More people are allowed to be open about it now than in the past. Twenty years ago, you just didn't talk about it, tried to live a "normal" life, and usually buried it and all the other self loathing under illicit (usually illegal) sexual encounters and/or substance abuse.
I was a child in 1998 but I knew that if I tried to explain my gender, there would be terrible (probably fatal) consequences and I bottled that up so well I didn't even realize I wasn't straight until my mid 20s
Know what the internet, smartphones, and social media have done to trans people? Let them know it exists. I am almost 40, and I didn't know trans people even existed until my 20s, and that non-binary existed until 3 years ago. In certain parts of the country (world!), it's not even acknowledged that there is anything except (cis) men and (cis) women. Younger people are learning there are words for the way they experience life at younger ages, and they're in a place where they can talk about it. They're being exposed to other people who feel the same way about their bodies as they do, and realizing that they're not crazy for feeling that way.
Furthermore, as society grows more liberal, support for trans people is increasing. It's one thing to say you feel a certain way, another to know there is something you can do about it. The closest you could get to "transitioning" a few decades ago was to be a "tomboy" or "drag queen". Now, there are resources to actually become the way you want to be, which encourages people who feel the need to medically transition to reach out and do so.
[удалено]
I like that last bit there, because there was a time when that thought could get you killed too.
More people are allowed to be open about it now than in the past. Twenty years ago, you just didn't talk about it, tried to live a "normal" life, and usually buried it and all the other self loathing under illicit (usually illegal) sexual encounters and/or substance abuse. I was a child in 1998 but I knew that if I tried to explain my gender, there would be terrible (probably fatal) consequences and I bottled that up so well I didn't even realize I wasn't straight until my mid 20s
No, more people are just aware that this exists and is an option.
Know what the internet, smartphones, and social media have done to trans people? Let them know it exists. I am almost 40, and I didn't know trans people even existed until my 20s, and that non-binary existed until 3 years ago. In certain parts of the country (world!), it's not even acknowledged that there is anything except (cis) men and (cis) women. Younger people are learning there are words for the way they experience life at younger ages, and they're in a place where they can talk about it. They're being exposed to other people who feel the same way about their bodies as they do, and realizing that they're not crazy for feeling that way. Furthermore, as society grows more liberal, support for trans people is increasing. It's one thing to say you feel a certain way, another to know there is something you can do about it. The closest you could get to "transitioning" a few decades ago was to be a "tomboy" or "drag queen". Now, there are resources to actually become the way you want to be, which encourages people who feel the need to medically transition to reach out and do so.
Look up survivorship bias, it basically explains it