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Trans Awareness Week 2025

Trans Week of Awareness is a time to celebrate and uplift our trans whānau - their stories, their strength, and their everyday acts of authenticity.

This year, we’ve invited five trans members of our community to share what being seen means to them: in love, in sex, in friendship, and in self. Their words are raw, tender, and powerful - a reminder that visibility isn’t just about being looked at, but about being truly known.

Take a moment to explore their stories below, honour their experiences, and reflect on what it means to build a world where every trans person can live openly, safely, and with pride.

Loving myself into becoming desirable

In Loving myself into becoming desirable, Leander Sonntag reflects on intimacy, affirmation, and the quiet power of being desired for who you truly are.

“I was terrified of giving up features that made me conventionally attractive for the sake of transitioning - but the person I became is so much more beautiful than the one I left behind.”

Myself, human, alien, body, person, girl, and boy, and neither

In this piece, a community member reflects on the long, complex path to self-understanding - from identifying deeply with lesbianism to finding peace in transness, fluidity, and the freedom to exist beyond labels. Through honesty and reflection, they explore what it means to move beyond categories and embrace a sense of self that’s both rooted and expansive:

“I am just myself — human, alien, body, person, girl and boy, and neither.”

I’d rather be described as 'the woman with…'

In this piece, a community contributor shares a raw and witty reflection on identity beyond gender, the exhaustion of being the “trans person,” and the everyday reality of visibility. From their upcoming poetry collection CICADA, this piece captures the contradictions of trans life - the pride and the fatigue, the humour and the hurt, the endless rediscovery of self.

“What I want and wish for this week is for you to talk to trans people about literally anything other than gender.”

Whānaungatanga mā te reo | Promenade of Babel

In this piece, Wharetutu explores the beauty and power of language - how words shape belonging, identity, and connection for Māori and trans communities.

Playful, political, and grounded in te reo Māori, Whānaungatanga mā te Reo is a reflection on the ways language both calls us in and calls us home.

“Can you hear me?! I am Wharetutu! I’m Māori, I’m trans, I love women!”

Re-learning Yourself: Becoming Trans Enough

In this piece, River-Zephry reflects on what it means to be ‘trans enough’ - how identity, culture, and belonging intersect across history, Te Ao Māori, and lived experience.

Rooted in community, scholarship, and te reo Māori, Re-learning Yourself: Becoming Trans Enough is a powerful reminder that being trans is natural, beautiful, and unstoppable.

“I am connected to my transness, my whānau, my body, and the world around me. I will continue to exist, and so will we all.”