You may have heard this word many times, but you don't know exactly what it means. Or you don't know what goes into it. So, what does transition mean when we're talking about trans* people?
Transparent, a Czech organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of transgender, non-binary, and intersex people, defines transition as "the process during which trans people begin to live under their actual gender." We also read that transition "can take the form of official (changing one's ID), social (changing the name, clothing, hairstyle or grammatical gender to more closely match gender roles) and/or medical (surgery, hormones)."
The important point is that change may or may not look like this. Transition happens differently for each transgender person.
For example, one transgender man, who has been perceived as a woman by those around him, simply decides to use the masculine gender and not wear feminine clothing or other feminine fashion accessories. Another decides that he wants to change everything, so he visits a medical clinic, undergoes various tests, starts taking hormones, undergoes various surgeries, and eventually changes the letter F to M on his papers. The next one decides on a completely different option.
Unfortunately, if you want to change your official gender in the Czech Republic, you will have to undergo a hormonal transition as well as an operation that will result in sterilization. The time between the start of taking hormones and the surgery (the so-called real-life test) lasts at least two years, and even then you have to appear before a committee that will finally approve or disapprove your official sex change.
But if you wish to change your official gender and undergo all these changes (for example, because they cause you dysphoria), you will have all the examinations and all the procedures free of charge as a person insured by the Czech state.
So how to do it, so that your surroundings will start treating you differently as soon as possible, regardless of whether you will have the surgery in a few years or never?
For example, a hairstyle worn mostly or exclusively by people of your gender can help, as can different clothing and fashion accessories, including packers or binders. If you have a high or low voice, you can sign up for voice training.
There is also an option to change your name to a gender-neutral variant on the registry office. However, if you do not have a certificate from a sexologist that you are in transition, you will pay 1,000 CZK for the change. However, if you choose an unusual name, the registry office may ask for an expert opinion, for which you will pay more money.
A list of gender-neutral names that have already been approved by the authorities in the Czech Republic can be found on the website of linguist Jana Valdrová.
Whatever your transition looks like, however, it still applies: you are a man, a woman, or a non-binary person without any changes.