Being stealth is an option that can be quite appealing. Going stealth, all too often, protects transgender people from physical violence and murder. It means being able to gain employment that may otherwise not be available. Going stealth provides the opportunity to live as who one is without a lot of difficult questions. By going stealth it becomes easier to rebuild connections and one’s life. In all too many cases transgender people lose those they were close to. Transition is not the easiest thing in the world. It was expected and necessary to leave one’s marriage (if married), move away, socially transition, prove one has successfully done that for one year, then one may get Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), one year after that one may get gender-affirming surgery, then one may move back to where one lived.įully going stealth is no longer a necessary goal for those who seek medical transition, but is still an option that transgender people choose. In times past this was what was expected of transgender people if they were to medically transition. The reasons for going stealth are many and are as individual as the person making the decision. Going stealth means completely hiding one’s transgender history, not talking about it with anyone, and completely hiding that one has transitioned.
