a year of joy with many more to come

Dear friend,

I attended a grief circle at a friend's house this past weekend, and I came away reflecting on how grief and joy are intimately entwined. In order to know joy, we must also walk with pain. Perhaps that is part of why trans joy has been extra, extra vibrant in 2025.

December can be a challenging time for many, and a delightful time for others. Quite possibly, it's been a mix of both. I know it has been for me, and the submissions this month offer us a glimpse into the wide, beautiful, nuanced spectrum of trans experiences during this time of year.

As the year comes to a close, I want to thank you for helping our community amplify trans joy. If you are reading this, remember that you are a rock star of fierce survival, incandescent hope, and gorgeous inspiration for those around you. Every one of our voices matter, and I'm grateful for your support in creating a space where trans voices can come together each month to weave a tapestry of collective creativity, humanness, and joy.

I wish you gentleness and joy in 2026, no matter what it brings.

With care and solidarity,
Jin (he/him)

P.S. I made a super quick poll to ask about your favorite part of ATJ! It's in the last section before the meme. Please fill it out! Your feedback will help the newsletter be even more awesome in the coming months, and also make me smile. :)

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Today marks...
One year on HRT.
One year of healing.
One year of feeling whole.
One year of growth and pain.
One year of learning to love myself.
One year of letting go of all that hurt.
One year of joy with many more to come.

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Trans joy from yesterday: getting a gender-affirming gift from a parent in my class who I know to be queerphobic. (The dad is a big Tr*mper and ex-MLB player who's publicly said negative things about the community in the past.) I got a cute little "emergency" purse kit for the holiday!

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This is me on Christmas in my childhood bedroom.
That mirror (which I hung in my closet as a teen) has never shown me a reflection that made me happy…until today. --Ærin

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A friend of mine gave me one of his old binders recently and I wore it for the 2nd time during my family xmas dinner, underneath a “fight for trans youth” shirt! I was a lil scared since I know some of the fam is homophobic and I’m not out (at all) to many of them but it was a very sweet time with lots of love and compliments on my overall look.🖤

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[Image descriptions due to alt text not being built in for galleries: First photo, a light skinned arm showing a wrist tattoo with a Harry Potter themed "Always" design. Second photo, the same tattoo transformed into a triangle filled in with pink, blue, and black stripes.]

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I decided to run a few doordash orders last night. My latest gambit in trying to earn my way out of an unloving State. It wasn't so awful. But some unpleasantness still sits with me... The look of concern from the man in the drive through window. The valet quietly sucking his teeth at my androgyny. The hostility of the woman at the front desk when I dared ask her to hold the order the client told me she would. The icy silence when I wished her and the attending police officer a good night. Then my brakes started squealing on my way home. Perfect. Another delay. Another hurdle. Another Uncertainty.

But even now, as my eyes well with tears I know I (We) are strong. I know I (We) are a force for good in this world. I know that I (We) deserve to be on this path. I know that I (We) deserve to feel comfort and love. 

I know. 

That We will survive.

I know there is no guarantee. 

But I won't accept any less.

What will be will be. And

It Will Be.

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I celebrated my first-ever holiday with chosen family and had such a magical and memorable time getting to host my trans and queer siblings who were alone this Christmas. It is my first holiday season completely no-contact with all of my biological family, and there were no tears of my own grief shed. It was a really special time I'll cherish for a long while, my whole life if I'm lucky. 💘

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Spent my Christmas having a chill day at home with my cat. Happy to feel free and safe these days.

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...What a spread. If you come across some trans joy of your own in the coming weeks, please consider sharing it via the contributor form for our January community roundup!

Howdy folx! Welcome back to your monthly TRANS-Its with Feebz (ze/zem/zer/he) and Rowan Oliver (they/them). Happy birthday to all Capricorn Suns out there, to which we reassure that this is going to be quite an unusual and exciting Cap season.

Definitions to know ☀️ Cazimi: Heart of the Sun. Any planet within 1 minute of the Sun is cazimi, which is considered a rebirthing process for said planet.

Important dates:

• Full Moon in Cancer: January 3rd
• Venus cazimi: January 6th
• Mars cazimi: January 9th
• New Moon in Capricorn: January 18th

Capricorn is our Cardinal Earth sign, concerned with beginnings and initiations, starting new projects, and exerted effort in the tangible realm. In “modern” astrology, it's often equated with financial and material ambition, because of capitalism. It can be hard for us, consequently, to imagine a world where Capricorn is not all about getting ahead for material gain.

Cardinal signs begin at equinoxes and solstices, and the Sun’s ingress into Capricorn coincides with the Winter Solstice, highly fitting for a nocturnal, Saturn-ruled sign. We in the northern hemisphere experience the coldest, darkest part of the year, and Capricorn thrives in the darkness–moving in silence, making plans, and hibernating until the moment is right to emerge and display all the work that has been done without publicity or notoriety.

This Capricorn season, these themes of darkness, initiation, and new beginnings are doubly emphasized by not just one but two planetary cazimis, with both Venus and Mars entering the heart of the Sun. When planets are close to the Sun, they're invisible to the naked eye, emerging a few weeks later once again after clearing the dazzling rays of the star that powers all life.

Venus conjoins the Sun on January 6th, the halfway point in her orbit, marking a climax in a story that began on March 22nd when Venus retrograde in Aries last conjuncted the Sun. Pay close attention to changes you've experienced since March–are you happy with the way you’ve been operating in your relational life, or are you noticing cracks in the foundation that could use repair? The Venus cazimi while Venus is direct (vs. retrograde) is an excellent time to take stock of what you truly desire and to make necessary adjustments to align with your intentions and ideals. This 18-month saga will end next October when Venus retrograde conjoins the Sun, so start acting on your New Year's relationship resolutions now to reap the benefits before the next chapter begins.

Meanwhile, Mars begins a new cycle as he conjoins the Sun on January 9th. Mars is the guest of honor in Capricorn and highly effective in this sign. This cazimi happens extremely close to an opposition to Jupiter, also exalted in Cancer. Here, we see the end of a story that has been playing out since November 2023, the last Mars cazimi–over two years of a narrative around passion, conflict, and action is now ending with a new story set to take its place.

With the Jupiter opposition, this time truly emphasizes nature versus nurture, origins versus destination, and comfort versus ambition. What are you spending your energy on? Does it feel good to exert this effort, or are you stuck, to borrow from The Callous Daoboys (a very Mars-coded band), “in a loop of boredom burnout”? Decide and be decisive about how you move forward.

Our community is beyond talented, and this month, I'm proud to present to you several shining literary talents (including an amplifier of talents, should you be in need of support!).

💎 First up, a webcomic about a nonconformist trans girl superhero, by Rhode (she/they)!

Rhode says:

I make a webcomic called Riverine, which is about a closeted trans girl named Brooke. After being exposed to an experimental substance leaked from a hidden government facility, she gains the ability to control (and turn into) water. The comic focuses on her life as she experiments with her new abilities, deals with the fame of being the first superhero in the world, and hiding her true self from her transphobic parents. And of course, villains ranging from small-time thugs, to tech CEOS, to the US government faction lurking in the shadows...

Trans joy to me is being happy and comfortable with yourself, and knowing that you don't have to adhere to standards set by others. Brooke's characterization as a trans fem who doesn't like wearing dresses/skirts has been really important to me as someone who feels similarly about their own gender presentation, and I hope having a character like this helps other people like me feel seen.

Read Riverine for yourself on Comicfury or Webtoons!

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💎 Next, we have queer poet mk zariel (it/its), whose work includes chapbook BOY APPARITION, published by Vinegar Press:

About the Chapbook

There are two transmasculine genders: the butch anarchist, and the tiny atemporal gremlin who really needs a hug. In BOY APPARITION, mk zariel tackles both. This chapbook is full of love letters to the BashBack tendency, chronicles of insurgent trans boyhood and its ties to lesbian culture, unhinged teenage rants, and the kind of love poems you’d write in lipstick on the mirror of the gender-neutral bathroom. Through it all, one question is central: what it means to be transmasculine beyond hegemonic manhood, beyond hierarchy, beyond linear time itself.

Advance praise:

"BOY APPARITION's voice holds nothing back, joyfully launching its transness, angst, and beauty into the world. Lyrical and witty, it will undoubtedly appeal to anyone who has ever realized (and embraced) they are not “normal." - Sarah Klein, author of Mast Cell Mathematics

Get your own copy of BOY APPARITION at Vinegar Press, and learn more at mk's website.

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💎 We close out our last feature of 2025 with the audacious small press kith books! Read on to hear more about kith's vision and also for a free opportunity open to trans, queer, and disabled writers.

kith's publisher, wim blair, shares:

"kith books stems from my personal belief that kith work is care work. I offer my knowledge and resources—my editorial skillset, my access to proprietary software and business relationships, our channels of distribution, etc—to other trans, mad, queer, Crip, and sick creatives as an act of care. This guiding principle informs everything from our straightforward contracts and royalty structure, to the population we're serving, and the projects we choose. It is a scary time to be vulnerable in this country. We want more Crip voices talking, more trans people sharing, and fewer and fewer of our people making their way alone.

As a publisher, in providing a home for these projects; in handling distribution and promotion; in telling the author of a good book that we think it's a good book, that together there's a real chance we could make it great; in staying fee-free and keeping submissions open; and in our new FREE crit workshops [see below], we are trying to meet the needs of a population with obstacles enough. We make it our business to lighten that load. kith work is kin work with care.

David Graeber tells us that "Direct action is the insistence, when faced with structures of unjust authority, on acting as if one is already free." In a world determined to exclude us, we aim to offer one island of free.   

Check out kith's amazing offering of a free 12-week critique and craft workshop for writers systemically-excluded from traditional lit education spaces:

Learn more at kithbooks.com and kith books on Bluesky!

• RIPE: A Queer Asian Joy Show opens at the Fishbowl Gallery in Seattle on Jan. 2nd with a makers market!
• Submit to Digital Delights: 2SLGBTQIA+ Joy, an ODLAN project aimed at highlighting the positive experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities on the internet. 
• First issue of LILAC PERIL, TABOO, an anthology of 30+ trans writers showcasing "what we would often rather ignore" even in the trans community, is now out!
• EUPHORIA, a digital trans My Hero Academia fandom anthology from BNHA Gender Euphoria Week 2025, is now available with any donation to a trans-centric charity! Note: 18+ only. Learn more at BNHA on Bluesky.
• Check out Being Alive, an online trans book club you can join! (And apparently, a newsletter involving trans joy themes. We should collaborate 👀)
• A fantastic album of Christmas song covers that supports queer and trans refugees in South Sudan. Send the creator a screenshot of your donation on Bluesky and get a download link for the album!

I want to take a moment to thank you all for supporting Amplifying Trans Joy in 2025. I made a simple, one-question poll that will help bring you more of what you love in the new year–please take a second and vote on your favorite part of ATJ!!

If you had a favorite issue, feature, or snippet of joy from the newsletter this year, I'd also love to hear about it–just hit reply!

⭐ As the year closes out, if you have a few bucks to spare for uplifting collective trans joy, please consider upgrading your subscription to $5/month. Or tip us at Buy Me a Coffee! Our team will be growing in the new year (more to come on this!) and anything you can contribute will help support that growth.

⭐ Do YOU have trans joy to share with us for January?? Check out the Contributor Guidelines!

⭐ We’re always looking for trans projects & resources to amplify. If you know a trans creator we should feature or if you'd love visibility on your own creative work, please reply to this email or fill out the form on this page.

Don't forget to:

1. Drag and drop this email to your Primary inbox tab, and
2. Forward this email to someone you think would love to see it in their inbox! (Are you the person someone forwarded this to? Get your very own free subscription to Amplifying Trans Joy!)
3. Follow us on Bluesky where we share snippets of trans joy in between newsletters.

Thanks so much for supporting and reading!!!

I’ll leave you with this…

Always remember: Some guy named Gregory decided to start the year over in January. So you can start it over any time you like.

Much love, till next time!