To be trans is to be nature itself, to connect to who we are and to be a part of something we have always been, which is nature. Despite what the right claims, which includes calling us unnatural, we have always been here, always connected to the world. One example found in academic texts:

This text provides an example of how queerness is natural, has always been a part of our world, and is present among the people around us. We, as trans people, are beautiful, and despite hatred, we will always continue to exist, because being nature itself cannot be stamped out by right-wing hatred and rhetoric.  Another example, sourced from Green, A., Simmonds, S., et al, is that:

Before colonisation, Takatāpui and LGBTQI+ Māori often did not use labels before this period and did not face anti-queer hate. Colonisation brought Christianity, hate, oppressive ideologies, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, that was not present pre-colonisation and westernisation (attempts to make ‘western’ culture the dominant culture).

To understand desirability and being trans, it is also essential to know that this is different for all trans people, not only based on the time (era they live in), space (the spaces they occupy), and place (where they live and feel at home or not at home), but also personal connections or disconnections with their mind, body, and spirit and the rest of the world around them. My connections with my transness are, I know for sure, different from all other trans people; trans people are not a monolith, but instead, can often relate to one another on aspects of transness. As someone who has been transitioning for over five years – is both new and old.

But how has my transition or gender journey changed the way I experience desire, being desired, and desiring others? Firstly, it is essential to acknowledge that I am Pākehā – I experience my transition differently from those who are Takatāpui or MVPAFF+ because my culture has not been colonised. I cannot speak for these groups and how this oppression affects their queerness because I have not experienced it. But instead, I will draw from academics, Takatāpui, as ‌Niurangi refers to Māori as having non-colonial and non-westernised conceptions of gender and sexuality, with the lack of gendered pronouns in Te Reo Māori and forced conceptions of gender and sexuality-based roles. But instead, they are based on concepts of Tapu (protected or taboo, protected by atua - ancestors) and Noa (regular, not protected) in relation to gendered roles. In the West, equality often means sameness, but in Te Ao Māori, it usually implies equality of difference and identity.

MPAFF+ is defined as:

These are some terms used by Pacific peoples to describe cultural and gender identities. These concepts are more, or just as much, about familial, genealogical, social, and cultural selfhood. This is not an exhaustive list of Pacific peoples’ terms. These cultural and gender identities do not often have an equivalent in English language/terminology. (Te Kawa Mataaho – Public Service Commission, p. 1, 2025).

Throughout my transition, my self-perception has undergone significant changes This is not to say you have to transition medically or anything to do so; in fact, I feel connected to those around me who have little to no dysphoria and only have and want to transition socially. I think it is all about feeling connected to people who appreciate you for your body (meaning your transness), who you are, and to be seen as you rather than being a trans commodity.

Being trans can be very scary, with TERFs (Trans exclusionary radical ‘feminists’), government, and others being against us, TERFs claim to be attempting to ‘protect women for equality’ but instead as ‌Butler argues that TERFs move away from gender equality by their ‘derealisation of transgender people’ (137) and go against descriptions of feminism by their attempts at discrimination and definitions of sex going against their own definitions of feminism – and making life more complicated and more exclusionary for themselves as well as trans people. How I have found safety and comfort in being trans is community, even if that is online, seeing people I love and that love me for me, and I love for them has been lifesaving.

Being trans is part of nature, and to talk about it and for there to always be representation is critical to fighting for us, understanding our bodies and identities, and finding ourselves. One example draws from ‌Beyer is the first openly transgender MP in the world – she talks about how she never hid her past as a sex worker and what she aims to do – she talks about how important it is never to hide anything in politics – she uses the term ‘transsexual’ to identify herself. Of course, it is essential to stay safe, sometimes not showing you are trans, but for those who can, representation can and will be lifesaving. For a long time now, queer people have been targeted for the very essence of our identities, Schulman (2022) cites:

(Con'd) And despite massive efforts that built radical infrastructure and a complex subculture, people inside and outside of ACT UP were still suffering and rapidly dying. Treatment and Data wanted more power on governmental committees. The lawsuit to change the CDC definition of AIDS so that women could get benefits and be in experimental drug trials was a few months from being filed. Women were still unable to schedule meetings with government officials. The gap in access levels between different activist constituencies was growing and, in many ways, determining group consciousness. (535)

This included transgender people, as supported by Miles (2020). During the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the laws against homosexual men mainly enabled people to come out of the shadows from a range of groups in Europe to work towards liberation. During the world wars, this was stopped due to anti-queer rhetoric spread by the nazis across Europe.

But how can this target other groups, and what does being trans enough even mean? How can communities find safety? DeVun (2021) cites that academic surgeons have been performing intersex surgeries as early as the 12th century, when people's ‘corrections’ were performed. This was only avoided when someone who was ‘female’ was attracted to someone who was male – surgeons today still do similar surgeries on intersex people, forcing Western sex characteristics on intersex people. Intersex people still face this today, not being able to choose who they are, often not even being told they are intersex till adulthood or until other medical issues arise and doctors tell them. Anti–trans ideals affect us all; there does not need to be set sex ideas because even sex is not binary, we learn as much from intersex people. That being said, there is also no being trans enough or being too trans because our understandings of gender, sex, orientation, representation, etc, are colonial and western; it is not until we deconstruct these ideas that we will then truly understand what it is to be human.

References

Beyer, G. (2021). Personal Testimony - Georgina Beyer [Review of Personal Testimony - Georgina Beyer]. In I. Wilkinson, A. Wilkinson, & A. Moss (Eds.), Pride - The Story of the LGBTQ Equality Movement (pp. 296–297). Welbeck Publishing Group. 9781787396869

Butler, J. (2024). Chapter 5 - TERFs and British Matters of Sex: How Critical is Gender-Critical Feminism? [Review of Chapter 5 - TERFs and British Matters of Sex: How Critical is Gender-Critical Feminism?]. In Who’s Afraid of Gender? (pp. 134–170). Allen Lane - Penguin Books. 978-0-241-59582-4

Halliman & L. Sandford (2023). Early Expectations [Review of Early Expectations]. In C. Halliman & L. Sandford (Eds.), The LGBTQ+ History Book - Big Ideas Simply Explained(pp. 18–48). DK London - Penguin Random House. 9780241596265

DeVun, L. (2021). Chapter 5 - The Correction of Nature: Sex and The Science of Surgery [Review of Chapter 5 - The Correction of Nature: Sex and The Science of Surgery]. In The Shape of Sex - Nonbinary Gender from Genesis to the Renaissance (pp. 134–163). Columbia University Press. 9780231551366

Green, A., Simmonds, S., Pihama, L., Roskruge, M., Laurence, R., Nopera, T., & Skipper, H. (2023). Chapter 7 - Te Tataranga Whakamānawa Takatāpui: Honour Project Aotearoa Survery [Review of Chapter 7 - Te Tataranga Whakamānawa Takatāpui: Honour Project Aotearoa Survery]. In A. Green & L. Pihama (Eds.), Honouring Our Ancestors: Takatāpui, Two-Sprit and Indigenous LGBTQI+ Well-being (pp. 111–133). Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington Press. 9781776920730

Miles, L. (2020). Chapter 4 - A brief history of trans [Review of Chapter 4 - A brief history of trans]. In Transgender Resistance: Socialism and the fight for trans liberation (pp. 61–84). Bookmark Publications Ltd. 9781910885833

Public service comission, T. K. M. (2025). Kuputaka — Te kanorau me te whakaurunga, me ngā tapanga āniwaniwa he auau te whakamahinga Glossary — Diversity and inclusion, common rainbow terms. In Kuputaka — Te kanorau me te whakaurunga, me ngā tapanga āniwaniwa he auau te whakamahinga Glossary — Diversity and inclusion, common rainbow terms. https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/glossary/diversity-and-inclusion

Niurangi Mary Maclean, J. (2921). Kāore e wehi tōku kiri ki te taraongaonga; my skin does not fear the nettle [Review of Kāore e wehi tōku kiri ki te taraongaonga; my skin does not fear the nettle]. In C. Tse & E. Barnes (Eds.), Out Here - An anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ writers from Aotearoa (pp. 115–121). Auckland University Press. 9781869409319

Schulman, S. (2022). Chapter 21 - Storm the NIH Action at the National Institutes of Health, Washington, D.C: May 21, 1990 [Review of Chapter 21 - Storm the NIH Action at the National Institutes of Health, Washington, D.C: May 21, 1990]. In A Political History of Act Up New York, 1987-1993: Let the record show (pp. 535–544). Picador. 9781250849120