These People Publicly Injected Hormones to Make a Statement

In a medical show of force, people who take injectable hormone medication — from transgender and gender-expansive folks to cisgender people — gathered on the steps of Tucson City Hall on Tuesday to take their shots publicly in the third annual Trans Day of Visibility Public Hormone Jab.

The event was meant to demystify the protocol of people who take medically prescribed hormones, especially as state and federal lawmakers continue to ban care for trans youth and, in some states, have been able to eliminate the medical care altogether for consenting transgender adults.

No known public officials attended.

And while the event took place during Transgender Day of Visibility — observed annually on March 31 to celebrate transgender people and raise awareness of the discrimination they face — it also happened on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that limited states from enacting rules to eliminate conversion therapy for queer people (a debunked practice of junk science that has shown to cause severe mental side effects.)

Noah Defino, a trans man who received an injection administered by his partner during the event, said the Supreme Court’s ruling created urgency: “It feels important to show up publicly and to be seen for who you are as a way of supporting other people,” he said. “It feels good to demystify what being trans is and share my life experiences so that people can understand and be more accepting.”

Standing Up in Force

The Public Hormone Jab was first held during a Transgender Day of Visibility public march in Tucson in 2023 and welcomed anyone who used hormones in any form — injections, pills or patches — with people who didn’t use the drugs forming a circle around participants as a sign of support. 

The event’s organizer, who asked to remain anonymous for their safety, said the idea came from a post they saw on Lex, a queer social platform, while visiting their hometown of Philadelphia: “I saw someone post a similar event,” they said. “So I got a group of trans folks together who were interested, and we did it during a big TDOV march in 2023.”

The organizer said the event is intended as a correction to widespread public misunderstanding of hormone use: “Kids get taught ‘women get estrogen, men get testosterone’ — but actually all humans have a mix of those and other sex hormones, which are never discussed,” they said, adding that there is little known about how hormones affect the body — though in fact there is a body of research on how hormones affect people, from hormone replacement therapy for those who have had a pregnancy to treatment for people who suffer from depression.

For example, hormone therapies exist for menopause, low testosterone, thyroid conditions, fertility and bone density. In March 2015, Angelina Jolie wrote in The New York Times about turning to hormone therapy after surgical menopause.

“Taking hormones should be a mundane practice, and nobody should be paying attention to each other’s needs around it,” the organizer said. “But since so many people care and get in trans people’s business about it, I’ll give a show.”

Others Stand With Tucson’s Trans Community 

Defino said the experience shifted from nerve-wracking to affirming once people began to arrive: “I was nervous, but I got excited knowing that I was seeing people and connecting to a new community,” he said.

Defino is eight years into testosterone therapy, and said his relationship to taking hormones in public has shifted dramatically over time: “It’s been a hard and wonderful journey — from doing it in secret, to being able to do it around friends and a partner, to now doing my testosterone shot in public with a bunch of strangers from my community.”

Bottai urged queer community members to step up and support each other and said allied folks needed to “stand in solidarity with them — not just for visibility but for physical safety.”

The organizer said they hope cisgender attendees leave with more than solidarity. “I encourage everyone to be able to access the sex hormones they need to get the body results they want,” they said. “It’s not only about looks — it’s about what your specific body needs.”

Trans Health Care as a Political Target

The Supreme Court’s Tuesday ruling struck down Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, opening the door to legal challenges against similar bans nationwide.

For those who take hormone therapy, the decision by the court appeared to double down on the Trump administration's rules surrounding medical treatment of trans people in federal prisons, with appointed leaders saying that transgender people will be given anti-depressants instead of their medically prescribed treatment — a practice that conversion therapy advocates support."

The administration has also moved to restrict gender-affirming care through executive actions targeting health care access in federal programs. The Department of Defense has reinstated a ban on transgender military service, and federal agencies have rolled back anti-discrimination protections covering gender identity.

In Arizona, trans residents have faced restrictions on youth health care, limitations on public space access, and ongoing legal challenges to birth certificate changes and insurance coverage for gender-affirming care.

At the event, Sean Bottai —who administered an injection to his partner, Defino — said the ruling and broader political climate were central to his decision to attend: “Once those freedoms and rights start to erode for one population, all populations will end up losing freedoms and protections.”

State regulators consider conversion therapy “unprofessional conduct,” but so far have not prevented it.

Despite local counselors advertising different kinds of conversion therapies online, no one has been investigated for it.

LOOKOUTJosephine Jaye McAuliffe (she/her)

Arizona counselors use “sex addiction” to practice conversion therapy, critics say.

A LOOKOUT investigation finds that a specific group of religious-based counselors are possibly violating their certifications and licenses.

LOOKOUTJosephine Jaye McAuliffe (she/her)