Reading news about transgender people in the English-speaking press can be very discouraging right now. The U.K. can be quite accurately described as "TERF Island," and U.S. states with Republican governments are on the warpath against trans people.

I don't regularly read news in German anymore since my ease with the language has deteriorated since I left Berlin in 1990, but I do check in sometimes. DW and Berliner Zeitung at least seem fairly civil and respectful compared to a lot of U.K. and U.S. press.

I think if I were trans and coming to terms with it, I would probably ration my news consumption. There's a time and place for activism and a time and place for private life and introspection.

Where to find the balance? I just don't know.