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Not enough funds to get yourself a packer? Watch Chase explain how you can make your own inexpensive packer!

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What is packing? What are their functions? How much are they? What are some popular brands? Can you DIY a packer? How do you put it on? Follow Ty Turner to answer these key q’s in All About Packing!

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RAD Remedy and radical illustrator Isabella Rotman bring you a guide about self-examinations you can do at home, along with important checkups, who needs what, and when!

It can be hard to know how often to get tested for sexually-transmitted diseases and when to get check-ups for reproductive organs. Follow Dr. RAD’s Queer Health Show in an animated exploration of reproductive self-care, including self-exams and check-ups, hormone treatment, and finding access to transgender health informed doctors. 

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Ygender is a peer led social support and advocacy group based in Melbourne. We organise events, programs and a range of projects based around the needs and interests of gender diverse young people.

Ygender is a peer led support and advocacy organisation for trans and gender diverse young people. We were established in 2010 by a group of trans young people who realised that our community needed an autonomous space to support each other and advocate for our rights. In this post, Ygender addresses the risks and benefits of binding! 

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Underwear for trans people: the torture of binding, tucking and packing is over

How new shapewear designs are helping transgender people avoid dangerous and painful tactics to create their desired body shape

cn// negativity, accounts of pain in tucking/binding Read to see which companies are creating shapewear for trans folks! 

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Are you ready to learn?

cn//crass language “Sex altering rituals range from expensive surgical procedures to superficial tricks like tucking your dick between your legs. Tucking is cheap and simple--and it's a way to protect you from violent bigots who refuse to believe penises don't define gender. Many people tuck as a safety measure; most of us don't pass flawlessly as cisgender, and its often dangerous to be perceived as trans. For trans women who feel turmoil about their bodies, tucking can also a stopgap until they can afford to fly to Thailand for surgery. (It would be nice if genitalia could extend and retract like a collapsible light saber, but until technology changes, the age-old practice of tucking will work.) Countless other women love their dicks and tuck primarily for a streamlined aesthetic. Tucking can feel liberating--as if you have a say over your body and how it is perceived for the first time.”

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Tucking with Tape It is important to avoid use of duct tape and other harmful adhesives, as they can damage skin and hurt an awful lot to take off. In this video, Julie Vu shows how she tucks using medical tape and tissue.  Julie Vu is a Canadian transgender woman who has a passion for makeup artistry and fashion. She is mainly known for sharing her transition and life experiences authentically on Youtube in hopes to educate and change people’s perspective on transgender people. Julie is young woman who has encountered many obstacles in life but turns them into life lessons. Without a doubt, she is an advocate for the LGBT community. Miss Vu has shared her story in many peer education workshops, appeared on the Dr. Drew show and is one of the first transgender women to document her whole transition on social media platforms. 

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Tucking With a Gaff In her words, Dawn is a Male-to-Female transgender vlogger. In this video, she covers how to make a homemade gaffe out of stockings and a tube sock for tucking.

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Gender identity, gender presentation/expression, sex, and attraction are often assumed. This graphic can help you map where you fit in on the various spectrums of gender identity, gender expression, sex assigned at birth, and physical/emotional attraction. Below is an explanation of the terms used in the Gender Unicorn.

Gender Identity: One’s internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, or another gender(s). Everyone has a gender identity, including you. For transgender people, their sex assigned at birth and their own internal sense of gender identity are not the same. Female, woman, and girl and male, man, and boy are also NOT necessarily linked to each other but are just six common gender identities.

Gender Expression/Presentation: The physical manifestation of one’s gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, voice, body shape, etc. Most transgender people seek to make their gender expression (how they look) match their gender identity (who they are), rather than their sex assigned at birth.

Sex Assigned at Birth: The assignment and classification of people as male, female, intersex, or another sex based on a combination of anatomy, hormones, chromosomes. It is important we don’t simply use “sex” because of the vagueness of the definition of sex and its place in transphobia Chromosomes are frequently used to determine sex from prenatal karyotyping (although not as often as genitalia). Chromosomes do not determine genitalia.

Sexually Attracted To: Sexual Orientation. It is important to note that sexual and romantic/emotional attraction can be from a variety of factors including but not limited to gender identity, gender expression/presentation, and sex assigned at birth.

Romantically/Emotionally Attracted To: Romantic/emotional orientation. It is important to note that sexual and romantic/emotional attraction can be from a variety of factors including but not limited to gender identity, gender expression/presentation, and sex assigned at birth.

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Mental Health vs. Mental Care

This page typically refers to mental care, which is slightly different than mental health.

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. (Source)

Mental care, on the other hand, is what we can all do everyday so we can be more well-rounded, more balanced, and more composed. Meditation, journaling, exercise—all are things which can recharge the mind and help your brain to not be overpowered by our daily lives.

That being said, care is not a substitute for treatment. Should you find yourself needing more than what this page suggests, please seek out the help of a medical professional. Medication cannot be exchanged for books and walks outside. -CGM

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A friendly field guide blog for high school aged individuals to ask questions and get answers about their mental health. Our goal is to provide information about mental health and to reduce the stigma...

Hey! Our friends over at Your Mind Your Health also have a spectacular Tumblr blog about mental health specifically geared towards teenagers. Check it out! -CGM

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2 Quick Things to Remember about Mental Care

Mental illness can be like a cancer—it can mutate, rebound, and is extremely different for everyone. Sometimes, illness can return after some time in a new form. This is partly why it’s so important to document (as seen in this previous post here) our struggles. And each person experiences our mental health differently. Whether it’s you or a friend, always keep this in mind when discussing health.

What works for Jessica will not necessarily work for Juan. One person may be able to address their depression through exercise and a simple SSRI like Prozac (fluoxetine). But someone else may seek therapy and use Wellbutrin (bupropion). Another person may not need a prescription at all and addresses their illness through their own mechanisms. Each of these techniques is fully valid in their own right. Mental illness is like any other medical diagnosis, and treatment must be individualized to the patient.

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What to Say (and Not to Say) to Someone Who's Depressed - Hey Sigmund - Karen Young

One of the worst things about depression is the loneliness and the sense of the world getting on with things without you. If someone tells you they have depression, know that they are showing to you part of the beautiful, messy, unpredictable frailties that come with being human. We all have them. We humans are a... Read more »

An excellent post on what to do if someone you know is suffering from depression (or any other mental illness)! -CGM

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Your Rights under U.S. Law As of April 30, 2017

There are three major legislations which directly affect your access to mental health care in the United States. -CGM

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Passed in 1990, the ADA established the legal definition of disability and further made it illegal to discriminate against anyone based on their disability. “The term "disability" means, with respect to an individual (A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment (as described in paragraph (3)).” (Source)

In addition to physical impairments, it also classifies mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and OCD.

For more information, please visit the ADA’s official website.

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

“Because of the law, most health plans must now cover preventive services, like depression screening for adults and behavioral assessments for children, at no additional cost. And, as of 2014, most plans cannot deny you coverage or charge you more due to pre-existing health conditions, including mental illnesses.” (Source)

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 reformed the health insurance industry, and most importantly made it illegal for insurance companies to deny you health insurance because of a pre-existing condition, such as mental illness. It also ensured that most health plans provide preventive services and treatments at no additional cost.

For more information, please visit the ACA’s official website.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

HIPAA, passed in 1996, guarantees an individual the right to access their medical records, and also gives that person the right to decide who else can view their records. It provides the authority for adults to have private access to their own records. Importantly, this means that if you are on your parents’ or someone else’s insurance plan but are over eighteen*, you have the right to seek medical treatment without their knowledge or consent. Minors (seventeen and under in most states) must seek their parent or guardian to act as their personal representatives.

For more information, please visit the HIPAA official website. Information specifically pertaining to minors and privacy under this law can be found here.

*in Alabama and Nebraska, the age of majority is 19; in Puerto Rico and Mississippi, it is 21  

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Mad Mapping

One of the most innovative self-care techniques for addressing mental disorders, illnesses, and stress is mad-mapping. This exercise forces us to ask ourselves questions, such as

What are our triggers? How do we cope with them so that we don't get lost? What has been helpful in the past and what has not been helpful? What medications have worked, which haven't and how can we come off if we don't need them anymore? How can we build the life we want to live? Who do we want to be?

Most importantly of all, these maps put you in charge of your mental health. They can help you learn to work through your battles and overcome your hurdles. The questions above make you take a hard look at yourself and answer these questions that we often don’t want to answer.

The video above is from the Icarus Project, and they have developed a wonderful intro guide to mad-mapping. You can use it as a jumping off point, as inspiration, or as a lifeline. -CGM