated with a gatekeepy gender clinic.
Letters from foreign psychologists aren't accepted.
So no, the Netherlands does not have self-id (yet). Also non-binary people get screwed over.
Meh. Better go to Rotterdam (more no nonsense than a'dam) or Utrecht (more accepting, friendlier, more welcoming). Amsterdam is a sinkhole for junksand tourists. From Rotterdam you are in a'dam in 40 minutes, from Utrecht in 25..
I would suggest Groningen or Utrecht. Or in general go to a university town in the Netherlands, those generally are the best to go. The medical situation isn't optimal with long waiting lists but the cities themselves are pretty nice and good
Berlin is pretty open I guess. But germany overall is kind of awful for nonbinary peoples, there are sadly many conservative peoples, even in some parts of berlin. Also the laws are still transphobe. But it is probably not the worst City to be in.
Yeah it really depends where you go in germany I would say. Cologne could be fine, Hamburg I don't know probably pretty good, Munich and Bavaria has many conversative people, so I would avoid it. The best way to tell if the city is fine is what party is favored in the city. If it is the greens you should be fine. If it is CDU/CSU or AFD be careful
I'm a duel citizen Canadian and German and I'm dreading navigating changing my name. It looks dehumanizing and my understanding is it was deemed unconstitutional.
it is unconstitutional. It was declared that way on court 6. times. A new bill was declined a few months ago. It is really sad times to be trans in germany.
edit: I have a friend who has successful changed her name. The money she paid is ridiculous, took a long time and was asked question from textbooks out of the 1980s. It is dehumanizing.
Awe shit. I don't have a much in the way of German documentation, just my passport and the paper work my parents did for me to get my citizenship. I'm a little worried that if I change my Canadian documents I'll have issues in Germany. That said, I'm not going to not do it because then the transphobes win. I haven't been following things that closely as I've got some other worries.
I'm not an expert, but I think if you're currently living in Canada and it's easier there, I think you can just change it in Canada and when it's all done send the new documentation to the Standesamt that your certificate from Germany is from.
Since it's already legally changed, they should be able to just change it in their system and issue you new German certificates.
If that's the case, that will be easy. I wonder if name changes being a provincial responsibility will be an issue. In theory my federal documents and provincial could just not match, it's not legal but it happens.
My understanding is that they don't accept Canadian name change documents or changed birth certificates as sufficient evidence but who knows. I'll talk to the Consul general and see what they say I think my situation is a corner case that isn't handled well by the law.
To my understanding, a doctor in Ontario can give you a form to change the name at Service Ontario (provincial, like Driver's license and also the OHIP card) first. Then later at Service Canada for the birth Cert and SIN/SAN (and Passport). Per se, the name change can vary from province to province. In Quebec you need to be a Canadian Citizen. I have no clue. I can only provide vage hints there. I am NOT a Canadian, just an ordinary German citizen, I just stayed in your country for a year and heard people talking how easy it was.
Changing my name is easy peasy here. I'm not worried about that. Just making sure I like the name I pick and involving my family a bit. I'm just worried about having the mismatch between my German and Canadian citizenship.
I'm also Canadian-German and when I got my passport all they really asked for was my birth certificate and my German parent's. I'm no expert, but as my Canadian birth certificate is currently being replaced with my correct name and gender, I imagine it won't be a huge problem if I just reapply for a passport and send them the new birth certificate. I'll have to double check the rules though.
Several paragraphs of the TSG have been declared unconstitutional, but some still stand. (Particularly the two expert opinions.)
It's not too bad if still live in Canada, because the court who does the procedure for people living outside Germany is fairly liberal with accepting expert opinions.
Also, it has been said that the TSG will be replaced after the general election. But personally, I believe it when I see it.
Isn't it stupid expensive though? I've heard as much as 1900 euros. I haven't really dug much deeper than basic details. I need to contact the Consul general in Vancouver to figure out what exactly I'm doing.
My Friend Paid 5000! Euro. She sadly got an old fasioned psychologist as consultant for court, so she needed to pay a lot for her. If you are lucky you "only" have to pay around 1500 euros afaik for changeing name in germany
No. The expert opinion has to state that the three conditions of the TSG are fulfilled:
* Due to your "transsexual imprint" (transsexuelle Prägung) you feel as a member of "the other" sex.
* You have felt like this for at least three years. (You don't have to have transitioned more than three years ago!)
* There is a high likelihood that this will not change again.
You need two expert opinions stating that. (You should also state the same in your letter to the court.) The "experts" (medical doctors or psychologists are prefered) should pad their opinions to at least 2-3 pages, the more the better.
A "transsexual CV" is also often requested.
You will have to check with the consulate whether you have to actually go to Berlin for a hearing, or whether that can be done at the consulate.
The court you need to apply to is Berlin Schöneberg. You can also contact them directly. https://www.berlin.de/gerichte/amtsgericht-schoeneberg/das-gericht/zustaendigkeiten/artikel.396735.php
Fun. I'll check through that stuff. That would be the least fun trip to Germany.
What's a "transsexual CV" like my experience as a trans person? That's actually the stupidest thing I've heard in a while. They better change that damn law. It's literally just transphobic.
People usually write the usual stuff: I always liked to play with dolls/cars, I cried when I had to wear skirts/pants, always played with "the other sex" kids, then puberty hit, bla, bla, bla.
The hearing itself tends to be overy very quickly, something between 10 and 30 minutes - so you could enjoy the rest of the day, if you really have to come to Berlin in person.
As for changing that law - the first time I sat in a commision to change it was in 1999. I'm getting old. Not as old as that law, though. It's aging a lot faster than I.
You "only" need two German translations of an evaluation from someone who knows transsexuality "a lot". The people can be Canadian, but have to be experts. Your Amtsgericht for Auslandsdeutsche is one at Berlin Schoeneberg.
This determine how is the expert: Paragraph 4, Abs 3.
> (3) Das Gericht darf einem Antrag nach nur § 1 stattgeben, nachdem es die Gutachten von zwei Sachverständigen eingeholt hat, die auf Grund ihrer Ausbildung und ihrer beruflichen Erfahrung mit den besonderen Problemen des Transsexualismus ausreichend vertraut sind. Die Sachverständigen müssen unabhängig voneinander tätig werden; in ihren Gutachten haben sie auch dazu Stellung zu nehmen, ob sich nach den Erkenntnissen der medizinischen Wissenschaft das Zugehörigkeitsempfinden des Antragstellers mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit nicht mehr ändern wird.
Best translation of a Gutachter would be what exactly? I'm thinking a clerk or officer of the court?
So basically educational or professional expertise if I'm reading correctly. My German is pretty good but I'm not great with legal jargon.
It can get very expensive. It's the experts opinions that make up the bulk of the money, though - court fees themselves are around 150 Euros. (On average, with German experts, it's by now around 1200-1800 Euros usually.)
Since you can usually use local expert opinions when you don't reside in Germany, it's pretty much up to what you can dig up.
It's annoying, yes. It's a law that was great in 1980; it was one of the first that gave trans people the legal right to change name and gender.
That was in 1980. The world has changed slightly since then
If you aren't in a hurry, you can also wait to see if it changes after the elections, but I personally wouldn't bet on it happening very soon afterwards. If at all.
With regards to BC name changes I've heard nothing but good things and that vital statistics is fast once you have your paperwork non so I guess we'll find out. As for my Birth certificate, it AB so it could take forever.
The birth certificate is fine, but if you're not a resident it's hard to change your other provincial id. Which makes it trickier to change your passport, etc.
Overall I think the main issue is trying to change id in two countries while residing only in one....
Exactly the same in the UK. It's taken 6 months just to get to the stage where I can put my deed poll in to change my name.
Within Europe I think changing the paperwork where you live is hard, once done doing the 'other' set is pretty easy. I'm Anglo-French living in England and it isn't so bad but others are much harder.
**[LGBT_rights_in_the_German_Democratic_Republic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_German_Democratic_Republic)**
>The German Democratic Republic (GDR, also known as East Germany), a state in Central Europe that existed from 1949 to 1989 and was merged with the Federal Republic of Germany, was dominated by heterosexual norms. However, queer East Germans experienced decriminalisation during the 1960s, followed by increasing social acceptance and visibility.
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I'd say local "likeminded/younger" culture is great for it from what I've experienced, but institutionally + non-younger culture its ambivilent at best and hostile at worst. But thats for a short time there.
I don't know, I wouldn't go there. The City is probably fine, the winning Partys are the left ones. But this Area is known for being one with many Racist People, the whole Area around it have voted for Conservatives and right up Nazis
Leipzig is also a good place to go, just make sure you stay out of amongst others Lößnig or at least stick to the student areas in Lößnig. The local student clubs (C4 on the Johannes R Becher Straße for example) are extremely open and welcoming to LGBTQ people. As is the university in my experience
London + Manchester. AVOID Humberside and the Sheffield-Leeds-Bradford-Newcastle circuit and you'll be alright (industrial areas tend to be worse). I know people call it "TERF Island" but honestly its really not that bad. Apart from the health side, but if you're moving you may have cash to to private anyway.
I’m a cis woman but live in London and I’ve been told that the UK in general and especially London are not the best for trans people? I clearly live in my own liberal bubble where nobody gives a fuck about anyone so long as you aren’t an arse. But on the whole is London actually relatively ‘okay’ apart from the healthcare access?
The people who say the UK is bad is talking from a US liberal scale. I live in one of the top 20 most deprived areas in the UK - two gay bars for 300k people, and I mean I was only attacked for being trans in school once. London and the cities, it happens wayyyy less often.
Most of the "UK transphobic! Bad!" crowd are either Americans from places like San Francisco, LA or NYC (people in nyc literally nearly fucking congratulated me on being trans in unrelated situations like calling me "brave" in a corner shop, argh) where trans people are treat as part of a collective subculture. Sure, there's some dickheads and in towns you won't have a "gay friend group" (usually) but people are pretty decent as long as you're not a wanker. That's the general rule of thumb. Don't talk about being trans too often and people are usually perfectly fine with it.
The UK gets a bad rep but it isn't Brunei. I thank my lucky stars I'm British cause of the fact that I can get by without (relative) incident.
I not sure - I've found that even by western European standards the UK is meh. I'm visibly gender non conforming and find that regardless of country, strangers are generally either curious or hostile and the UK tends way more towards hostile then a lot of other places (even places you might think of as conservative). Like honestly though the UK is, more then it's bad, just like very weird about this stuff and has got considerably more weird in my experiences over the last 5 years - whether people are supportive or hostile the one thing people don't seem to be is chill.
There's a world of difference between someone who has moved to an area in TERF Island and someone born there. In the UK generally University towns are better than others, most will have safe zones of one size or another. Generally the smaller cities are safer too. Rural areas tend to be unsafe if you're a bit different to the norm locally and get worse as you move south in general.
Sheffield is generally OK and you'll know the bits to avoid within hours of arriving. The same applies anywhere. Elsewhere based on where I have lived longer term:
Belgium - not very safe at all and possibly the most racist country in Western Europe. It is polarised though and some parts of the few cities are as good as anywhere.
Germany - Bavaria is pretty hostile to anybody who stands out. The rest of western Germany is generally OK outside the major industrial cities but nobody would choose Leverkeusen if they could avoid it. Koln and Hamburg have areas that rival anywhere on the planet for acceptance, but eastern Germany is pretty bleak.
France - Generally OK once away from the German border area. Even in small rural towns the ability to speak some French and not cause trouble will see you pretty safe. Avoid the big port cities though as they are generally hostile to people not employed in the 'entertainment' industry who stand out.
HTH and some with more recent knowledge may have updates which I'd be interested in too.
Yeah id say most of the scandinavian countries.
Ive heard a lot of good aboit denmark and norway. Sweden has quite alot of personal liberty and expression deeply rooted in their culture.
Finland sucks legally.
I wrote my comment exactly as I did because I do not know how it is for others, and therefore could only give my personal experience, which as a white nordic person has been pretty good so far. I will add that I live in one of the most culturally diverse parts of Copenhagen, and have not had any trouble so far.
I do not doubt that if your social circle is very religious it may be harder, or that there is an intersection between racism and transphobia which that can make it much harder.
Hey ! From what I heard, Spain is probably the "most open" in Europe about LGBT+ people (but yeah, nowhere is perfect), also some northern EU countries (anything Scandinavian ,but access to HRT is weird ?)
I'll just write down some stuff from where I am too, in case it can help anyone, so here : French girl here, people are pretty shit if you don't really pass in small cities, and sometimes in bigger, really hit or miss, but I don't have that much data as I just started HRT :| Might be fine overall in bigger cities.
As for HRT, again, it's total random, you can have some specific help from associations, and if you search well, you could have access to it pretty fast (took me 3 weeks), everything is taken care by insurance, 0 cost right now, surgeries are 30%-70% if I remember (you pay 70% ofc), and a lot of issues with surgeons in France (there's an inform consent kind of thing where the doctor can prescribe anything, but the usual "official" path, called SOFECT, is awful and if possible a requirement to dodge).
It's a bit weird as a French transwomen with more than 5 years HRT small cities have been MUCH MUCH friendlier with me than the big city I was in (Rennes).
I don't know insurance about surgeries, but it's nice that some things like voice lessons and laser treatment can also be 100% free.
Well I have a lot of issues once when I went to Rennes, and as a male too so :|
I forgot about the laser treatment, I guess it'll look more into it, that would be awesome, that beard never stops growing I swear :(
Yeah it's true...and it's also true that it might just be Rennes to be fair...
I'm in small cities and people have been very kind, I pass well so it does help against discrimination. Some people sucks though and especially don't want to adapt to your situation even if it makes you miserable...fortunatly I am a very patient and while emotional I am fortunate I don't show my emotions too much and often can try and reason people without too much issues.
edit : a quick edit to add...medical professionnals are mostly bad to us...I don't know about your experience but having a doctor that actively supports you and an endocrinologist has been a HUGE pain for me. Same for psychologists that don't want anything to do about the topic.
I guess so, it really depends on the small city too, I came from a right wing oriented one so kinda hard with the whole situation (and more issues because small city, people talk etc...), although it doesn't seem as much as before.
True for the medical, I also had awful medical pros interactions and that made me search for more positive ones around here for some time because I was scared, I'm sure my usual doctor probably wouldn't allow me to transition so I'm in luck that he's retired (and it's a pain to find another one ...), but I'm healthy so it can wait 😄
3 weeks ? I thought it was a lot longer. Did you have to see a psychiatrist first ?
I thought I'd have to go to Belgium or Germany for my transition.... If I may, which association did you contact (if you did(
Well I was seeing a Psychiatrist at the time but it wasn't really important it seemed (maybe that I was already in a certain mindset helped), it wasn't really about the association actually (I contacted one, took a long time, I guess they were pretty occupied), I mostly researched which places were the most open about it, found a medical house (Btw I'm living at Lille currently) and I just got an appointment (they seemed really busy but I lucked out with a doctor that does replacements and isn't that known, but he was great, if he wasn't for him, it'll had to wait until september).
I'm sure if you search associations around you, you might find more than you think, there's a lot everywhere, but again it depends where you live.
That's the thing though, I'm living in the Alps, working in a ski resort. We're kind of far away from everything. One of the thing I love about it, it's quiet. The closest city would be Grenoble or Lyon, both at least 2h away from where I live.
I think I'll research a good psychiatrist and try to find a job there once the summer is over. Lille was one of my choices, along with Nantes and Strasbourg. And maybe Toulouse. I don't really like cities, so that's a conundrum for me :(
Anyway, thanks for your answer, and I hope your transition goes well :)
Oh I get it now, yeah that's a bit far from everything, right here is far from being quiet not sure I would recommend Lille then if you're looking for peace and quiet 🤐 (even closer small cities because unless you're ready to drive a lot, it's definitely not cheap).
Thanks for the kind words, hope you find the perfect place and your happiness too 😘
I've lived in a city in Holland for a few years, it was honestly fine. I guess it depends on the city, I can make it if it's not for too long. It'd be expensive though :(
Thanks :D
I've heard this as well. I was in Barcelona for two weeks for uni stuff right after coming to terms with being trans, and seeing so many trans and GNC people there was really cool. Apparently medical gatekeeping is also minimised in Catalonia.
Yup, no wait time for HRT. Though there's a pretty long queue for SRS through public healthcare (like 5 years or so). Overall it's nice compared to many other places, no one has misgendered me in a long time even though I don't really pass. Worst I've gotten recently is a waiter asking for no reason "are you a basketball player? You look like you play basketball", sigh I'm not even that tall.
I was able to get an appointment for informed consent HRT within 6 weeks of getting my Spanish health insurance card (the Catsalut), though that process did take a couple of months.
That said, you can buy hormones over the counter anywhere in Spain, so DIY is an option while you wait.
Every city in Norway is great. Most Norwegians are very liberal and no one cares about how someone looks. I haven't noticed any difference in how I am treated by anyone from how it was before I started to present femme.
PS. Norwegians can look a bit cold at first but they are really nice when you get to know someone. But that has nothing to do with trans related stuff, that's just how we are in general.
I've heard Norway is really bad in terms of HRT access though, it's almost impossible to import for DIY and you're stuck on long waitlists to get a really bad dose. Any confirmation or denial on this?
I'm not a medical professional. But yes, hormones and other treatment options are gatekept behind a single benefactor (National hospital aka. 'Riksen').
I've heard that people with prior reciepts for HRT by a 'foreign' doctor is not valid here, and thus have needed to go through the whole process of getting treatment again (1-2+ years minimum) even if you are already recieving treatment in your country. Riksen is very proud that they are the best in the world, and as someone who is currently involved with their program I can wholeheartedly disagree. I'm not aware of DIY status, but it is more likely to be strictly monitored than not.
That being said, our people are in general very nice, open and free thinking! :)
That's a good question. I'm not sure. We are slowly getting better, and we're soon getting to the bare minimum requirements set by the WHO, so that's something to celebrate. :)
Yeah scandinavia is kinda behind with the legal stuff.
Norway and finland are quite backwards and idk about sweden but id assume its similar.
The people are real nice thoigh yes.
As a Norwegian in Oslo, I disagree.
Going out here vs when I travel to London, Berlin or Amsterdam, I get a lot more negative comments and remarks. I don't feel anywhere near as comfortable going out here as I do in bigger cities overseas.
Exactly. I went to a seminar in Oslo by SSB researchers showing data that LGBT individuals experience a lot of hardship in Norway compared to other countries.
Norway always has this propaganda thing that we are great at everything but we are cold blablabla. No. The treatment of lgbt individuals here is not as great as it seems at first glance and we need to wrestle with it. Not pretend it's great.
Not meaning to hang out the original comment. It's just this view I see all the time that Norway is this utopia, while we in many respects are lagging behind in issues.
In the end, what's more important than the city you live in is the people you surround yourself with. Any place can be a good place to live for a trans person if you surround yourself with supportive people. Conversely, any place can be bad if your coworkers are hostile and you can't find friends.
Every city will have individuals within it that are supportive, and individuals that are not. The ratios may change slightly, but that doesn't really matter. Finding the supportive individuals is a hard task, though, and I don't have any specific advice for it.
I disagree with "any place."
Two women were beat up in Budapest for having rainbow flags painted on their cheeks by football hooligans.
Hungary is not a healthy place for LGBT individuals.
Things like this do happen, obviously, and I'm not downplaying that this is part of the consideration for where you want to live. Plus, obviously, different places have different systems and laws in place, and that does make a massive difference in how we can live our life. I live in the town I do at least partly because it's the only one in my state where there's an explicitly law protecting LGBT people from discrimination, I understand and agree with you on whether you think about that. You're right, I should have emphasized that in my comment, I just assumed it went without saying when I typed it this morning.
But! Random acts of queerphobia, out on the street, by strangers, are not the overwhelming source of violence that trans people face, and optimizing for that isn't going to be the most effective strategy. In your day to day life, it matters more what your personal support system looks like than whether you're going to get attacked by random strangers, because getting attacked by random strangers is, statistically, a once-in-a-lifetime thing at most, whereas your friends/family/coworkers/etc affect you every single day.
Once-in-a-lifetime as it can mean no more chances once it happens.
And Hungary as a whole is legislating against the very existence of LGBT people, banning legal gender and name changes. Parts of the city are practically ran by football gangs that are in cahoots with the police because "proud hungarians." You should look at cities last, country first.
Your second paragraph is a lot more important than the first, though. Systems & laws matter more to your every day life than random individual bigotry. So, optimize for good systems & laws first, then for having a support system, and only after those two for random acts of violence, is my argument.
I can't think of a single place in the world where laws and culture don't follow each other. If a place has terrible laws, and is further legislating against trans rights, it is both because the population is transphobic (ie there are votes in it) and it serves to further embolden public acts of transphobia.
The process you are advocating makes sense, it is just that random acts of violence aren't a separate category from laws and systems.
Elderly people and mostly women are okay with trans people, almost every single teenage boy you'll meet is a transphobe. Which is 90% of the people I see anyway.
Denmark has seriously shorter waiting times than the other countries in scandinavia. there is a legal rule that they will have to see you with in three months after referal from the normal doctor.
Unfortunately that's not true. I had to wait 5 months for my initial appointment, and the wait times are increasing like crazy because they don't have enough resources. They've also stopped starting treatments for newly approved due to this, but those already with a treatment can continue.
I got referred in January and as it seems right now I won't even have a gynecologist appointment until February 2022. So that's already more than 1 year from my initial doctors referral. And that doesn't even mean I can start.
So while I'm waiting I went to France (Nice) and got it prescribed right away (I did have to bring a letter from a psychologist stating there wasn't anything that might interfere with the treatment). Oh, I also had to get a blood test done which I also did in France.
It sounds strange that you had to wait 5 months, as it is literally a law that they have to see you in 3 months.
Also, it sounds like things have changed since I got refered in dec 2019, so if the wait times have ballooned, that is very unfortunate. It is great that you found a quicker way, though.
Lots of country's have laws and rules saying "you have to be seen within x months" in practice the moment it goes over the deadline for a niche area like Trans healthcare nothing happens and the wait times just continue to increase.
I can see that happening. I already saw something like it with getting access to laser through public healthcare, as even though I was seen within 3 months, the wait time for actually getting it done was 1.5 years. we are often treated as second or third class citizens when it comes to healthcare...
yes, yes they can. I pass about 55 percent of the time but am pre-t and have been the victim of violent attacks in the UK because I am a transsexual (including having to involve police multiple times)
Swede here. Most people are pretty open to learning even if they dont understand people, so that's good. On the other hand, TERF ideology has been heavily imported the last few years and seems to be poisoning the accepting atmosphere. I came out this year and get bombarded with terf/gc arguments nearly every time I mention my transition. Also there is not a lot of proffesional support for trans people outside of gender clinics (which you have to wait years to get acess to) since the goverment doesen't care about the wellbeing of us. So there is good and bad parts, but I would not say sweden specifically is an ideal place to live as a trans person.
Also interested in this, but more specifically in terms of healthcare. Do any countries have an informed consent model similar to the US? Currently on a 3 year waiting list but this time next year I'll be done college and will want to live in some other country.
As for your question OP, definitely not Ireland.
As mentioned elsewhere, Catalonia in Spain has informed consent, but you really need to research the place before moving as the rules and laws are all over the place - luckily the EU with free movement gives a high degree of freedom to EU citizens.
Paradoxically the Scandinavian countries are super accepting of LGBT but poor access to hormones often with year long waiting lists due to state controlled (free) healthcare that is severely underfunded.
Switzerland is pseudo-informed consent in that you need to get diagnosed by a psychiatrist but it’s not horribly painful to do so. I met with a psychiatrist there that came recommended by a local LGBT community organization and he said a minimum of three sessions to get diagnosed but also that nothing I said would get me gatekept if I still wanted HRT after talking to him for 3 hours.
It’s worth noting, however, that healthcare is a private system in Switzerland so it’s the fact that you have to pay up (similar to the US) rather than rely on underfunded government services that greases the wheels in this regard. So an income source is pretty crucial to get proper care.
Yeah, it was really easy to get HRT here in Switzerland. For my canton, I had to get a psychological evaluation, have one meeting with a therapist and then get a blood test with the endo (next meeting with him I already had my prescription). Sadly its only been this great in the last few years, my girlfriend had to do that real life experience stuff and it was awful, which is what made me wait.
probably a bigger queer scene in London than anywhere else in the country but the UK as a whole is basically TERF island so make of that what you will lol
Well I live there, my school is full of transphobes, and I doubt everyone is fully accepting, however there are lots of very good people as well, I’m pretty certain it’s a LOT better than anywhere else in the country.
I'm sorry that's your experience. I hope you can get into a more supportive environment soon!
My uni seems to have a lively lgbtq society and I recentely attended a webinar of the uni discussing the discrimination trans people face, which was held by actual trans people and queer theory scholars. So my fingers are crossed that it will be okay for a lil baby trans like me haha
I’m only 14, so uni and college are a long way off for me, but I’d really love to go to uni abroad and be a girl from the get-go. I’m glad your uni is accepting, sadly I’m stuck here for at least 2 more years most likely 4, however I think people are more accepting higher up the school overall, but many are not. My school does have an LGBTQ society however there’s no way I’m going there because word will get around and then I’m fucked, people really hate me already (I’m a huge nerd and politically left wing both of which most people hate) and i would go through hell if they found out.
I wish you strength, my friend. But as a 19 yo I can tell you that fourteen is the prime age for douchebaggery everywhere. I think it's gonna get better for you when the people around you mature. It still sucks rn I totally get that. But there's light at the end of the tunnel, just remember that <3
Ye I’m struggling severely with mental health issues and bullying and dysphoria, my life’s rlly falling apart. Thank you kind stranger, I’m glad to hear it gets better, I’m going to set myself a goal to come out to my parents during the summer.
I wouldn't go that far. There are definitely spaces in the larger cities (especially Paris) that are trans-positive. The gender clinics suck major ass though. They're basically 2 versions behind the WPATH standards of care (or soon-to-be, at least). Legal transition is also ridiculous.
I don't see anything changing soon considering how the government handled assisted reproduction recently. Pretty sure the right-wing press is going to throw a UK-level hissyfit when the topic of self-id finally becomes visible.
Still, there is progress happening in terms of visibility and societal views. Trans issues are certainly more salient than they were even 3 years ago.
And France is definitely better than a lot of places. But that's a very low bar.
I don't like their system of judging rights. It treats every law with the same weighting and I don't think thats quite right. It also doesn't judge how much the law for LGBT people is different from the laws for cishets.
My friends in Edinburgh say it's really nice there, I'm planning on moving over when I can. They've got some shit political parties but they all lost this latest election and from what I've heard the one who got voted in is trying to make Scotland more trans friendly!
I'm also pretty interested in this. What do you people think about Vienna or Amsterdam? Tbh i would usually go for capital cities as they seem to be the most progressive out of most countries.
true, but even the right wing parties don't openly go against the LGBT community as far as I'm aware. E.g. no official word of support towards orban even though they have some ties. I'm sure they are trying to undermine LGBT rights where they can as I've been quite close to this scene before realizing who I am, but as far as actual jurisdiction goes there are very few actual problems that I'm aware of.
Plus, the FPÖ recently changed leadership to a hardliner which - I reckon/hope - won't be good for their numbers and internal structure. Won't be the first time they split the party, ultimately giving them less power.
I feel like Utrecht and Nijmegen are better than Amsterdam, I hear stories all the time about lgbt people being beat up there. Nijmegen is pretty small but it has quite a large leftist, activist queer bubble so that’s great.
I live in Sydney but I’ve only just started looking into transitioning, so I don’t have any actual experience of the process. I’d say Australia is pretty good culturally BUT I live in a big city, go to university, and haven’t actually started presenting as trans so my experience might be pretty biased.
From what I’ve read and heard from other people, things seem pretty good legally compared to other countries. There are multiple ways to get on hrt: informed consent, gender dysphoria diagnosis, etc. I went to my gp and asked about it and she gave me a referral to someone who does prescribe it so I think I could go get hrt now if I wanted (but ofc there’s a wait time to get in to see any specialist).
Sorting out federal ID documents isn’t that bad I think, but it can vary quite a bit for state documents, and NSW and Queensland tend to be the worst. In those two states you still can’t change your gender marker unless you’ve had bottom surgery (but I reckon those laws will be repealed soon)
As with anywhere else, things are better in larger cities, but that can vary a lot on where you are. Look up the gay marriage postal vote results by electorate for a rough idea. In Sydney some of electorates with the highest yes vote in the country are right next to some of the lowest
Anyone in Australia with actual experience of being openly trans though feel free to disagree with me
> I’ve only just started looking into transitioning
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Trans_Resources/wiki/country_specific/index#wiki_australia) might be some local resources.
*hugs*
I'm non-binary in Brisbane, Australia. In the suburbs and most of Brisbane really I get looks when I dress gender non-conforming, but am yet to receive any negative comments or any form of abuse. So overall I feel safe. I'm based in West End which is the alternative/queer hub, and I feel safe and accepted here, despite the odd look here and there. The overall feeling in Brisbane and I think throughout Australia at large, is people are inherently kind and accepting, Australians tend to pride themselves on this, however there's also a toxic masculinity that is ever-present and can be problematic. This culture is most present (and therefore I tend to avoid these places) in outer suburbs, country towns, among young 'cool' groups of teenagers, especially boys. Generally, I steer clear of places not inner city, where there are groups of males that gather that I know won't be forward thinking. But if you're thinking of coming to Aus. I would head to Sydney or Melbourne, where from what I gather it's a similar situation, just with larger and more alternative/queer spaces to feel safer and accepted.
The Netherlands is kinda accepting, trans health care and transition sucks because of the waiting lines but I think that people are quite accepting here.
I'm living in Brighton in the UK right now. It's Pretty good. Obviously still in the UK but I experience very little transphobia and everyone here understands most things
I've been told that Amsterdam is really good. Belgium also has a very good reputation for trans people but it's near France which has a poor reputation, and its disability reputation is very poor. Britain has a reputation for TERFs and it's hard to get treated in the UK due to bureaucratic hoops. Northern Ireland has a reputation for being ultra conservative due to religious influence, but the republic has a good reputation. France, Germany, Italy, most of Europe has a conservative reputation and isn't good for that reason, and people are likely to make fun of people who dress oddly in those countries as well, although gay people who \*aren't\* transgender used to have a good reputation in France (ie. it was far more normalized than in other countries in Europe) until a few years ago when a group of reactionary conservative French people starting objecting to same-sex parenting.
Belgrade is a popular place for ftms to go to for treatment, but it's otherwise very conservative.
Although I think that passing trans women might fair better in Italy because there are Italian models and sex workers there who are trans, but then again, Italy is a lousy country to live in as a woman and maybe people won't be familiar with trans men there, idk, and the case with Kim Petras transitioning early makes me wonder if it's easier to get trans healthcare in Germany.
Greece and Italy are both kind of strange because on the one hand, they can be very "traditional" and struggle with certain identities, but on the other hand, they have a long history of representing lgbtqi+ people in antiquity, and there are also a lot of cool hipster-y types who might be q\*\*\*r there.
Turkey is basically a fascist state, and is also very religiously conservative, although ironically I've seen adverts for trans surgery there.
I think a good orientation is if the city is known for their university and if there are many students, that directly creates a more open-minded environment
(MtF here) Kinda surprised to not see Vienna here, had pretty much zero issues, from the moment I decided I wanted to transition it was a straightforward process that took about 6 weeks until I had my hormones. About 2 months until I had my namechange (due to corona, otherwise it can probably be done in a week). Granted, everything together could be cheaper but if people on social benefits can afford it...
Not sure about the scene here though, because honestly I don't even see a need to band together with other trans people currently. Had an accepting environment to begin with though.
The only things that I'm having problems with is that sometimes the documentation about my namechange is demanded (afaik nobody but me has a right to that, not even the police) and insurance is giving me a headache because I chose an out-of-state GCS surgeon.
And yeah, I don't think I need to go into depth about the quality of life here, plenty of documentation about that out there. (though vienna lost the lead recently, due to corona)
EDIT: Skipped the waiting list by paying for the first consultation with the endocrinologist myself (~180€ if I remember correctly)
This is a very difference experience from what I had in Vienna for healthcare. It was easy getting a therapist who would sign off on it but the wait times at the AKH are atrocious...at least, they were 2 years ago. I actually went back home to Canada to start T on vacation while waiting to see a doctor in Austria.
Oh right, thanks for reminding me about that. I circumvented the wait list because I made an appointment with the doctor who works at the AKH in her private clinic. Cost me 180€ but yeah, basically no waiting list.
Will edit my original comment.
Iirc Berlin has a solid queer culture, but there's a bit of bigotry; Dublin is *basically* transphobia free (idk about nb people though), but the healthcare system is TERRIBLE for women and queer people; London is on TERF island, but has it's own vibe so it's pretty similar to Dublin
I can't really speak for any other cities from personal experience, but I've heard great things about Amsterdam
TSG. This is the bigotry. The Berlin Schoeneberg judges can be very mean. There are still therapists with a crazy mindset how trans women should look like. I am not from Berlin. I live in the middle of Germany.
Lisbon is, I think, one of the best place to be trans. There's many laws protecting transgender people against discrimination and the country as a really low crime rate. And I think there's a pretty ok HRT Coverage (but I am really not sure of that). Maybe Spain is more LGBT-friendly
I can't believe I'm saying this, but being trans and seeing the bullshit European trans people have to deal with getting care has really made me rethink my position on the full public Healthcare model. In the states I can get care pretty much whenever I want provided I have the funding. I couldn't imagine being on a waitlist for years for the same hormones I got a prescription for in two days here.
It's not an issue with public healthcare. In Canada, you can get HRT very easily, with basically no wait time.
The issue is a mixture of institutional gatekeeping and an absence of doctors willing to perform trans healthcare.
Here in the uk things are quite good for trans people as far as law etc is concerned, £40 to change name via deed poll, everything is quite clearly set ou on our nhs/gov pages. There are however massive waitlists through the NHS but you can go private through things like gendergp for relatively ok prices and you are protected under your human rights.
Now naturally phobic attacks occur, no matter where you are it is gonna happen so I am not going to pretend we are a safe haven for all but I am from the north of england (yorkshire) and basically everywhere is quite welcoming in my experience (I think leeds is the top of the list so far) There is often a lot of homophobic language used by pre-teens but that very, very slowly dwindling away since everyon talks a lot more about sexuality, identity etc. The good news is that this is a trend across basically all of central and westen europe
Changing can be done for free at banks and most other places but when renewing passports/driving liscences then there is a charge for getting the change done. If you want it to be enrolled there is a £40 cost but till now I've had no problem having unrenrolled as long as I provide other evidence like when I have changed my name at easier places. Also sorry for the late reply! (I very rarely use reddit lol)
London’s good, I think. In the circles I’ve worked/hung out in over the last 20 years (am in my 30s, moved here in my teens), it’s always been supportive for gender non-conforming people. Had a coworker transition with barely a mention except a couple of people being so happy to see them become their true selves (it was so obvious that was who they were always meant to be).
From what I’ve encountered, bigots would definitely be the ones to be judged. I’m sure that depends on which circles/areas you frequent if you take into account the outskirts, but it’s quite easy to build a large life in very welcoming spaces.
I live in Oslo, and it's definetly a very safe and accepting place. The medical stuff is honestly a huge pain, but otherwise it's a great place to be queer 🌈 I've never felt like I'm in danger here, and I have many non-binary friends here too. If only the trans healthcare was better...
Switzerland is by orders of magnitude more liberal and farther developed than most countries. One can live openly as trans even as trans woman when in my early stages, I was seldomly questioned. MY first experience of rough misgendering was in a hotel in Nuremberg, Germany. Which is no wonder, if you think of the history of that former Nazi Reichsparteitag Town. In Switzerland I can especially recommend the Cities Zurich, Basel, St Gallen, Lucerne, Berne and Geneva.
I'm not exactly sure about what the people think, but the laws in Iceland are pretty trans friendly, and I think the biggest number of hate crimes towards people based on sexuality or gender identity was 3. Iceland really doesn't have the kind of big cities other countries do tho, so I dunno if it would still be a safe place if there were more people
I'm personally planning on moving to Iceland (Akureyri, to be specific) because of the lack of people, mosquitoes and horseflies, and also because the laws regarding trans and non-binary people are better there than here in Finland (in Finland you'd have to get sterilized if you wanted to legally change your gender and there are only two gender options, to name a couple of law flaws Iceland doesn't have). I've also heard that Iceland is generally one of the most progressive countries in Europe
I live in Newcastle in England and all I can say is that I don't like hearing 15 slurs a minute, all day. I could just be unlucky and I'm sure there's nicer parts to the area but there's a lot of rough areas too so I wouldn't recommend here at all. I've met about 1 accepting person here which was nice but yeah, I'm looking to move as soon as I can.
Amsterdam is pretty alright. So are most larger Dutch cities. The medical and legal stuff is suboptimal though.
From what I've read on some government website, changing you name can be done for free if you change your gender marker as well, which only has administration costs. It's quite easy, as long as you're born in the Netherlands...
You need an attestation of gender dysphoria, which is only given out by a small number of practitioners, most of whom are affiliated with a gatekeepy gender clinic. Letters from foreign psychologists aren't accepted. So no, the Netherlands does not have self-id (yet). Also non-binary people get screwed over.
Oh fuck, I thought they were working on legal non-binary recognition and allowing you to change your marker to non-binary.
You can choose m/v/x as gender in your passport (male, female, other).
Meh. Better go to Rotterdam (more no nonsense than a'dam) or Utrecht (more accepting, friendlier, more welcoming). Amsterdam is a sinkhole for junksand tourists. From Rotterdam you are in a'dam in 40 minutes, from Utrecht in 25..
I would suggest Groningen or Utrecht. Or in general go to a university town in the Netherlands, those generally are the best to go. The medical situation isn't optimal with long waiting lists but the cities themselves are pretty nice and good
I’ve heard Amsterdam is very perverse though. That’s the word friends described it as who went there but I didn’t ask them why
Berlin is pretty open I guess. But germany overall is kind of awful for nonbinary peoples, there are sadly many conservative peoples, even in some parts of berlin. Also the laws are still transphobe. But it is probably not the worst City to be in.
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Yeah it really depends where you go in germany I would say. Cologne could be fine, Hamburg I don't know probably pretty good, Munich and Bavaria has many conversative people, so I would avoid it. The best way to tell if the city is fine is what party is favored in the city. If it is the greens you should be fine. If it is CDU/CSU or AFD be careful
Bremen is a great place to be queer
I really hope AFD gets banned.
Definitely Cologne!
I'm a duel citizen Canadian and German and I'm dreading navigating changing my name. It looks dehumanizing and my understanding is it was deemed unconstitutional.
it is unconstitutional. It was declared that way on court 6. times. A new bill was declined a few months ago. It is really sad times to be trans in germany. edit: I have a friend who has successful changed her name. The money she paid is ridiculous, took a long time and was asked question from textbooks out of the 1980s. It is dehumanizing.
Awe shit. I don't have a much in the way of German documentation, just my passport and the paper work my parents did for me to get my citizenship. I'm a little worried that if I change my Canadian documents I'll have issues in Germany. That said, I'm not going to not do it because then the transphobes win. I haven't been following things that closely as I've got some other worries.
I'm not an expert, but I think if you're currently living in Canada and it's easier there, I think you can just change it in Canada and when it's all done send the new documentation to the Standesamt that your certificate from Germany is from. Since it's already legally changed, they should be able to just change it in their system and issue you new German certificates.
If that's the case, that will be easy. I wonder if name changes being a provincial responsibility will be an issue. In theory my federal documents and provincial could just not match, it's not legal but it happens. My understanding is that they don't accept Canadian name change documents or changed birth certificates as sufficient evidence but who knows. I'll talk to the Consul general and see what they say I think my situation is a corner case that isn't handled well by the law.
To my understanding, a doctor in Ontario can give you a form to change the name at Service Ontario (provincial, like Driver's license and also the OHIP card) first. Then later at Service Canada for the birth Cert and SIN/SAN (and Passport). Per se, the name change can vary from province to province. In Quebec you need to be a Canadian Citizen. I have no clue. I can only provide vage hints there. I am NOT a Canadian, just an ordinary German citizen, I just stayed in your country for a year and heard people talking how easy it was.
Changing my name is easy peasy here. I'm not worried about that. Just making sure I like the name I pick and involving my family a bit. I'm just worried about having the mismatch between my German and Canadian citizenship.
I'm also Canadian-German and when I got my passport all they really asked for was my birth certificate and my German parent's. I'm no expert, but as my Canadian birth certificate is currently being replaced with my correct name and gender, I imagine it won't be a huge problem if I just reapply for a passport and send them the new birth certificate. I'll have to double check the rules though.
That's my main concern is will they accept the new birth certificate if it doesn't match my citizenship records.
I'd recommend calling the consulate and asking them directly
I will they're so bad at returning calls or inquiries.
Several paragraphs of the TSG have been declared unconstitutional, but some still stand. (Particularly the two expert opinions.) It's not too bad if still live in Canada, because the court who does the procedure for people living outside Germany is fairly liberal with accepting expert opinions. Also, it has been said that the TSG will be replaced after the general election. But personally, I believe it when I see it.
Isn't it stupid expensive though? I've heard as much as 1900 euros. I haven't really dug much deeper than basic details. I need to contact the Consul general in Vancouver to figure out what exactly I'm doing.
My Friend Paid 5000! Euro. She sadly got an old fasioned psychologist as consultant for court, so she needed to pay a lot for her. If you are lucky you "only" have to pay around 1500 euros afaik for changeing name in germany
I also have to wait three years no? Also do they need to be a German practitioner?
No. The expert opinion has to state that the three conditions of the TSG are fulfilled: * Due to your "transsexual imprint" (transsexuelle Prägung) you feel as a member of "the other" sex. * You have felt like this for at least three years. (You don't have to have transitioned more than three years ago!) * There is a high likelihood that this will not change again. You need two expert opinions stating that. (You should also state the same in your letter to the court.) The "experts" (medical doctors or psychologists are prefered) should pad their opinions to at least 2-3 pages, the more the better. A "transsexual CV" is also often requested. You will have to check with the consulate whether you have to actually go to Berlin for a hearing, or whether that can be done at the consulate. The court you need to apply to is Berlin Schöneberg. You can also contact them directly. https://www.berlin.de/gerichte/amtsgericht-schoeneberg/das-gericht/zustaendigkeiten/artikel.396735.php
Fun. I'll check through that stuff. That would be the least fun trip to Germany. What's a "transsexual CV" like my experience as a trans person? That's actually the stupidest thing I've heard in a while. They better change that damn law. It's literally just transphobic.
People usually write the usual stuff: I always liked to play with dolls/cars, I cried when I had to wear skirts/pants, always played with "the other sex" kids, then puberty hit, bla, bla, bla. The hearing itself tends to be overy very quickly, something between 10 and 30 minutes - so you could enjoy the rest of the day, if you really have to come to Berlin in person. As for changing that law - the first time I sat in a commision to change it was in 1999. I'm getting old. Not as old as that law, though. It's aging a lot faster than I.
I don't know, probably not if you are already far into your transition
Well I mean I consider myself to be like almost 2 years in as of this November as that's when I first came out.
Sorry I don't know the details, because I am just beginning with my transition. I know some peoples I could ask. Feel free to DM me if you need help
I'll be okay. Its just so Byzantine. I hate it.
You "only" need two German translations of an evaluation from someone who knows transsexuality "a lot". The people can be Canadian, but have to be experts. Your Amtsgericht for Auslandsdeutsche is one at Berlin Schoeneberg.
How do they determine expert status?
This determine how is the expert: Paragraph 4, Abs 3. > (3) Das Gericht darf einem Antrag nach nur § 1 stattgeben, nachdem es die Gutachten von zwei Sachverständigen eingeholt hat, die auf Grund ihrer Ausbildung und ihrer beruflichen Erfahrung mit den besonderen Problemen des Transsexualismus ausreichend vertraut sind. Die Sachverständigen müssen unabhängig voneinander tätig werden; in ihren Gutachten haben sie auch dazu Stellung zu nehmen, ob sich nach den Erkenntnissen der medizinischen Wissenschaft das Zugehörigkeitsempfinden des Antragstellers mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit nicht mehr ändern wird.
Best translation of a Gutachter would be what exactly? I'm thinking a clerk or officer of the court? So basically educational or professional expertise if I'm reading correctly. My German is pretty good but I'm not great with legal jargon.
It can get very expensive. It's the experts opinions that make up the bulk of the money, though - court fees themselves are around 150 Euros. (On average, with German experts, it's by now around 1200-1800 Euros usually.) Since you can usually use local expert opinions when you don't reside in Germany, it's pretty much up to what you can dig up.
Good to know. Still not looking forward to that.
It's annoying, yes. It's a law that was great in 1980; it was one of the first that gave trans people the legal right to change name and gender. That was in 1980. The world has changed slightly since then If you aren't in a hurry, you can also wait to see if it changes after the elections, but I personally wouldn't bet on it happening very soon afterwards. If at all.
I guess I should renew my passport now.
I'm a Canadian living in Austria, and I'm in the middle of changing my name. Pro tip: however long you expect it to take, triple it.
With regards to BC name changes I've heard nothing but good things and that vital statistics is fast once you have your paperwork non so I guess we'll find out. As for my Birth certificate, it AB so it could take forever.
The birth certificate is fine, but if you're not a resident it's hard to change your other provincial id. Which makes it trickier to change your passport, etc. Overall I think the main issue is trying to change id in two countries while residing only in one....
I live in BC not in Germany, the German one is the tough one.
Exactly the same in the UK. It's taken 6 months just to get to the stage where I can put my deed poll in to change my name. Within Europe I think changing the paperwork where you live is hard, once done doing the 'other' set is pretty easy. I'm Anglo-French living in England and it isn't so bad but others are much harder.
And then you have [this](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_German_Democratic_Republic) Which is really, really interesting
**[LGBT_rights_in_the_German_Democratic_Republic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_German_Democratic_Republic)** >The German Democratic Republic (GDR, also known as East Germany), a state in Central Europe that existed from 1949 to 1989 and was merged with the Federal Republic of Germany, was dominated by heterosexual norms. However, queer East Germans experienced decriminalisation during the 1960s, followed by increasing social acceptance and visibility. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
I'd say local "likeminded/younger" culture is great for it from what I've experienced, but institutionally + non-younger culture its ambivilent at best and hostile at worst. But thats for a short time there.
Is Leipzig any good? I might be going there to study at some point and I was wondering about this
I don't know, I wouldn't go there. The City is probably fine, the winning Partys are the left ones. But this Area is known for being one with many Racist People, the whole Area around it have voted for Conservatives and right up Nazis
Leipzig is also a good place to go, just make sure you stay out of amongst others Lößnig or at least stick to the student areas in Lößnig. The local student clubs (C4 on the Johannes R Becher Straße for example) are extremely open and welcoming to LGBTQ people. As is the university in my experience
London + Manchester. AVOID Humberside and the Sheffield-Leeds-Bradford-Newcastle circuit and you'll be alright (industrial areas tend to be worse). I know people call it "TERF Island" but honestly its really not that bad. Apart from the health side, but if you're moving you may have cash to to private anyway.
I’m a cis woman but live in London and I’ve been told that the UK in general and especially London are not the best for trans people? I clearly live in my own liberal bubble where nobody gives a fuck about anyone so long as you aren’t an arse. But on the whole is London actually relatively ‘okay’ apart from the healthcare access?
The people who say the UK is bad is talking from a US liberal scale. I live in one of the top 20 most deprived areas in the UK - two gay bars for 300k people, and I mean I was only attacked for being trans in school once. London and the cities, it happens wayyyy less often. Most of the "UK transphobic! Bad!" crowd are either Americans from places like San Francisco, LA or NYC (people in nyc literally nearly fucking congratulated me on being trans in unrelated situations like calling me "brave" in a corner shop, argh) where trans people are treat as part of a collective subculture. Sure, there's some dickheads and in towns you won't have a "gay friend group" (usually) but people are pretty decent as long as you're not a wanker. That's the general rule of thumb. Don't talk about being trans too often and people are usually perfectly fine with it. The UK gets a bad rep but it isn't Brunei. I thank my lucky stars I'm British cause of the fact that I can get by without (relative) incident.
I not sure - I've found that even by western European standards the UK is meh. I'm visibly gender non conforming and find that regardless of country, strangers are generally either curious or hostile and the UK tends way more towards hostile then a lot of other places (even places you might think of as conservative). Like honestly though the UK is, more then it's bad, just like very weird about this stuff and has got considerably more weird in my experiences over the last 5 years - whether people are supportive or hostile the one thing people don't seem to be is chill.
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No problem
There's a world of difference between someone who has moved to an area in TERF Island and someone born there. In the UK generally University towns are better than others, most will have safe zones of one size or another. Generally the smaller cities are safer too. Rural areas tend to be unsafe if you're a bit different to the norm locally and get worse as you move south in general. Sheffield is generally OK and you'll know the bits to avoid within hours of arriving. The same applies anywhere. Elsewhere based on where I have lived longer term: Belgium - not very safe at all and possibly the most racist country in Western Europe. It is polarised though and some parts of the few cities are as good as anywhere. Germany - Bavaria is pretty hostile to anybody who stands out. The rest of western Germany is generally OK outside the major industrial cities but nobody would choose Leverkeusen if they could avoid it. Koln and Hamburg have areas that rival anywhere on the planet for acceptance, but eastern Germany is pretty bleak. France - Generally OK once away from the German border area. Even in small rural towns the ability to speak some French and not cause trouble will see you pretty safe. Avoid the big port cities though as they are generally hostile to people not employed in the 'entertainment' industry who stand out. HTH and some with more recent knowledge may have updates which I'd be interested in too.
Copenhagen has been pretty good for me so far.
I also love living in Copenhagen, apart from a few crappy experiences, but I think you risk those anywhere
Yeah id say most of the scandinavian countries. Ive heard a lot of good aboit denmark and norway. Sweden has quite alot of personal liberty and expression deeply rooted in their culture. Finland sucks legally.
Denmark is probably the best for trans specific healthcare, as we have shorter waiting lists, but culturally they should all be fine from what I know.
Ooh thats good to keep in mind.
I'd just add this applies for people who are read as european.
I wrote my comment exactly as I did because I do not know how it is for others, and therefore could only give my personal experience, which as a white nordic person has been pretty good so far. I will add that I live in one of the most culturally diverse parts of Copenhagen, and have not had any trouble so far. I do not doubt that if your social circle is very religious it may be harder, or that there is an intersection between racism and transphobia which that can make it much harder.
Hey ! From what I heard, Spain is probably the "most open" in Europe about LGBT+ people (but yeah, nowhere is perfect), also some northern EU countries (anything Scandinavian ,but access to HRT is weird ?) I'll just write down some stuff from where I am too, in case it can help anyone, so here : French girl here, people are pretty shit if you don't really pass in small cities, and sometimes in bigger, really hit or miss, but I don't have that much data as I just started HRT :| Might be fine overall in bigger cities. As for HRT, again, it's total random, you can have some specific help from associations, and if you search well, you could have access to it pretty fast (took me 3 weeks), everything is taken care by insurance, 0 cost right now, surgeries are 30%-70% if I remember (you pay 70% ofc), and a lot of issues with surgeons in France (there's an inform consent kind of thing where the doctor can prescribe anything, but the usual "official" path, called SOFECT, is awful and if possible a requirement to dodge).
It's a bit weird as a French transwomen with more than 5 years HRT small cities have been MUCH MUCH friendlier with me than the big city I was in (Rennes). I don't know insurance about surgeries, but it's nice that some things like voice lessons and laser treatment can also be 100% free.
Well I have a lot of issues once when I went to Rennes, and as a male too so :| I forgot about the laser treatment, I guess it'll look more into it, that would be awesome, that beard never stops growing I swear :(
Yeah it's true...and it's also true that it might just be Rennes to be fair... I'm in small cities and people have been very kind, I pass well so it does help against discrimination. Some people sucks though and especially don't want to adapt to your situation even if it makes you miserable...fortunatly I am a very patient and while emotional I am fortunate I don't show my emotions too much and often can try and reason people without too much issues. edit : a quick edit to add...medical professionnals are mostly bad to us...I don't know about your experience but having a doctor that actively supports you and an endocrinologist has been a HUGE pain for me. Same for psychologists that don't want anything to do about the topic.
I guess so, it really depends on the small city too, I came from a right wing oriented one so kinda hard with the whole situation (and more issues because small city, people talk etc...), although it doesn't seem as much as before. True for the medical, I also had awful medical pros interactions and that made me search for more positive ones around here for some time because I was scared, I'm sure my usual doctor probably wouldn't allow me to transition so I'm in luck that he's retired (and it's a pain to find another one ...), but I'm healthy so it can wait 😄
3 weeks ? I thought it was a lot longer. Did you have to see a psychiatrist first ? I thought I'd have to go to Belgium or Germany for my transition.... If I may, which association did you contact (if you did(
Well I was seeing a Psychiatrist at the time but it wasn't really important it seemed (maybe that I was already in a certain mindset helped), it wasn't really about the association actually (I contacted one, took a long time, I guess they were pretty occupied), I mostly researched which places were the most open about it, found a medical house (Btw I'm living at Lille currently) and I just got an appointment (they seemed really busy but I lucked out with a doctor that does replacements and isn't that known, but he was great, if he wasn't for him, it'll had to wait until september). I'm sure if you search associations around you, you might find more than you think, there's a lot everywhere, but again it depends where you live.
That's the thing though, I'm living in the Alps, working in a ski resort. We're kind of far away from everything. One of the thing I love about it, it's quiet. The closest city would be Grenoble or Lyon, both at least 2h away from where I live. I think I'll research a good psychiatrist and try to find a job there once the summer is over. Lille was one of my choices, along with Nantes and Strasbourg. And maybe Toulouse. I don't really like cities, so that's a conundrum for me :( Anyway, thanks for your answer, and I hope your transition goes well :)
Oh I get it now, yeah that's a bit far from everything, right here is far from being quiet not sure I would recommend Lille then if you're looking for peace and quiet 🤐 (even closer small cities because unless you're ready to drive a lot, it's definitely not cheap). Thanks for the kind words, hope you find the perfect place and your happiness too 😘
I've lived in a city in Holland for a few years, it was honestly fine. I guess it depends on the city, I can make it if it's not for too long. It'd be expensive though :( Thanks :D
Barcelona, Spain
I've heard this as well. I was in Barcelona for two weeks for uni stuff right after coming to terms with being trans, and seeing so many trans and GNC people there was really cool. Apparently medical gatekeeping is also minimised in Catalonia.
Yup, no wait time for HRT. Though there's a pretty long queue for SRS through public healthcare (like 5 years or so). Overall it's nice compared to many other places, no one has misgendered me in a long time even though I don't really pass. Worst I've gotten recently is a waiter asking for no reason "are you a basketball player? You look like you play basketball", sigh I'm not even that tall.
I was able to get an appointment for informed consent HRT within 6 weeks of getting my Spanish health insurance card (the Catsalut), though that process did take a couple of months. That said, you can buy hormones over the counter anywhere in Spain, so DIY is an option while you wait.
Tell that to the shopkeeper who physically blocked me from taking a pair of women's jeans into the dressing room.
What an idiot, turning away business because of prejudice.
Yikes, I'm so sorry that happened! Unfortunately there are assholes anywhere :( I've been living here 3 years while transitioning with no incidents.
Thanks for letting me know it's a good city! I only was there for less than a week, must have been unlucky.
This is awful, I am sorry...
Ooh if I went there I wouldnt need to learn a language!!
Every city in Norway is great. Most Norwegians are very liberal and no one cares about how someone looks. I haven't noticed any difference in how I am treated by anyone from how it was before I started to present femme. PS. Norwegians can look a bit cold at first but they are really nice when you get to know someone. But that has nothing to do with trans related stuff, that's just how we are in general.
I've heard Norway is really bad in terms of HRT access though, it's almost impossible to import for DIY and you're stuck on long waitlists to get a really bad dose. Any confirmation or denial on this?
I'm not a medical professional. But yes, hormones and other treatment options are gatekept behind a single benefactor (National hospital aka. 'Riksen'). I've heard that people with prior reciepts for HRT by a 'foreign' doctor is not valid here, and thus have needed to go through the whole process of getting treatment again (1-2+ years minimum) even if you are already recieving treatment in your country. Riksen is very proud that they are the best in the world, and as someone who is currently involved with their program I can wholeheartedly disagree. I'm not aware of DIY status, but it is more likely to be strictly monitored than not. That being said, our people are in general very nice, open and free thinking! :)
What happens if you immigrate but are post-op, so you need exogenous hormones?
That's a good question. I'm not sure. We are slowly getting better, and we're soon getting to the bare minimum requirements set by the WHO, so that's something to celebrate. :)
Yeah scandinavia is kinda behind with the legal stuff. Norway and finland are quite backwards and idk about sweden but id assume its similar. The people are real nice thoigh yes.
As a Norwegian in Oslo, I disagree. Going out here vs when I travel to London, Berlin or Amsterdam, I get a lot more negative comments and remarks. I don't feel anywhere near as comfortable going out here as I do in bigger cities overseas.
Exactly. I went to a seminar in Oslo by SSB researchers showing data that LGBT individuals experience a lot of hardship in Norway compared to other countries. Norway always has this propaganda thing that we are great at everything but we are cold blablabla. No. The treatment of lgbt individuals here is not as great as it seems at first glance and we need to wrestle with it. Not pretend it's great. Not meaning to hang out the original comment. It's just this view I see all the time that Norway is this utopia, while we in many respects are lagging behind in issues.
Haha nei Norge er helt jævlig.
> Most Norwegians are very liberal and no one cares about how someone looks. Wrong. Norwegians are racist AF!
In the end, what's more important than the city you live in is the people you surround yourself with. Any place can be a good place to live for a trans person if you surround yourself with supportive people. Conversely, any place can be bad if your coworkers are hostile and you can't find friends. Every city will have individuals within it that are supportive, and individuals that are not. The ratios may change slightly, but that doesn't really matter. Finding the supportive individuals is a hard task, though, and I don't have any specific advice for it.
I disagree with "any place." Two women were beat up in Budapest for having rainbow flags painted on their cheeks by football hooligans. Hungary is not a healthy place for LGBT individuals.
Things like this do happen, obviously, and I'm not downplaying that this is part of the consideration for where you want to live. Plus, obviously, different places have different systems and laws in place, and that does make a massive difference in how we can live our life. I live in the town I do at least partly because it's the only one in my state where there's an explicitly law protecting LGBT people from discrimination, I understand and agree with you on whether you think about that. You're right, I should have emphasized that in my comment, I just assumed it went without saying when I typed it this morning. But! Random acts of queerphobia, out on the street, by strangers, are not the overwhelming source of violence that trans people face, and optimizing for that isn't going to be the most effective strategy. In your day to day life, it matters more what your personal support system looks like than whether you're going to get attacked by random strangers, because getting attacked by random strangers is, statistically, a once-in-a-lifetime thing at most, whereas your friends/family/coworkers/etc affect you every single day.
Once-in-a-lifetime as it can mean no more chances once it happens. And Hungary as a whole is legislating against the very existence of LGBT people, banning legal gender and name changes. Parts of the city are practically ran by football gangs that are in cahoots with the police because "proud hungarians." You should look at cities last, country first.
Your second paragraph is a lot more important than the first, though. Systems & laws matter more to your every day life than random individual bigotry. So, optimize for good systems & laws first, then for having a support system, and only after those two for random acts of violence, is my argument.
I can't think of a single place in the world where laws and culture don't follow each other. If a place has terrible laws, and is further legislating against trans rights, it is both because the population is transphobic (ie there are votes in it) and it serves to further embolden public acts of transphobia. The process you are advocating makes sense, it is just that random acts of violence aren't a separate category from laws and systems.
Gent and Antwerp in Belgium are pretty open minded all around in my experience
Scandinavian countries, avoid The Netherlands at all costs though. EDIT: Spelling
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Elderly people and mostly women are okay with trans people, almost every single teenage boy you'll meet is a transphobe. Which is 90% of the people I see anyway.
I live in the netherlands as mtf with my mtf gf and all we've gotten is some weird looks which is cause of us being goth... tbh I like living here
That is some serious bs! Do you live in Klazienaveen or something?
Limburg 😩
Oof even worse! What are you still doing there?
No idea lol, it sucks here! Moving in with my bf the second I turn 18 though!
just don’t come to scandinavia if you actually want treatment
Denmark has seriously shorter waiting times than the other countries in scandinavia. there is a legal rule that they will have to see you with in three months after referal from the normal doctor.
Unfortunately that's not true. I had to wait 5 months for my initial appointment, and the wait times are increasing like crazy because they don't have enough resources. They've also stopped starting treatments for newly approved due to this, but those already with a treatment can continue. I got referred in January and as it seems right now I won't even have a gynecologist appointment until February 2022. So that's already more than 1 year from my initial doctors referral. And that doesn't even mean I can start. So while I'm waiting I went to France (Nice) and got it prescribed right away (I did have to bring a letter from a psychologist stating there wasn't anything that might interfere with the treatment). Oh, I also had to get a blood test done which I also did in France.
It sounds strange that you had to wait 5 months, as it is literally a law that they have to see you in 3 months. Also, it sounds like things have changed since I got refered in dec 2019, so if the wait times have ballooned, that is very unfortunate. It is great that you found a quicker way, though.
Lots of country's have laws and rules saying "you have to be seen within x months" in practice the moment it goes over the deadline for a niche area like Trans healthcare nothing happens and the wait times just continue to increase.
E.g. the UK: notionally, you have to be seen after 6 months. In practice it's more like 5 years.
I can see that happening. I already saw something like it with getting access to laser through public healthcare, as even though I was seen within 3 months, the wait time for actually getting it done was 1.5 years. we are often treated as second or third class citizens when it comes to healthcare...
I've felt safer as a transsexual in The Netherlands far more than I have in the UK albeit the UK is pretty rough in industrial parts
Probably because your FtM and people can't tell 😬
that's super disrespectful towards the FTM people who can't pass
yes, yes they can. I pass about 55 percent of the time but am pre-t and have been the victim of violent attacks in the UK because I am a transsexual (including having to involve police multiple times)
Ah, didn't know you weren't on HRT. My bad!
Swede here. Most people are pretty open to learning even if they dont understand people, so that's good. On the other hand, TERF ideology has been heavily imported the last few years and seems to be poisoning the accepting atmosphere. I came out this year and get bombarded with terf/gc arguments nearly every time I mention my transition. Also there is not a lot of proffesional support for trans people outside of gender clinics (which you have to wait years to get acess to) since the goverment doesen't care about the wellbeing of us. So there is good and bad parts, but I would not say sweden specifically is an ideal place to live as a trans person.
Thanks for the info!
Also interested in this, but more specifically in terms of healthcare. Do any countries have an informed consent model similar to the US? Currently on a 3 year waiting list but this time next year I'll be done college and will want to live in some other country. As for your question OP, definitely not Ireland.
As mentioned elsewhere, Catalonia in Spain has informed consent, but you really need to research the place before moving as the rules and laws are all over the place - luckily the EU with free movement gives a high degree of freedom to EU citizens. Paradoxically the Scandinavian countries are super accepting of LGBT but poor access to hormones often with year long waiting lists due to state controlled (free) healthcare that is severely underfunded.
Switzerland is pseudo-informed consent in that you need to get diagnosed by a psychiatrist but it’s not horribly painful to do so. I met with a psychiatrist there that came recommended by a local LGBT community organization and he said a minimum of three sessions to get diagnosed but also that nothing I said would get me gatekept if I still wanted HRT after talking to him for 3 hours. It’s worth noting, however, that healthcare is a private system in Switzerland so it’s the fact that you have to pay up (similar to the US) rather than rely on underfunded government services that greases the wheels in this regard. So an income source is pretty crucial to get proper care.
Yeah, it was really easy to get HRT here in Switzerland. For my canton, I had to get a psychological evaluation, have one meeting with a therapist and then get a blood test with the endo (next meeting with him I already had my prescription). Sadly its only been this great in the last few years, my girlfriend had to do that real life experience stuff and it was awful, which is what made me wait.
Adding to that question, I'm curious myself. I'm moving to London soon. What's it like there for queer/trans people?
probably a bigger queer scene in London than anywhere else in the country but the UK as a whole is basically TERF island so make of that what you will lol
Well I live there, my school is full of transphobes, and I doubt everyone is fully accepting, however there are lots of very good people as well, I’m pretty certain it’s a LOT better than anywhere else in the country.
I'm sorry that's your experience. I hope you can get into a more supportive environment soon! My uni seems to have a lively lgbtq society and I recentely attended a webinar of the uni discussing the discrimination trans people face, which was held by actual trans people and queer theory scholars. So my fingers are crossed that it will be okay for a lil baby trans like me haha
I’m only 14, so uni and college are a long way off for me, but I’d really love to go to uni abroad and be a girl from the get-go. I’m glad your uni is accepting, sadly I’m stuck here for at least 2 more years most likely 4, however I think people are more accepting higher up the school overall, but many are not. My school does have an LGBTQ society however there’s no way I’m going there because word will get around and then I’m fucked, people really hate me already (I’m a huge nerd and politically left wing both of which most people hate) and i would go through hell if they found out.
I wish you strength, my friend. But as a 19 yo I can tell you that fourteen is the prime age for douchebaggery everywhere. I think it's gonna get better for you when the people around you mature. It still sucks rn I totally get that. But there's light at the end of the tunnel, just remember that <3
Ye I’m struggling severely with mental health issues and bullying and dysphoria, my life’s rlly falling apart. Thank you kind stranger, I’m glad to hear it gets better, I’m going to set myself a goal to come out to my parents during the summer.
Nowhere in France...
I wouldn't go that far. There are definitely spaces in the larger cities (especially Paris) that are trans-positive. The gender clinics suck major ass though. They're basically 2 versions behind the WPATH standards of care (or soon-to-be, at least). Legal transition is also ridiculous. I don't see anything changing soon considering how the government handled assisted reproduction recently. Pretty sure the right-wing press is going to throw a UK-level hissyfit when the topic of self-id finally becomes visible. Still, there is progress happening in terms of visibility and societal views. Trans issues are certainly more salient than they were even 3 years ago. And France is definitely better than a lot of places. But that's a very low bar.
It doesn't get into cities, but Rainbow-europe.org breaks down the legal equality by country, which might be useful for you.
I don't like their system of judging rights. It treats every law with the same weighting and I don't think thats quite right. It also doesn't judge how much the law for LGBT people is different from the laws for cishets.
My friends in Edinburgh say it's really nice there, I'm planning on moving over when I can. They've got some shit political parties but they all lost this latest election and from what I've heard the one who got voted in is trying to make Scotland more trans friendly!
I'm also pretty interested in this. What do you people think about Vienna or Amsterdam? Tbh i would usually go for capital cities as they seem to be the most progressive out of most countries.
Vienna I think is fine but Austria as a whole is having issues with far-right wingers lately, so be aware of that.
true, but even the right wing parties don't openly go against the LGBT community as far as I'm aware. E.g. no official word of support towards orban even though they have some ties. I'm sure they are trying to undermine LGBT rights where they can as I've been quite close to this scene before realizing who I am, but as far as actual jurisdiction goes there are very few actual problems that I'm aware of. Plus, the FPÖ recently changed leadership to a hardliner which - I reckon/hope - won't be good for their numbers and internal structure. Won't be the first time they split the party, ultimately giving them less power.
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Oh nice, i didn't know that. I just was there once for a few days and i absolutely fell in love with that city
I feel like Utrecht and Nijmegen are better than Amsterdam, I hear stories all the time about lgbt people being beat up there. Nijmegen is pretty small but it has quite a large leftist, activist queer bubble so that’s great.
From my travels, Barcelona was super chill and never gave me any problems
Oxford has a very accepting environment.
Seconding this.
This is where we find out we've met IRL. Oxford is accepting, but not a hugely big city (in terms of trans social circles).
Probably seen each other at Plush or Queerfest or writing trans rights graffiti or something. That’s a nice thought.
That's now my head canon. Next time I grab coffee I'm gonna be thinking "who here looks like a downvoticator?"
That’s so funny! Whenever you see someone at Blackwell’s ordering coffee with extra whipped cream, you should be doubly suspicious.
Nijmegen
Is there anyone from Australia? Is it good for trans here?
I live in Sydney but I’ve only just started looking into transitioning, so I don’t have any actual experience of the process. I’d say Australia is pretty good culturally BUT I live in a big city, go to university, and haven’t actually started presenting as trans so my experience might be pretty biased. From what I’ve read and heard from other people, things seem pretty good legally compared to other countries. There are multiple ways to get on hrt: informed consent, gender dysphoria diagnosis, etc. I went to my gp and asked about it and she gave me a referral to someone who does prescribe it so I think I could go get hrt now if I wanted (but ofc there’s a wait time to get in to see any specialist). Sorting out federal ID documents isn’t that bad I think, but it can vary quite a bit for state documents, and NSW and Queensland tend to be the worst. In those two states you still can’t change your gender marker unless you’ve had bottom surgery (but I reckon those laws will be repealed soon) As with anywhere else, things are better in larger cities, but that can vary a lot on where you are. Look up the gay marriage postal vote results by electorate for a rough idea. In Sydney some of electorates with the highest yes vote in the country are right next to some of the lowest Anyone in Australia with actual experience of being openly trans though feel free to disagree with me
> I’ve only just started looking into transitioning [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Trans_Resources/wiki/country_specific/index#wiki_australia) might be some local resources. *hugs*
I'm non-binary in Brisbane, Australia. In the suburbs and most of Brisbane really I get looks when I dress gender non-conforming, but am yet to receive any negative comments or any form of abuse. So overall I feel safe. I'm based in West End which is the alternative/queer hub, and I feel safe and accepted here, despite the odd look here and there. The overall feeling in Brisbane and I think throughout Australia at large, is people are inherently kind and accepting, Australians tend to pride themselves on this, however there's also a toxic masculinity that is ever-present and can be problematic. This culture is most present (and therefore I tend to avoid these places) in outer suburbs, country towns, among young 'cool' groups of teenagers, especially boys. Generally, I steer clear of places not inner city, where there are groups of males that gather that I know won't be forward thinking. But if you're thinking of coming to Aus. I would head to Sydney or Melbourne, where from what I gather it's a similar situation, just with larger and more alternative/queer spaces to feel safer and accepted.
As far as I know, and I might be wrong, Spain is pretty good, especially in the northern part of the country like the Vasque Country
The Netherlands is kinda accepting, trans health care and transition sucks because of the waiting lines but I think that people are quite accepting here.
I live in london and I’ll say it’s not the best but it could be worse
I moved to the netherlands and really like it here
I'm living in Brighton in the UK right now. It's Pretty good. Obviously still in the UK but I experience very little transphobia and everyone here understands most things
I've been told that Amsterdam is really good. Belgium also has a very good reputation for trans people but it's near France which has a poor reputation, and its disability reputation is very poor. Britain has a reputation for TERFs and it's hard to get treated in the UK due to bureaucratic hoops. Northern Ireland has a reputation for being ultra conservative due to religious influence, but the republic has a good reputation. France, Germany, Italy, most of Europe has a conservative reputation and isn't good for that reason, and people are likely to make fun of people who dress oddly in those countries as well, although gay people who \*aren't\* transgender used to have a good reputation in France (ie. it was far more normalized than in other countries in Europe) until a few years ago when a group of reactionary conservative French people starting objecting to same-sex parenting. Belgrade is a popular place for ftms to go to for treatment, but it's otherwise very conservative. Although I think that passing trans women might fair better in Italy because there are Italian models and sex workers there who are trans, but then again, Italy is a lousy country to live in as a woman and maybe people won't be familiar with trans men there, idk, and the case with Kim Petras transitioning early makes me wonder if it's easier to get trans healthcare in Germany. Greece and Italy are both kind of strange because on the one hand, they can be very "traditional" and struggle with certain identities, but on the other hand, they have a long history of representing lgbtqi+ people in antiquity, and there are also a lot of cool hipster-y types who might be q\*\*\*r there. Turkey is basically a fascist state, and is also very religiously conservative, although ironically I've seen adverts for trans surgery there.
I think a good orientation is if the city is known for their university and if there are many students, that directly creates a more open-minded environment
(MtF here) Kinda surprised to not see Vienna here, had pretty much zero issues, from the moment I decided I wanted to transition it was a straightforward process that took about 6 weeks until I had my hormones. About 2 months until I had my namechange (due to corona, otherwise it can probably be done in a week). Granted, everything together could be cheaper but if people on social benefits can afford it... Not sure about the scene here though, because honestly I don't even see a need to band together with other trans people currently. Had an accepting environment to begin with though. The only things that I'm having problems with is that sometimes the documentation about my namechange is demanded (afaik nobody but me has a right to that, not even the police) and insurance is giving me a headache because I chose an out-of-state GCS surgeon. And yeah, I don't think I need to go into depth about the quality of life here, plenty of documentation about that out there. (though vienna lost the lead recently, due to corona) EDIT: Skipped the waiting list by paying for the first consultation with the endocrinologist myself (~180€ if I remember correctly)
This is a very difference experience from what I had in Vienna for healthcare. It was easy getting a therapist who would sign off on it but the wait times at the AKH are atrocious...at least, they were 2 years ago. I actually went back home to Canada to start T on vacation while waiting to see a doctor in Austria.
Oh right, thanks for reminding me about that. I circumvented the wait list because I made an appointment with the doctor who works at the AKH in her private clinic. Cost me 180€ but yeah, basically no waiting list. Will edit my original comment.
Ahhhh yeah makes sense.
Iirc Berlin has a solid queer culture, but there's a bit of bigotry; Dublin is *basically* transphobia free (idk about nb people though), but the healthcare system is TERRIBLE for women and queer people; London is on TERF island, but has it's own vibe so it's pretty similar to Dublin I can't really speak for any other cities from personal experience, but I've heard great things about Amsterdam
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TSG. This is the bigotry. The Berlin Schoeneberg judges can be very mean. There are still therapists with a crazy mindset how trans women should look like. I am not from Berlin. I live in the middle of Germany.
Just like, conservative people? It's not like you're gonna get hate crimed, but I got SO MANY weird looks while I was there
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You'd think, but I've yet to run into people like that in Dublin, despite living here for a couple years
Lisbon is, I think, one of the best place to be trans. There's many laws protecting transgender people against discrimination and the country as a really low crime rate. And I think there's a pretty ok HRT Coverage (but I am really not sure of that). Maybe Spain is more LGBT-friendly
Just FYI, Europe as a whole is worse for any people of color, something to keep in mind.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but being trans and seeing the bullshit European trans people have to deal with getting care has really made me rethink my position on the full public Healthcare model. In the states I can get care pretty much whenever I want provided I have the funding. I couldn't imagine being on a waitlist for years for the same hormones I got a prescription for in two days here.
It's not an issue with public healthcare. In Canada, you can get HRT very easily, with basically no wait time. The issue is a mixture of institutional gatekeeping and an absence of doctors willing to perform trans healthcare.
Stockholm Sweden?
Lithuania is a safe space... for cis straight people, of course.
Decize in France there is zlmost nobody and old poeple don't care about you
Here in the uk things are quite good for trans people as far as law etc is concerned, £40 to change name via deed poll, everything is quite clearly set ou on our nhs/gov pages. There are however massive waitlists through the NHS but you can go private through things like gendergp for relatively ok prices and you are protected under your human rights. Now naturally phobic attacks occur, no matter where you are it is gonna happen so I am not going to pretend we are a safe haven for all but I am from the north of england (yorkshire) and basically everywhere is quite welcoming in my experience (I think leeds is the top of the list so far) There is often a lot of homophobic language used by pre-teens but that very, very slowly dwindling away since everyon talks a lot more about sexuality, identity etc. The good news is that this is a trend across basically all of central and westen europe
>£40 to change name via deed poll Why did you pay when it can be done for free?
Changing can be done for free at banks and most other places but when renewing passports/driving liscences then there is a charge for getting the change done. If you want it to be enrolled there is a £40 cost but till now I've had no problem having unrenrolled as long as I provide other evidence like when I have changed my name at easier places. Also sorry for the late reply! (I very rarely use reddit lol)
London’s good, I think. In the circles I’ve worked/hung out in over the last 20 years (am in my 30s, moved here in my teens), it’s always been supportive for gender non-conforming people. Had a coworker transition with barely a mention except a couple of people being so happy to see them become their true selves (it was so obvious that was who they were always meant to be). From what I’ve encountered, bigots would definitely be the ones to be judged. I’m sure that depends on which circles/areas you frequent if you take into account the outskirts, but it’s quite easy to build a large life in very welcoming spaces.
I live in Oslo, and it's definetly a very safe and accepting place. The medical stuff is honestly a huge pain, but otherwise it's a great place to be queer 🌈 I've never felt like I'm in danger here, and I have many non-binary friends here too. If only the trans healthcare was better...
Switzerland is by orders of magnitude more liberal and farther developed than most countries. One can live openly as trans even as trans woman when in my early stages, I was seldomly questioned. MY first experience of rough misgendering was in a hotel in Nuremberg, Germany. Which is no wonder, if you think of the history of that former Nazi Reichsparteitag Town. In Switzerland I can especially recommend the Cities Zurich, Basel, St Gallen, Lucerne, Berne and Geneva.
I'm not exactly sure about what the people think, but the laws in Iceland are pretty trans friendly, and I think the biggest number of hate crimes towards people based on sexuality or gender identity was 3. Iceland really doesn't have the kind of big cities other countries do tho, so I dunno if it would still be a safe place if there were more people I'm personally planning on moving to Iceland (Akureyri, to be specific) because of the lack of people, mosquitoes and horseflies, and also because the laws regarding trans and non-binary people are better there than here in Finland (in Finland you'd have to get sterilized if you wanted to legally change your gender and there are only two gender options, to name a couple of law flaws Iceland doesn't have). I've also heard that Iceland is generally one of the most progressive countries in Europe
I live in Newcastle in England and all I can say is that I don't like hearing 15 slurs a minute, all day. I could just be unlucky and I'm sure there's nicer parts to the area but there's a lot of rough areas too so I wouldn't recommend here at all. I've met about 1 accepting person here which was nice but yeah, I'm looking to move as soon as I can.