🌈 Everyone has hormones (yes, even you)

Learn about hormones for Transgender Awareness Week

“Yeah, everyone has hormones. It's not all that different,” I responded to an online commenter. They had expressed concern about, get this, people being vaccinated while on gender-affirming hormone therapy.

When they doubled down by saying they only meant the, you know, unnatural hormones for growing muscles or breasts, I blocked them. I have little patience for people who are just looking for ways to dig into me online.

But I thought it would be good to explore hormones here on Amplify Respect for Transgender Awareness Week, November 13-19.

Everyone has hormones.

Did you know vitamin D is a hormone?

Hormones are molecular messengers that circulate in your blood and encourage cells or tissues in your body to take action.

Not only does everyone have hormones, everyone has estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, at different levels, whether they are taking any medication or not.

Cis women, women who are not transgender, sometimes use testosterone gel as part of hormone replacement therapy during menopause. I'm not saying you have to, at all. But I find it fascinating that some people return to a happier and more comfortable state of being through hormone replacement therapy. They benefit from estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, just like people's bodies create.

Hormone levels fluctuate a ton, especially for people who have a monthly cycle. You actually can get a huge spike of progesterone halfway between periods. And everyone responds to these changing levels differently, from feeling panicked and depressed (that's me) to feeling like they are exactly where they should be.

People with testes have more of a daily fluctuation in hormones: testosterone levels are highest in the morning.

So, natural hormones, good, you might be thinking. But what about those transgender hormones??

The secret is that there is no secret. Some trans people take gender-affirming hormone therapy and some don't, just like some cis people take hormone replacement therapy and some don't. And it's all the same hormones. Really. It's all just estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, same as everyone has in their body.

The really interesting thing is that everyone's body knows how to change in certain ways in response to hormones. Everyone's face knows how to grow hair (although the amount depends on genetics). Everyone's hips know how to store fat. Everyone's hair and skin can change texture and oilyness. We all have the genetic code to do these things.

So don't tell me what our bodies are coded to be able to do is unnatural. Have you seen nature? Everyone telling me to touch grass and exit the liberal echo chamber, have you seen fish? They can literally change sex as needed for the survival of their community.

I would watch a Finding Nemo sequel where Nemo searches for his new gender identity, just saying, Pixar.

Fish aren't humans, you say. Fine. We also have thousands of years of recorded history showing that people have always existed outside of our binary gender definitions.

For Transgender Awareness Week, I'd love for you to be aware that trans people are not that different from anyone else. We have the same hormones. We have the same ability to hope and dream and be afraid and to care for our families and communities. We are all human together.

For more Transgender Awareness Week content, please check out

Robin Taylor (he/him)

‘s curated list of stories and contributions our community has shared this week.

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments.

Take care,

Rey