About & Disclaimer
Welcome, let’s get messy.
Messy is an inclusive, community-driven sexual health resource made specifically for trans and gender diverse folk. Created by Meridian in collaboration with A Gender Agenda and with the support of ACT Health, Messy provides practical, empowering information to help trans and gender diverse folk live safer, more pleasurable, and empowered sexual lives.
Why Messy?
Mainstream sexual health campaigns often overlook trans and gender diverse folk and their experiences, leaving critical gaps in care and knowledge. Messy exists to fill these gaps, offering content that speaks to the unique experiences of trans and gender diverse folk. From navigating the impacts of hormones and surgeries to addressing the ways dysphoria can affect sexual experiences, Messy acknowledges the beautiful complexities of sex and gender.
The name Messy arose from recognising that both having sex and experiencing gender can be wonderfully complex and often difficult to define neatly. Both are messy, and that messiness is something to be embraced—whether it’s the fluidity of gender, the joy and exploration of sex, or the process of making sense of it all. Messy celebrates the rich and diverse experiences of trans and gender diverse folk.
Community-Led and Supported
Messy was created by the community, for the community. Informed by trans and gender diverse folk, this resource draws on real lived experiences. We recognised early on that many turn to online social platforms for health information because traditional resources often don’t cover the specific needs of trans and gender diverse bodies and sexual practices. Inspired by this, Messy incorporates @messyvoices, real quotes from trans and gender diverse folk connected in with the making of Messy, sharing their experiences of sex, health, and identity.
Core Values of Messy
- Empowering: Messy offers information that assists in making informed choices about sexual health and well-being.
- Safe: Messy is a non-judgmental, welcoming space where you can learn without fear of stigma or shame.
- Inclusive: Messy celebrates the diversity of identities, bodies, and experiences within the trans and gender diverse community.
- Validating: Everyone’s experience of sex and gender is valid. Messy is designed to make people feel seen, understood, and respected.
Who is Messy For?
Though Messy was developed specifically for trans and gender diverse folk, it is a resource for anyone looking to learn more about sexual health. We believe that sex should be explorative, embodied, and free from expectations—lessons that everyone can learn from.
We invite you to explore Messy, embrace the complexities of sex and gender, and find joy in the beautiful mess of it all.
Disclaimer
We acknowledge that trans and gender diverse folk use a range of terms and expressions to describe themselves/ourselves, their/our bodies, and their/our sexual and romantic connections.
The language we use throughout Messy is “trans and gender diverse folk” to refer to the communities these resources have been developed by and for. Our aim is for Messy to be inclusive of all who identify under the umbrella of transgender and gender diverse identities, including: Transgender, Transsexual, Sistergirl, Brotherboy, Non-binary, Agender, Gender Fluid, Genderqueer, Cross-dresser, anyone whose gender identity sits outside of the male/female gender binary, and anyone whose gender identity differs from the gender expected of them at birth.
We also acknowledge that there is a great diversity in our relationships and sexual/emotional connections, and we aim to be inclusive of relationship and connection styles that fall outside of monogamy. Throughout Messy, we use “sexual connections” to refer to the many ways people may connect sexually, whether that be casual, open, within relationships, anonymous, virtual, or any other ways in which sex or intimacy occurs.
Throughout this website, we present information that is specific and descriptive about body parts and potential risks, but we avoid describing the genders of people to whom this information might apply. We use medical terms such as “vagina”, “anus”, and “penis” to describe relevant body parts. However, we encourage you to use the language that feels most comfortable for you when talking about yourself or being referred to by others.
When interacting with health providers, partners, and sexual connections, we encourage you to request the language that is most affirming and appropriate for you.
