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This paper presents data characterizing young trans people's experience during the period prior to coming out to parents as transgender. By analyzing data obtained directly from young trans and non-binary people it produces a sociological characterization of this period overall as the 'Deferral' period. The Deferral Period is further characterized as consisting of two parts; a 'Tacit Deferral' period, prior to epiphany as trans, and subsequent 'Discursive Deferral' period. The data indicate that both these deferral periods vary in length quite considerably but usually seem to be measurable in months and years. In particular these data contest the validity of concept of 'rapid-onset gender dysphoria' and the way young trans people are positioned by 'passive victim' narratives in many academic and media accounts. The analysis of the different ways young trans people construct their identities, prior to and after epiphany produces a 'Timeline of Revelation'. The data suggest many commonalities of experience among young trans people, and well as some differences and in particular the data exemplify how, young trans and non-binary people's own agency is key in negotiating barriers to transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the experiences of trans youth has generally emphasized their disparate risk for negative educational, housing, and health outcomes. While drawing attention to very real vulnerabilities, these depictions can represent trans youth as one-dimensional passive victims. Some recent research draws on resiliency theory and offers a strengths-based perspective highlighting the strategies trans youth employ and the resources they draw upon in the face of challenging circumstances. In this study, we look to the concept of situated agency as a way to understand how risk and resilience simultaneously characterize the high school experiences of trans youth. Through hearing their own accounts of daily life in a large urban public school district, we seek to understand their attitudes, behavior, and choices as strategies for coping, surviving and resisting the bureaucratic structures that create conflict by upholding traditional binary gender norms. In so doing, we seek to redirect the spotlight on the practices and systems that constrain trans youth agency—rather than the trans youth, themselves—as the most appropriate focus for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]