And, finally, “Am I undeniable?”

In other words,do I check off the boxes needed to be a girl in this society?

If transitioning meant feeling more true to myself, then who was I before I left the closet?

set of three portraits for Allure shoot on transitioning and gender DevinNorelle Maya Mones Denny

And afterward, what stops me from coming back inside?

Universally, transitions apply to everyone.

Before and after losing a family member.

Denny Agassi in shiny orange dress wearing an updo and gold earrings

Denny (she/her)

Before and after trying a different haircut.

But for trans and nonbinary people, the rules are different: We cue the curtain.

We shine the spotlight.

Devin Norelle looking at camera wearing yellow collared shirt with blue and green eyeshadow on

Devin-Norelle (ze/zim)

All of a sudden, there is an audience.

“Call me Caitlyn,” reads the now-famousVanity Faircover story.

This cover, this moment, wasloud, and its ring reverberated through the air for a long time.

Devin Norelle in yellow collared shirt with gold chain and blue and green eye shadow

Devin-Norelle (ze/zim)

I witnessed classmates one-up each other with transphobic jokes about her on Twitter.

To zim, transitioning is more than a solo endeavor trans people must undertake alone.

“They need to adjust to [not gendering] people.”

Nar Angel Rokh in color top looking at camera with hands on hips

Nar Angel Rokh (he/they)

When searching trans or nonbinary public figures, autofill suggestions tend to include “[their name] before.

It was a meaningful memory defined by the simple joy of feeling both secure and free.

“How I feel today might be different than how I felt yesterday,” Rokh says.

Nar Angel Rokh shirtless with hands in pockets of blue trousers

Nar Angel Rokh (he/they)

Just like moving schools, or grieving, or a haircut.

“Being trans doesnt define me or what I am capable of.

How I feel today might be different than yesterday.”

Oliver Wright with pink eyeshadow on in dark green suit sitting on stool looking left.

Oliver Wight (they/she)

For modelOliver Wight(they/she), too, a childhood in the water was their amulet of joy.

“I loved boogie boarding as a kid,” they tell me.

I still do that today.”

Oliver Wight with pink eyeshadow on in green vest looking at camera

Oliver Wight (they/she)

“Theres an assumption that everything has to be explained, as if to a child.”

We cant have cake and eat it, too, unless we create and publicize the recipe ourselves.

Not so much a moment of shift as a sign that something clicked for them.

headshot of nonbinary cartoonist Mattie Lubchansky in a sparkly silver gown with their magentapurple hair blowing in the…

Mattie Lubchansky (they/them)

“I did so many things gradually.

I took my sweet time figuring out what I wanted and who I was.”

In that fight, couples performedheteronormative, socially constructed etiquettethatyielded privileges to queer couplesotherwise not offered to them.

nonbinary cartoonist Mattie Lubchansky wearing a sparkly silver gown with black gloves and magentapurple hair

Mattie Lubchansky (they/them)

Or, ‘Whats the endpoint?'"

“The most unfortunate questions cis people ask: ‘Are they going to end up as X?’

and ‘Whats the endpoint?'”

Maya Mones looking at camera in black dress with gold jewelry and gold heels

Maya Mones (she/her)

“I would describe transitioning as a moment of growth in who you are.

When transness is applied to transition, that growth is often met with shame and ire.

We are all always transitioning, trans people are just expected to ‘show their work.'”

Maya Mones wearing red dress that fans around her head

Maya Mones (she/her)

“We are all always transitioning, trans people are just expected to ‘show their work.'”

For Lubchansky, transitioning is a process.

“Because this is who you are.”

Denny Agassi wearing an updo with gold earrings and dramatic winged eyeliner

Denny (she/her)

What is a “before” or an “after,” then?

Before and after society had its ties on us?

Where people are not expected to prove anything changed, nor explain why something hasnt.

image of person with short black hair and mustache wearing black sweatpants sitting on the ground on pink background background

Where people are no longer responsible to justify their journeys and, instead, simply get to live them.

you’re free to follow her work onTwitterandInstagram.

Trans woman looking up toward the sky with daisies around her face

image of cyrus, alexia, and eva on a colorful background

top surgery scars on chest after transitioning procedure; image of writer Claire Rudy Foster