Transition

Note: This page is still very incomplete and is just being built out. However, some important topics are already touched on, and documents relating to current treatment recommendations are linked further below.

In the context of trans people, the term transition fundamentally refers to the process of moving from the gender assigned at birth to one's actual gender identity.

This process can be roughly divided into two categories — social transition and medical transition. While some trans people make few changes to their existing lifestyle and are content with that, others go to great lengths and expense to align their appearance as closely as possible with their lived gender. It is important to emphasize here that there is no right or wrong in this regard. Every person must freely decide for themselves what their own transition should or must entail in order to have a chance at a fulfilling life!

Unfortunately, there are still plenty of doctors, psychologists/ psychotherapists, etc. who hold very stereotypical ideas of gender roles and therefore tend to push trans people into narrow role models that those affected often find restrictive and inauthentic. Even within the trans community, there is a small but vocal minority that denies people their trans identity if they don't sufficiently conform to their gender role (e.g. by refusing hormone replacement therapy). This reactionary mindset is known as transmedicalism. These tendencies must be countered collectively, but it also shows how important it is, especially at the beginning of your own transition, to seek out the right professionals in order to spare yourself highly unpleasant encounters and experiences!

Unfortunately, for legal reasons we cannot directly link medical contacts here on the site, but we are very happy to share contact details via email! If you have further questions about the transition process and/or are looking for medical contacts, just come to our meetings or send an email to #.

Social Transition

Social transition refers purely to how your gender identity is lived. This primarily includes the legal gender change — i.e. the official change of your registered gender and the corresponding change of your first name — as well as changes in gender expression (e.g. wearing makeup and dresses in the case of trans women, etc.). Another aspect is the use of pronouns. For binary trans people (that is, trans people who identify simply as a woman or a man), the matter is straightforward, while for non-binary people the choice of pronouns can be somewhat more complicated. While singular they (they/them) has become established among many in English, there is no true equivalent in German. Most therefore use er/ihn (he/him), sie/ihr (she/her), or both, while some have also started using neopronouns.

Medical Transition

(This section is unfortunately still under construction.)

The Transition Process in Austria

The graphic in the PDF provides a good overview of what the process generally looks like for trans people in Austria: Recommendations for the treatment process for gender dysphoria / transsexualism (schematic diagram) (PDF)

However, the first part concerning legal gender change is outdated — now only one of the three diagnostic assessments is required (and therefore a consensus decision is no longer necessary, see linz.at — Change of gender registration).

The easiest way is to go directly to a psychotherapist and get the diagnostic assessment there so that you are officially recognized as transgender. Once you have that, you can make an appointment at the civil registry office at the Magistrat Linz and have your gender and first name changed. They expect you to send them all documents in advance via email, including a completed application form for the name change stating transidentity as the reason for the change — otherwise the process would cost €500. However, this is only possible if you hold Austrian citizenship. For hormone replacement therapy, it's sufficient to simply have Austrian health insurance.

The website of the Ministry of Social Affairs ( Transsexualism/Gender Dysphoria — Recommendations for the treatment process for gender dysphoria / transsexualism ) also links to a PDF that describes the treatment process for trans minors in Austria in more detail over 10 pages: Recommendations for the treatment process for gender dysphoria in children and adolescents according to the classification in the currently valid DSM/ICD version (PDF)

Generally speaking, in Austria a mastectomy (by far the most commonly sought surgery for trans men) is legally excluded before the 17th birthday, and surgeries such as hysterectomy or gender-affirming surgery (GAS, in this case phalloplasty) before the 18th birthday.

(This section is unfortunately still under construction.)