Chris Tyson of MrBeast fame recently revealed their transformation following two months of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). “It’s never too late to start being yourself,” Chris tweeted alongside a photo of their changing self. Chris has received adulation and criticism in equal measure following their announcement.
They’ve chosen to focus on the positive, describing HRT as life-saving.
Chris is gender non-conforming and has struggled with gender dysphoria for decades
Chris Tyson is gender non-conforming. According to Healthline, gender non-conforming people do not conform to the gender norms that are expected of them. Gender non-conforming is often used as an umbrella term to define people whose gender expression does not conform to traditional gender norms.
It can be used to describe transgender, nonbinary, or cisgender people as long as they pass the standard of non-conformity to gender norms. Not all transgender people identify as gender non-conforming; not all gender-conforming people identify as transgender.
Therefore, without a confirmation from Chris, we can’t confirm with certainty whether they identify as transgender. We are, however, confident that they are gender non-conforming. Chris tweeted on 6th April 2023:
“Informed consent HRT saved my and many others’ lives. The hurdles [gender non-conforming] people have to jump through to get life-saving gender-affirming healthcare in a 1st world country is wild to me. Just let people make informed decisions about their own bodies.”
Later the same day, Chris tweeted he was glad his announcement had educated people about HRT and its benefits. “I was super nervous to be public about this bc I’ve always been so private when it comes to this, but seeing conversations started bc of me is amazing,” Chris wrote.
One of the benefits of transitioning is it alleviates gender dysphoria. Per the Mayo Clinic, gender dysphoria is ‘the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics’.
“It wasn’t the internet or anything,” Chris responded to a Twitter user who questioned whether the internet was to blame for the content creator’s gender dysphoria. “It was me seeing the clothes in my sister’s closet at 5 and knowing I enjoyed wearing those clothes. The next 21 years was for learning about gender dysphoria lol.”
When Chris came out as bisexual in November 2020, he stated that he’d tried to come out at 16 but received backlash from friends and family. Chris tweeted that his family is yet to accept his gender transformation, but he can count on his friends for support:
“All my friends have been so supportive! My family, however, is still learning and trying to understand/accept. Because for them, like many people, this was a shock. But the people who KNOW me have been silently cheering me on the whole way!”