If we wish to achieve trans liberation (and gender liberation more broadly) there are two key freedoms that must be understood and respected by all:
1. The freedom to Opt-Out of being ascribed the gender typically associated with your assigned sex at birth and
2. The freedom to Opt-In to claiming a gender identity that fits one’s own experience and understanding of self
Opt-Out
From birth (or even before) people are designated as being a gender, either boy/man xor girl/woman based on their genitalia. This categorization proves to be more or less accurate and unproblematic for most people most of the time but for transgender and/or nonbinary people it can be a real problem (to put it mildly). The freedom to reject this default classification, and in doing so to reject sex as the determining factor of one’s gender classification, in favor of self determination is step one.
Opt-In
If we recognize the freedom to reject the gender identity ascribed to one at birth then the freedom to proclaim one’s gender identity as something that does fit one’s experience is a logical next step. This freedom to identify and be seen in a way that matches your experience, however, is not restricted to transgender or nonbinary people. A widespread understanding of gender identity as being something that all people, cis and trans alike, self-affirm based one their own experience is required before the systems and traditions that assign us a gender at birth and every point beyond can begin to be challenged. Additionally, by recognizing this freedom we hopefully make clear the need for social tools to communicate those identities in a clear and unambiguous way.