Ok, something needs to be said, because this is getting to be too much.
Stop blowing up at us for removing rule-breaking posts. Stop yelling at us for not letting you say whatever you want or make the sub exactly the way YOU want it. Stop expecting us to be some magical fairy godfathers who will make everything ok and know everything about everything and help everyone and their needs 24/7.

We are volunteers. We are doing this out of the kindness of our hearts and our love for the community. We are understaffed (and not getting any applications for new mods) and overwhelmed.

We are also trans people, just like you. We are also terrified of what's going to happen. We are also hurt when transphobes attack us. We are trying our best, people.

The rules we have are the way they are because throughout the years, we have listened to what the userbase wants. YOU are the reason why these rules are the way they are. We have made polls, questionnaires, and posts, and gotten your opinions. We made decisions based on the needs of the sub. While this may not be what every single individual person on this sub wants, it is what the majority wants.

Rules 1 and 2? Don't be a dick. Rule 3? Don't be a chaser, don't use this as a dating site, and don't try to shill your business (especially when we don't have the manpower to vet any businesses, discords, facebook pages, whatever else you want to advertise) Rule 4? Reddit's own rules. Rule 5? People literally voted on this. Nobody wanted those posts. Everyone hated them, so we removed them and people were happy. This is also to keep people safe, because transphobes are actively stealing our pictures to pose as us or to laugh at/harass/dox us. Rule 6? People were complaining about the massive amounts of vents on the sub. We asked what to do, and then I personally took on a whole second subreddit by myself (which again, we are not getting any new applications). I went through the process to get r/ftmventing reinstated for you. I didn't do it for myself. I knew you guys needed a place to vent. Rule 7? Back to "don't be a dick" Rule 8? Every single banned topic was banned because not only were they commonly starting fights in the sub, but they were voted on by the community in a questionnaire. You guys picked these topics. The only topic that is an exception is DIY HRT. Testosterone is a controlled substance in many places, including the US, which is where a large majority of our userbase is, as well as where Reddit itself is based. This it's illegal to buy or sell. As per reddit TOS, we are NOT allowed to discuss illegal things! Do you want this sub, THE SUB for ftms to get removed because reddit admins saw that we were "promoting illegal activity" on our sub? I would hope not.

Now, on to complaints about wait times for posts to be approved. We've been getting complaints about that recently. We've been trying to explain to people that because of the recent news, transphobes are brigading this sub way more than usual. So like all the other LGBT subs, we have had to set our security settings to max. Meaning more things are being filtered into the queue. This is to keep y'all safe. Nobody wants to see the shit we have to delete.

We see the transphobia so you don't have to. That's the job we've volunteered to do. When reddit's filters catch a transphobe, it's us who have to read the vile things they're saying and us who have to remove it before it hits the sub. You guys are very lucky you only see a few comments that get past the filters. You guys are lucky you don't see the contents of our modmail. Daily transphobia and harassment. And sometimes, reddit admins don't seem to want to do anything, so reporting these messages doesn't always mean these people won't come back.

And that brings me to the current events in the US.
We are under a lot of stress right now. Everything is terrifying, and not only do we as trans people in the US have to deal with THAT, but we also have to deal with an entire subreddit. (Most of us have to deal with MULTIPLE subreddits btw). We have to not only deal with transphobes, but also rule-breakers who throw a fit because a comment or post got removed for breaking the rules, and now people expecting us to be far more than we actually are.

The entire sub was filled with the same post, over and over again. We get it, you're scared. We all are. But 500 posts saying you're scared isn't helping. That's why the megathread was created. It's a temporary fix. Not a permanent one. Realistically that's all a mod team should be expected to do, for any other sub. But I personally have taken it upon myself to do more. This will take time. I'm working with other subs as well as other people who want to help, and we're going to be working on a comprehensive document combining all the information we can gather. Resources, hotlines, funding, safe places, laws, anything and everything we can find. But this will take time.

On a slightly personal note, I'd like to share a bit about myself. I'm 32 years old, I currently live by myself, because my fiance is in a different town for work. He literally just left on the 1st and I might not see him for a year. I suffer from extreme anxiety and depression, as well as dysphoria. I'm disabled, with chronic pain, hEDS, Asthma that is compounded by long covid, and I have PTSD and agoraphobia. I also have a full time physically and mentally exhausting job with an hour commute on the train each way, because I am unable to drive. The next two days are my days off, and while I'd like to rest, I'm most likely going to spend most of tomorrow researching this project. On monday, I'll be taking my bike down to the local LGBT center to ask for help with this research.
Yesterday, on the train home from work, I had a terrifying experience with a trump supporter. Note that I live in CA, so this is SUPPOSED to be a safe place. A man on the train saw my GAY PRIDE STICKERS on my bike, and that triggered him to blast "patriotic" music, pace up and down the train, and yell about how he voted for trump and people are abusing sex and drugs, and other random things. He was yelling at random passengers and anyone at the station at every single stop. I am very lucky he decided to go on a tirade instead of attack me. There was nobody on that train who stood up to him. There weren't even any staff members there to stop him or call the police. I had to do that after I got off the train. And then I had to bike home, and I had to call a family member to stay on the phone because I was terrified he or anyone else had followed me. I'm still shaken up.

So please, remember that we are human. We are trans. We are terrified.
We are going above and beyond for our community, all of us, despite our fear, and despite the abuse thrown at us. Telling us we need to quit being mods, we are doing a bad job, making ranting posts about how unfair it is that your rule-breaking post was removed for breaking the rules... That doesn't help. You know what that does do? That makes us not want to do this anymore. And even if you don't care about our wellbeing or mental health, just remember that if we quit being mods, you wouldn't have r/ftm anymore. You wouldn't have r/ftmventing anymore. The other subs we moderate for would lose a mod and it would put more strain on them. Do you really want that to happen? I sure don't.

Be kind and patient. We need to stay positive and stick together.