honestly the idea that a 22-year-old would say to another human person that they are an "elder" speaks volumes about the insecurity of what it is like being 22, exactly the reason 22 year olds shouldn't be filling that role of elder.
i wonder if the thing they meant was that they are a mentor to trans teens? like perhaps they werent even thinking about us trans ppl over 30 bc all the trans ppl they know are between 16 and 20?
I am not a trans elder I am trans middle-aged. The 22-year-old who has been out for ten years is like the equivalent of a 28 year old cis person. People live for like 70 years there’s a lot of ages you can be
This makes me wonder if elder/baby, if the distinction is to remain, is not necessarily something you can label yourself as, but only be labeled by someone else as. Calling oneself an elder feels very presumptuous, where as calling someone else an elder feels like a term of respect, if not fact.
