Digital Transgender Archive

Interview with Elliot Winter

Elliot Winter identifies as a transgender male and was assigned female at birth. One of his earliest memories is fighting his parents to wear clothing that suited him as a child. He moved around a lot, living in Ohio and New Jersey, but mainly grew up in Georgia. He was born in Seoul, Korea and was adopted soon after in Ohio where he got immediate citizenship. He has a Korean brother who is also adopted, and they both experienced bullying for their race. Winter grew up with white religious upper middle-class parents in nice neighborhoods. His mother was a stay-at-home mom since his dad was a financially stable corporate guy working in marketing. Winter was a tomboy despite his mom’s attempts to instill femininity in him by going to Girl Scouts and gymnastics and wearing dresses. He recalls feeling very different from others in school. He was bullied late in elementary school and all the way through middle school. He played soccer and participated in student government in high school. He started using drugs such as opiates to cope and conform to gender expectations beginning at the young age of 10. He began to sober up and get back to his body by choosing clothing that suited him and acting more himself. Around 18 after participating in online internet community where people talked about their experiences with trans identity, things clicked for him and he began to learn everything he could about transition. He began transitioning in California getting top surgery and going on hormones for the past 4-5 years. He is pursuing bottom surgery as well. He is currently in a committed relationship with a woman, and he’s becoming more comfortable with saying he’s bisexual. Winter’s parents struggled with his transition, but both his parents are now accepting of him.