Dear trans and non-binary people in 2021,

I’m writing to you from the year 2051.

I know growing up trans or non-binary can be hard. It’s hard coming out and it’s hard keeping it a secret. I wish I could tell you we have a magic pill in 2051 that gives you in just one week the body you need to live without dysphoria, but nope. It’s not that kind of future.

I can tell you though, things do get better. When I was born my parents didn’t tell anyone what they thought my gender was, they just waited ‘til I asked questions and told them what I thought. Lots of parents are doing this now. Some people still think it’s weird, but by the time I went to primary school I knew I was a boy, I knew I was trans, and the school was completely on board with that.

I also had a teacher in primary school who transitioned when I was there, and a couple of teachers in high school were non-binary and used “Mx”. This is just normal now, it doesn’t make the news. I think my parents appreciated having adults to talk to who might know a bit about what I was going through, because I didn’t really talk to them about it.

I met loads of trans and non-binary kids online. We have these virtual clubs now, where you go in via a VR headset and you get to look however you want to look, use the name you want to use, and just hang out with other kids, play games and do art classes. It feels just like real life. And you get to meet trans and non-binary people from all over the world. The VR clubs kept me going when I found my body felt unbearable to be in, even when I was taking hormone blockers.

There are some amazing people who haven't been born yet in 2021 but are going to change the lives of trans and non-binary people. There’s this young trans kid who launched a campaign against the media printing untrue information about trans and non-binary adults and children, and this sparked a massive debate in society. There are still organisations that spread misinformation about trans and non-binary people, but you don’t see them on TV or working for newspapers anymore.

Non-binary transfeminine megastars are using their billions to make the world safer for trans and non-binary people. Global conversations are being had about the dangers that trans and non-binary people - particularly trans and non-binary people of colour - face every day.

They haven’t yet found a section of genetic code that they can point to and say there, that’s it, that’s the gene that makes you trans, but there has been a lot of very interesting studies. People are a lot more accepting in 2051: you never hear of doctors refusing to prescribe hormones, plus high level figures in society are non-binary now.

There are still people who are transphobic on twitter, though I wonder if it’s really the lack of genetic proof that’s the problem, or if people just can't get their heads around someone who is different to them. There is still work to do. But there are a lot of trans and non-binary people in positions of power now, whether they’re in government, running global businesses, writing phenomenal children’s books or working in every field of medicine. In 2051, we are an inescapable reality.

And I know you’ll want to hear about waiting lists and surgeries, and it’s good news there. I can’t give too much away because it might cause a temporal paradox, but surgical techniques have advanced enormously in the last 30 years with all kinds of new technological developments attracting a lot more doctors to train in gender confirmation surgery. Waiting lists are down to a few weeks, and new surgical teams are popping up in hospitals all over the UK.

I’ve seen some of these amazing changes in just the last few years, things were a little different when I was younger. But the biggest thing for me was, I have always known what’s coming. I’ve always known what my gender is, I didn’t have to fight to figure it out because everything around me was telling me to be different. And when I told people my gender and that I was trans, they nodded and said, “ok then”. Gender dysphoria is still hard to deal with, but knowing from as far back as I can remember that being trans is ok and having my school and parents’ support, made the biggest difference. That, and VR computer games; they’re really something. You’re gonna love them.

So trans and non-binary people of 2021, I know it’s hard, but the world is changing for the better.

Love from, The Future