Background

Subreddit: a topic-specific forum on Reddit, each with its own volunteer moderators and rules. Detransition: stopping or reversing a gender transition; desistance: giving up a transgender identity without (or before) medical steps.

• r/detrans — founded 2017, roughly 60,000+ subscribers. Describes itself as a support space for people who are detransitioned, desisted or questioning their transition. The homepage of this site draws on its archive.
• r/actual_detrans — created 22 April 2020, roughly 9,000+ subscribers. Describes itself as "an alternative to r/detrans that provides support to detransitioners, reidentifiers, retransitioners and questioners in an environment free from gender critical ideology and rhetoric."

The split happened during the turbulent period when r/detrans was temporarily banned in Reddit's June 2020 ban-wave (it was restored within hours). Accounts of why r/actual_detrans was founded differ sharply depending on who you ask — the two origin stories are themselves part of the disagreement.

Competing Origin Stories

The r/actual_detrans account

In trans communities, r/detrans is widely described as a "TERF sub" (TERF: trans-exclusionary radical feminist) or a "brigaded sub of right-wing imposters pushing propaganda," and r/actual_detrans is recommended as the "proper sub" with "a far higher ratio of real detrans people." From this perspective, r/actual_detrans exists because r/detrans was overrun by gender-critical activists who were never trans, and detransitioners needed a space "that doesn't use detransition as an excuse to be transphobia."

The r/detrans account

Members of r/detrans tell a different story: that the sub was founded by a trans-identified person who objected to r/detrans's moderation, and that its name implies r/detrans is not "actually" for detransitioners.

Let's not forget that subreddit also does everything in their power to rewrite their history and founding, it was founded by a transwoman who hated the fact we wouldn't let them tell questioning males to transition with little to no evidence... so they made a "better" detrans sub. Now they weaponized a literal tragedy that led to huge rule revisions as a means to claim they're the "good guys." —DetransIS, detrans female.

Lmao actual detrans got founded as I was starting to detrans almost five years ago now and it was a branch off from this sub from people who were calling us "transphobic." —xnyvbb, detrans female.

A moderator of r/detrans has also stated that after the 2020 ban, "one of the transgender power mods tried to take the subreddit when it first got reenacted with no mods" — an attempted takeover that shaped the sub's strict flair rules (posters must carry a "flair", a label next to their username stating whether they are detransitioned, desisted or questioning).

Rules and Moderation

The two subs' rule sets encode opposite philosophies.

r/detrans's flair system is not just tidiness — according to its moderators, it is the condition of the sub's survival on Reddit: "a lot of people don't get one of the main reasons we're allowed to keep this space is due to its moderation and requirement of being questioning, desisted, detrans or passing an approved professional screening."

Who Actually Posts There

Neither sub's subscriber count tells you who is posting. Both have lurker-heavy audiences, and both are accused of being populated by people who never transitioned.

r/detrans demographics

The head moderator of r/detrans has estimated, based on sub surveys, that "around 55% of subscribers here would fit within the detrans or questioning umbrella, whereas the remaining 45% would be transgender people who are curious or hate reading… conservatives who wish to use us for some twisted agenda, general concerned outsiders or family members." A member's week-long tally of posts and comments found detransitioners and desisters posting more than trans-identified users, with a notable gender-critical and conservative minority present.

r/actual_detrans demographics

Here the accusations run the other way. A demographic survey on the sub reportedly found that over half of respondents were not detransitioners or desisters — which bothered some members:

I think someone posted a demographic survey recently and over half of the people who participated in the survey said they are not a detransitioner or desister which kind of bothered me to learn honestly. —mantis_princess, r/actual_detrans participant (source thread).

It seems to be a subreddit aimed more at trans people undergoing "partial detransition" such as stopping HRT but keeping a trans identity, or trans people changing from a binary trans identity to a nonbinary one, rather than full detransitioners. I think that'd be a fine idea for a subreddit, but I'd prefer spaces with detransition in the name being focused on people who stop having trans identity altogether. —wildflowerden, detrans female.

What Members Say

Criticism of r/actual_detrans from r/detrans

The most common complaint is that r/actual_detrans is moderated by trans-identified people and polices how detransitioners may describe their own experience.

It's a transgender based subreddit that allows light and uncritical discussion of detransition and transition, often ending in promoting retransition and has a mostly transgender or non-binary audience… I literally got banned for listing the definition of detransition under the accusation of "participating in bad faith" by a moderator who never took hormones in her life, ironically. —DetransIS, detrans female.

It's a sub made by trans people who don't like this sub because we don't hugbox and constantly affirm and validate them… they don't allow anyone to mention anything about questioning the validity of the concept of transitioning, or saying that feelings of dysphoria might go away if someone gets proper treatment for depression, ocd, anxiety, ptsd etc, because that threatens their own strongly held beliefs. —haessal, desisted female.

You can easily get banned in the "actual detrans" one because the mods only approve of one way of thinking when it comes to detransition… If there isn't a total freedom to talk about regrets in ones' transition then the space isn't one safe for all who have this experience. —FineBalance44, r/detrans participant.

Criticism of r/detrans from trans communities and r/actual_detrans

In trans subreddits, r/detrans is routinely described as a TERF recruitment ground where "transphobes cosplaying as detransitioners" spread hate. Even some detransitioners and desisters who post on r/detrans acknowledge the problem:

r/detrans is more permissive with what you can talk about, which means both deeper exploration of gender, dysphoria, and treatment (a good thing). It also sometimes pushes into potentially offensive discussions (can be good or bad)… r/detrans has a lot more detrans people. This sub has more trans and questioning people. —cranberry_snacks, participant in both subs (source thread).

I think the moderation style is a bit different between the two. r/detrans seems to allow a lot of different viewpoints, including ones that generalize and mischaracterize trans people or demonize transition. That doesnt mean the user base is all TERFs but because of how things are handled there, that kind of content tends to gain more interactions and is more noticable. —mortusowo, participant in both subs (source thread).

I don't think anyone in this group sincerely hates anyone for being transgender on an individual level but yes many of us do not believe in the idea of being "transgender" as being a real thing, yes. —DEVlLlSH, detrans female.

Members of r/actual_detrans on their own sub

Not everyone on r/actual_detrans is uncritical of it either. Some describe it as a useful soft landing; others as an affirmation environment:

Just depends on what you're looking for and what sort of community you want or need. I find this one to be more supportive of people like myself, someone who is trans but regrets the level of medical transition I went through and is in the process of "medically detransitioning" (going off HRT), but still considers myself trans. —trashbunny9, r/actual_detrans participant (source thread).

This one is basically only trans and retrans people and they have very specific ideas about how detransitioners should be allowed to speak about themselves and their experiences. Frankly, most people here don't even support detransitioners, they are just here to make sure they don't step out of line. —autochoris, r/actual_detrans participant (source thread).

Analysis: Two Models of "Support"

The disagreement between the subs is not really about civility. It is about two incompatible models of what a detransition space is for.

Who counts as the community?

r/detrans draws a boundary around experience: you must be detransitioned, desisted or questioning to post. r/actual_detrans draws a boundary around belief: anyone may post, but gender-critical, transmedicalist and "us vs them" framings are banned. The first model can look exclusionary to outsiders; the second can look like a space where detransitioners are guests in a room governed by trans-identifying moderators. Both accusations have some truth to them.

What counts as a valid detransition narrative?

This is the deeper fight. In the mainstream trans account, people detransition mainly because of external pressure — discrimination, lack of support — and may retransition when conditions improve. In the account common on r/detrans, many people detransition because they came to believe transition was the wrong answer to their distress in the first place. The research does not support a single story: in Littman's 2021 survey of 100 detransitioners, becoming more comfortable with one's natal sex (60%) and realizing dysphoria was linked to trauma or mental health conditions (38%) were among the most cited reasons, while 23% cited discrimination; in Littman et al.'s 2024 survey, internal psychological change outweighed external pressure. Meanwhile, Expósito-Campos 2021 formally distinguishes "core" detransition (reidentifying with one's birth sex) from "non-core" detransition (stopping transition while still trans-identified) — a distinction that maps almost exactly onto the two subs' populations.

The name itself

"r/actual_detrans" contains an accusation: that r/detrans is not really detransitioners. r/detrans members resent this, and note the irony that verified detransitioners have been banned there:

It is not a detrans subreddit. It is a subreddit for trans people to discuss detrans people. The reason you are getting trans replies there is because it is a trans sub. This is the only existing dedicated detrans subreddit. —UniquelyDefined, detrans male.

Polarization effects

One r/detrans member notes that the split itself produces the echo chambers both sides accuse each other of:

because the detrans on reddit are split into two communities, one of which explicitly adheres to trans ideology, we end up polarized and GC voices gravitate here (since we're not allowed on the other subreddit). —sydney-speaks, detrans male.

This is a real cost of the split: detransitioners who hold gender-critical views have only one door, and detransitioners who still hold a trans identity have only the other. Neither sub is a neutral sample of detransitioners.

Practical Considerations

• If you are questioning or detransitioning and want unfiltered peer accounts — including angry, politically incorrect, or gender-critical ones — r/detrans is the larger, more active archive. Use a throwaway account; the sub recommends it for safety.
• If you are retransitioning, still trans-identified, or want a moderated environment free of gender-critical framing — r/actual_detrans may fit better, but expect most replies to come from trans-identified or questioning people, not from people who have fully left a trans identity.
• Read both, believe neither's description of the other. The claims that r/detrans is "90% cis LARPers" (non-trans people role-playing as detransitioners) and that r/actual_detrans is "a trans sub wearing a detrans mask" are both unfalsifiable accusations that members of each sub make about the other. What is verifiable: the rule sets, the moderator compositions, and the fact that both subs have banned real detransitioners at times.
• Neither subreddit is a substitute for individualized support. See the support directory for gender-exploratory therapists and detransition support groups.

Limitations of This Comparison

Everything above comes from self-selected Reddit users, subreddit surveys of unknown methodology, and moderator statements that cannot be independently verified. Subscriber counts include lurkers, bots and throwaways. The demographic claims (e.g. "55% detrans on r/detrans," "over half of r/actual_detrans respondents aren't detransitioners") come from informal sub surveys, not research. Academic studies that recruit from these subs — such as Littman 2021, Vandenbussche 2022 and Littman et al. 2024 (45% of which came from r/detrans) — acknowledge severe self-selection bias: people in online detrans communities are not representative of all detransitioners, and people with negative experiences are more likely to join and post. Treat every claim here as a description of what these communities say about themselves and each other, not as verified fact.

References

• Expósito-Campos, P. (2021). A Typology of Gender Detransition and Its Implications for Healthcare Providers. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy. study page, source.
• Littman, L. (2021). Individuals Treated for Gender Dysphoria with Medical and/or Surgical Transition Who Subsequently Detransitioned: A Survey of 100 Detransitioners. Archives of Sexual Behavior. study page, source.
• Vandenbussche, E. (2022). Detransition-Related Needs and Support: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey. Journal of Homosexuality. study page, source.
• Littman, L., O'Malley, S., Kerschner, H. & Bailey, J. M. (2024). Detransition and Desistance Among Previously Trans-Identified Young Adults. Archives of Sexual Behavior. study page, source.
• MacKinnon, K. R., Expósito-Campos, P., & Gould, W. A. (2023). Detransition needs further understanding, not controversy. BMJ. study page, source.
• r/actual_detrans subreddit description and rules. source.
• r/detrans moderator statements (detrans-ModTeam, DetransIS), cited via linked comments.