Detransition as Counterstory: Trans-Affirming Narratives on TikTok
Jaimeson Oakley, Department of English, University of Louisville
Abstract
Detransition narratives have become a focal point in contemporary discourse, often weaponized by anti-trans activists to delegitimize transgender identities and restrict access to genderaffirming care. These dominant narratives, which frame detransition as synonymous with only regret, obscure the complexity of transitioning and detransitioning as lived experiences. However, TikTok provides a space where detrans people push back against these reductive narratives through digital counterstorytelling. This essay discusses the rhetorical strategies of two TikTok creators, Alia and Lucy, who advocate and reclaim their stories in trans-affirming ways. By resisting the monolithic portrayal of detransition as trans failure or regret, these creators challenge both mainstream misconceptions and intra-community tensions surrounding trans and detrans identity. Drawing from critical race theory’s counterstorytelling, this paper argues that detransition should be understood not as a repudiation of transness, but as part of a broader spectrum of gendered self-determination. Ultimately, these digital counterstories complicate binary understandings of transition, making space for more varied and affirming discussions of gender fluidity, identity, and agency.
Keywords: counterstory, narrative, TikTok, detransition, detrans, transgender, trans, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, queer, gender-affirming care, multimodality
Introduction
Detransition narratives have become a focal point in contemporary public discourse, often through the visibility of anti-trans activists and far-right politicians who question the legitimacy of transgender identities. Detrans narratives are typically reduced to narratives of regret or misdiagnosis and tend to obscure the existence of trans-affirming detrans stories. TikTok provides a unique space where detrans people have pushed back against such dominant narratives, engaging in digital counterstorytelling steeped in autobiographic reflection and communal dialogue. TikTok’s multimodal affordances–such as short-form videos, sound and video layering, captions, duets, and stitches–enable users to craft dynamic and participatory compositions. TikTok serves as a key site for meaning-making and digital resistance where detrans people can reclaim their narratives and challenge cultural myths around detrans and trans experiences. This essay explores the digital counterstorytelling strategies used by two detrans TikTok creators negotiating identity, visibility, and solidarity in trans-affirming ways.
The Impact of Stories
Counterstorytelling is primarily rooted in critical race theory, but its intersectional functions extend alongside race in its ability to liberate marginalized voices in terms of class, gender, and sexuality (Delgado, 1989; Stefancic and Delgado, 2010). Martinez (2020) defines counterstory as a “methodology that functions through methods that empower the minoritized through the formation of stories that disrupt the erasures embedded in standardized majoritarian methodologies” (p. 3). The necessity of this methodological and genre work lies in its ability to confront ongoing exclusions within academic and cultural conversations, reclaiming space for voices historically denied authority over their own narratives. The genres of trans stories often include narrated dialogue and autobiographic reflection (Martinez, 2020).
Historically, to access care, trans people often had to tailor their stories to fit binary gender stereotypes and medicalized ideals of gender consistency and conformity rather than their varied lived experiences (Stone, 2006; McCormick, 2020). It was, and often still is, crucial for trans people to tell the right kind of story in order to be taken seriously by medical professionals and mainstream society. The expectation to reproduce and perform these clinical dominant narratives, Stone (2006) argues, makes it “difficult to generate a counterdiscourse if one is programmed to disappear” and ultimately “forecloses the possibility of a life grounded in the intertextual possibilities” of a trans existence (pp. 230-231). Trans visibility has grown through digital communication and expanded access to care, though inequities still persist globally.
On the other hand, the right kind of trans stories also find themselves at odds with the lived experiences of detrans folks. Detrans stories are often conflated with severe feelings of regret after transitioning, and sometimes, in having had a trans experience at all (Jorgenson, 2023). These kinds of detrans stories not only seem to threaten the positive political efforts of trans activists in the continual fight for trans rights and gender-affirming care, but the prevalence of these stories can be perceived as monolithic and overshadowing the existence of transaffirming detrans stories. In terms of counterstory, Delgado (1989) says, “Stories ... invite the listener to suspend judgement ... test it against [their] own version of reality... All movements for change must gain the support, or at least understanding, of the dominant group,” which in this case would be the trans and queer communities just as much as the overarching cisheteronormative (non-trans/straight/white) society in which we all live (p. 2440).
Despite increasing scholarly and social media efforts to foster an affirming understanding, detransition narratives are usually weaponized in political debates to justify restrictions on gender-affirming care rather than to acknowledge the complexities of gender fluidity (MacKinnon et al., 2023, p. 11). Sieber (2024) analyzes two documentaries produced by PragerU and The Epoch Times, explaining that they frame gender-affirming care as a symptom of liberal social decline and use this to foster distrust among families, positioning transness as a “radical ideology” and detrans participants as victims of manipulation (p. 12). In the United States, far-right politicians seek to restrict access to gender-affirming care (especially for youth) in their manipulation of detransition narratives; ultimately, they seek to delegitimize trans existence in general, whether or not such information is accurate or representative of most trans and detrans experiences. This political rhetoric is also echoed by other countries with a far-right political presence (e.g. the Netherlands) (Segers, 2025). However, outdated trans notions continue to hold true as current research assumes gender identity and transition still follow a fixed trajectory, disregarding the diversity of transition experiences (Holloway and Walls, 2025, pp. 2-3). Thus, recognizing detransition as part of a spectrum of gender navigation–rather than an aberration–is essential to challenging reductive trans and detrans narratives.
Detransition
TikToks Alia (2022), an Arab-American detrans woman from Michigan, US, is a viral TikTok creator with over 168 thousand followers. One of her more popular videos begins with earlier clips from her initial transition before cutting to her present-day voice update, where Alia (2022) says, “and this is my voice one year and 9 months off of testosterone” (0:20-0:25). She talks very briefly about her detrans journey, compellingly, she says, “I’m so grateful for it, I met amazing people, I was able to learn so much about myself,” in regards to her having first decided to transition (Alia, 2022, 0:42-0:48). Overall, the video is a celebration of herself up to this point in her detransition, but also of all the stages of her gender journey as a whole.
Alia’s initial intent to transition is conveyed as being just as necessary of a choice as her eventually choosing to detransition, and the video visually communicates this in how it is stitched together to show a seamless passing of time. Particularly, someone comments, “Ok this is very random. Does your voice still sound the same in your head? When I hear myself on a recording I think my voice sounds so different to me” (McGinnis, 2023), to which Alia replies, “I now actually enjoy hearing my voice in a recording. In the beginning and before testosterone I hated my voice. I felt it was too soft. Now I like it” (Alia, 2023). The creator never expresses regret for her choice to take testosterone to change her voice in the first place but appreciates her voice more now than her original voice pre-transition.
Lucy Kartikasari (2024), a queer/bisexual, Dutch-Indonesian detrans woman from the Netherlands and a viral TikTok creator with over 35 thousand followers, also discusses testosterone in a transparent effort to debunk detrans and trans myths. Kartikasari (2024) stitches over a video by a fellow detransitioner who is talking about “The dark side of Testosterone (what your doctors won’t tell you),” which is the main text embedded over the video. She critiques it by saying, “This video is fear-mongering. I see transphobic detrans people sharing this stuff all the time ... People saying that this, this, and this is gonna happen to your body if you take testosterone—(dramatically) “Your beautiful feminine body is going to be destroyed!”” (Kartikasari, 2024, 0:10-0:18). Lucy continues by talking about what she experienced from taking testosterone and acknowledges that some effects are permanent like the thickening of one’s vocal cords, to which she says, “But these are just effects—they are neutral. These effects only have values ascribed to them when you frame them within the context of your own experience” (Kartikasari, 2024, 0:31-0:56). Lucy models this point by audibly adapting the pitch of her voice, one that may be perceived as more feminine and higher-pitched versus one that is perceived as more masculine and lower-pitched.
Lucy’s critique is not only effective in its generative discussion of harmful detrans rhetoric, but the presence of her stitched video also algorithmically re-circulates a more helpful and trans-affirming view of testosterone. Towards the end, she says, “If there are these so-called negative effects to testosterone, wouldn’t it be more prudent for us to actually use that in improving trans healthcare as a whole?” (Kartikasari, 2024, 1:19-1:26). Kartikasari ends the video by urging detrans creators to “speak carefully” to prevent their words from being “twisted for transphobia” and to avoid “catastrophizing language,” particularly for those with large platforms who may receive, as this original creator did, something close “to the tune of 3 million views” (Kartikasari, 2024, 1:44–1:57).
As a result of Lucy’s video stitch, most comments are positive by users who share their appreciation for her advocacy. One comment says, “lol as a trans guy w ocd who has been STRUGGLING w detrans fearmongering ... your account is so so important and needed ” (Andre, 2024). Similarly, a second comment, from someone who may also be detrans themselves, says, “Why can’t this video go as viral as the other one. Thank you for speaking out on our behalf!!” (Soy Sauce Packet, 2024). Both comments allude to a trend of mostly experiencing negative detrans stories that are more viral and visible than those that may be positive or trans-affirming.
Sociocultural Contexts and Material Consequences
Both Alia and Lucy directly respond to anti-trans political discourse relevant to their respective countries. On January 30, 2022, Alia posted a TikTok showing herself in a t-shirt that says, “Protect Trans Kids”—a visual response to another caption she includes above her head, “do you think people should be able to transition?”. Ten days prior to this post, USA Today published the following article: “Exclusive: 2022 could be most anti-trans legislative years in history, report says”. The article notes that anti-trans bills “nearly doubled” from 2020 to 2021, while “roughly 280 bills” were already in motion at the beginning of 2022. Most of the bills were concerned with barring transgender youth from participating in sports that align with their gender identity, along with blocking gender-affirming care access (Bailey).
A lot of comments tend to be similar in their understanding of Alia’s position as a detrans person who has been vocally trans-affirming while sharing about her own experiences. One person commented, “i really hate when detransitioners turn into transphobes and im glad you haven’t done that” (Mathew, 2022). Another person adds, “The thing is, this is how most detrans ppl [people] feel from what I’ve seen. It’s just an unfortunately loud and hateful group that think otherwise” (The username says it all, 2022). As these two comments demonstrate in response to Alia’s positive position, there is a trend or stereotype of detrans people being transphobic or choosing to be unsupportive of trans people due to their own unsatisfactory trans experience.
On November 6, 2024, Lucy posted a TikTok where she shared her acknowledgement of Donald Trump’s re-election in the US while sympathizing with “all the people who are going to suffer under his regime” (0:00-0:09). She then discusses the implications of Trump’s presidency on European politics in the Netherlands in terms of “fighting right-wing extremism” and adds, “I feel like it’s very naïve to not acknowledge the cultural hegemonic power the US has over the rest of the world” (Kartikasari, 2024, 0:18-0:37). Lucy goes on to attribute the worsening reality of “queerphobia” in Europe since Trump’s first presidency and urges her fellow Europeans to “fight for [their] rights” (0:46-1:11). One person comments, “I’d love to support the fight against right-wing extremism locally, but I have no clue where to get started. Do you have any tips?” (lildevilhorns, 2024). Although Lucy doesn’t reply, her video does include various tips already such as “organizing, protesting, petitioning,” and voting (Kartikasari, 2024, 0:22-0:25). A similar comment says, “I've been to 2 demos against the right/similar so far (excluding pride). that's changing now, I'm going to [put] much more of an effort in. who cares if I need to take at least 1 day off of everything after” (crash, 2024). These comments are exemplary of the positive real-world implications as a result of Lucy’s vocal platform.
Both Alia and Lucy’s advocacy for trans and detrans communities is undeniable in terms of their presence on TikTok. Whether it is Lucy discussing the global influence of US politics, or the visible celebration of Detrans Awareness Day and the denouncement of its political weaponization by far-right US politicians, Lucy continues to use her platform to amplify other detrans resources, such as the @dolphindiaries Substack (Kartikasari, 2025). Alia (2024) also acknowledges Detrans Awareness Day by addressing negative detrans perceptions. She says, “just because people are detransitioning doesn’t mean that other people can’t transition,” but adds, “I think that we need more knowledge and information in the medical field” (Alia, 2024, 2:13-2:36). Alia ends her video by asking her viewers to remember that there are detrans people who are trans-affirming and do understand that “gender is complex,” and deserve to be in queer spaces (4:28-5:00). In other words, just because detrans people made a choice to not continue their trans journey does not negate the fact that they had one in the first place. The broader queer and trans communities should be considerate of these folks as they continue to navigate similar challenges of acceptance and proper gender affirming care.
The material results of Lucy and Alia’s platforms are apparent. We see this in the comments Lucy receives on her video where she discusses Trump’s re-election; commenters felt compelled to make a difference in their own communities as a result. Alia also receives comments from various people she’s inspired by sharing her thoughts on Detrans Awareness Day. Lucy happens to be one of those people: “Your vulnerability on the topic and telling your story was a massive inspiration for me. Thank you so much for being a role model” (Kartikasari, 2024). To this Alia (2024) replies, “so grateful to have connected with you”. Alia is more than just a fellow detrans creator Lucy follows but someone who inspires her to be vocal about her own detrans experiences and to also be an advocate for their shared community.
Conclusion
What Alia and Lucy’s advocacy work makes clear is that counterstory and multimodality operate as more than expression; they are tools that enact change in the very discourses that work to constrain trans and detrans lives. They are not just ways of telling stories but ways of doing— of shaping how people act, feel, and connect. When creators like Alia and Lucy use TikTok’s multimodal tools to claim authority over their own narratives, they generate real-world ripples by encouraging others to speak, organize, and imagine themselves differently. The materiality of their work lies in these ripples: comment threads that become spaces of solidarity, reframed trans-affirming narratives that challenge negative detrans stereotypes, and everyday acts of resistance by simply existing out loud that take shape in sound, text, and image.
References
Andre. [@2003liveactionpeterpan]. (2024, March 20). lol as a trans guy w ocd who has been STRUGGLING w detrans fearmongering… your account is so so important [Comment]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@luckartikasari/video/7336233460819938592?lang=en.
Alia. [@aliaxismail]. (2024, March 12). i guess its detrans awarness day so here are some thoughts!! #fyp #detransawareness #detransitioning #lgbt [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@aliaxismail/video/7345628942545669422?is_from_webapp=1 &sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.
Alia. [@aliaxismail]. (2022, January 30). PROTECT TRANS KIDS @transfigureprintco #fyp #lgbt #detransitioning #transitioning #transkids #trans [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@aliaxismail/video/7059155447756000558?is_from_webapp=1 &sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.
Alia. [@aliaxismail]. (2022, November 7). Voice update off of testosterone. here’s the best comparison for my voice change. #detransitioning #transitoning #voiceupdate #lgbt #fyp [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@aliaxismail/video/7163417514603449643?lang=en.
Bailey, Phillip M. (2022, January 20). Exclusive: 2022 could be most anti-trans legislative years in history, report says. USA Today. www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/01/20/2022-anti-trans-legislation/6571819001/.
crash. [@vaguelyhumanoid]. (2024, November 6). I've been to 2 demos against the right/similar so far (excluding pride). that's changing now, I'm going to [put] much more of an effort in. who cares if I need to take at least 1 day off of everything after [Comment]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@luckartikasari/video/7434152822310030624?is_from_webapp =1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.
Delgado, R. (1989). Storytelling for oppositionists and others: A plea for narrative. Michigan Law Review, 87(8), 2411-2441. https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol87/iss8/10.
Holloway, B., & Walls, N. (2025). Decentering cisnormativity and transnormativity in transition interruption and detransitioning research. International Journal of Transgender Health, 26(1), 1-9. http://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2025.2447963.
Jorgenson, S. C. J. (2023). Transition regret and detransition: meanings and uncertainties. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 52, 2173-2184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02626-2.
Kartikasari, L. [@luckartikasari]. (2024, February 16). My response to the “dark side of testosterone” video. spreading catastrophicised misinformation rooted in transphobia helps literally no one. #detranstok [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@luckartikasari/video/7336233460819938592?lang=en.
Kartikasari, L. [@luckartikasari]. (2024, November 6). On another 4 years of trumpkin the pumpkin. #uselection #trump2024 #europol #fyp [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@luckartikasari/video/7434152822310030624?is_from_webapp =1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.
Kartikasari, L. [@luckartikasari]. (2025, March 12). @ / dolphindiaries on bsky, add a .carrd.co to find her other socials!! #detrans #transrightsarehumanrights #fyp #detransgender #lgbttok [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@luckartikasari/video/7480997235040259350?is_from_webapp =1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.
Kartikasari, L. [@luckartikasari]. (2024, March 12). Your vulnerability on the topic and telling your story was a massive inspiration for me. Thank you so much for being a role model [Comment]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@aliaxismail/video/7345628942545669422?is_from_webapp=1 &sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.
lildevilhorns. [@lucyfer1087]. (2024, November 6). I’d love to support the fight against right-wing extremism locally, but I have no clue where to get started. Do you have any tips? [Comment]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@luckartikasari/video/7434152822310030624?is_from_webapp =1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.
MacKinnon, K. R., Campos, P. E., & Gould, W. A. (2023). Detransition needs further understanding, not controversy. BMJ, 381, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-073584.
Martinez, A. Y. (2020). A case for counterstory. Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory. NCTE.
Mathew. [@m_d_h09]. (2022, January 31). i really hate when detransitioners turn into transphobes and im glad you haven’t done that [Comment]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@aliaxismail/video/7059155447756000558?is_from_webapp=1 &sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.
McCormick, D.T. (2020). Happiness, biopolitics, and transmedicine’s necessary contradiction: rhetorics of normalcy and the narratives of gender transition. Peitho, 22(4). https://cfshrc.org/article/happiness-biopolitics-and-transmedicines-necessary-contradiction-rhetorics-of-normalcy-and-the-narratives-of-gender-transition/.
McGinnis, E. [@hotshotlawyer]. (2023, February 17). Ok this is very random. does your voice still sound the same in your head? when I hear myself on [Comment]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@aliaxismail/video/7163417514603449643?lang=en.
Segers, Iris B. (2025). “The anti-woke academy”: Dutch far-right politics of knowledge about gender. Politics & Gender, 21(2), 195-219. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X24000448.
Sieber, A. (2024). Political gay science: Nietzsche, conservatism, and nonbinary identity. Gender Issues, 41(12), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-024-09329-5.
Soy Sauce Packet. [@soyysauceepackett]. (2024, February 16). Why can’t this video go as viral as the other one. thank you for speaking out on our behalf!! [Comment]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@luckartikasari/video/7336233460819938592?lang=en.
Stefancic, J., & Delgado, R. (2010). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York University Press.
Stone, S. (2006). The empire strikes back: A posttranssexual manifesto. In S. Whittle & S. Stryker (Eds.), The Transgender studies reader (pp. 221-235). Routledge.
The username says it all. [@uggojacko]. (2022, February 23). The thing is, this is how most detrans ppl [people] feel from what I’ve seen. It’s just an unfortunately loud and hateful group that think otherwise [Comment]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@aliaxismail/video/7059155447756000558?is_from_webapp=1 &sender_device=pc&web_id=7539013598318020127.