After a year of testosterone injections and six years of supporting their wife, Jordan, through her gender transition, Jack Brenner is navigating the indefinite scheduling of a top surgery appointment. Support from family and peers often enhances the well-being of transgender individuals, as reported by a 2023 study in the Sexuality Research and Social Policy journal. The project documents how Jack leans on their support system in the summer of 2024, highlighting the importance of communal support and companionship for queer people.
Jack converses with a physician assistant in the doctor’s office while waiting for their top surgery consultation in May 2024, a year after Jack came out as nonbinary.
“I just felt so relieved that that crucial step finally got done,” they said after the consultation.
Fewer than half of relationships survive a partner’s gender transition, according to clinical sexologist Dr. Kristie Overstreet. However, Jack (left) and Jordan (right) are navigating the second transition in their 11-year-and-counting relationship.
“Luckily for me, she has been through a second puberty as well with her own hormonal transition,” Jack said. “She’s given me a lot of guidance and a lot of assurance that it’s not forever.”
Jack holds a framed wedding photo of them and Jordan, taken in September 2021 in Big Sur. The married couple met during an internship at LACMA in 2013 — when they both identified as straight and cisgender.
In addition to Jordan, Jack finds community in Dyke Soccer, a group created for queer women, as well as transgender, gender non-conforming, and nonbinary individuals, to gather for pickup soccer games. Initially nervous about not being “queer enough” when joining, Jack found a sense of belonging and important queer friendships.
“They really showed me that I did belong and that I was welcome there,” Jack said. “And it helped me explore my queerness and eventually my gender.”
Jack, who plays goalie in Dyke Soccer, stands for a portrait in June 2024.
Jack tried boxing for the first time with friends in August 2024. Sweating and with a red face after an hour, Jack said they would definitely return to the class.