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Transgender is an umbrella term used
to describe people who do not fit into traditional gender categories,
including transsexuals, transvestites or cross-dressers, gender queers,
two-spirit, intersexuals (formerly called hermaphrodites), and sometimes
even people who identify as butch or femme. A transgendered person is
someone whose gender identity or expression differs from conventional
expectations of masculinity or femininity. Gender Identity is one's
internal sense of being male or female, and for most people, there is no
conflict between gender identity and their physical sex. However,
transgendered people grow up questioning their gender identity, which
differs from their physical sex.
Although transgendered people have been part of every
culture and society in recorded human history, they have only recently
become the focus of medical science. Many medical researchers now
believe that transgenderism is rooted in complex biological factors that
are fixed at birth. This research confirms what transgendered people
know and experience on a much more personal basis, that being
transgendered is not a choice nor a "lifestyle," but an uninvited
personal dilemma.
People who are transgender face discrimination in their
jobs, churches, and schools, as well as judgment from their friends,
families and coworkers. Unlike many who are members of minorities
related to sexual orientation, a transgender person may not be able to
choose who they come out to. Their physical appearance may automatically
"out" them.
People who are transgender have issues similar and
dissimilar to the lesbian and gay rights movement. Both gays and
transgender people have issues related to coming out, relationships,
community, identity, family, friends, etc. Both involve discrimination
on the basis of gender and identity. For this reason, the transgender
movement belongs as a distinct part of the LGB movement. Frequently,
homophobic discrimination occurs because of the way a gay person
presents his or her gender. Similarly, a transgender person is often
discriminated against because they are perceived to be gay.
Certainly there are some different issues facing the
transgender community than those facing the LGB community, just as there
are different issues between lesbians, gays, and bisexual people.
Presenting a united front against those who do not support our lives and
experiences widens our political viability, and will lead to increased
civil rights for all involved.
Unfortunately, there is a great deal of transphobia in
the LGB community, and similarly there is a great deal of homophobia in
the transgender community, just as there is both homophobia and
transphobia in non-LGB/non-Transgender crowds. Most of this is simply
due to ignorance.
Accept them. They are the same person you have always known.
Respect the identity they claim.
Try to use the same pronoun and name they use to
identify them selves.
Know that the transgender have high rates of depression,
suicide, substance abuse, and relationship difficulties because of lack
of acceptance within society. Your acceptance will help combat these
problems.
Know that transgender people are remarkably strong and
creative individuals, which they must be to be able to live in a
disapproving society. Educate yourselves and others. Do not rely solely
on information created by non-transgender people. Advocate for them in
your lives and everyday experiences. Be an ally!
Trans persons include pre-operative and post-operative
transsexuals who generally feel that they were born into the wrong
physical sex; transgenderists (persons living full time in a different
gender with no desire to pursue genital surgery); and crossdressers
(once called transvestites - those whose gender expression often varies
from their birth sex). They also can be "passing" (masculine-appearing)
women or "effeminate" men who are often assumed to be homosexual,
although this is not necessarily the case. There are also many
intersexed persons born with ambiguous genitalia who later identify as
transgendered. These persons were surgically assigned a sex (usually
female) as infants, and later developed a gender identity different from
the sex assigned.
It's important to note that the term 'transgendered'
describes several distinct but related groups of people, many of whom
use a variety of other terms to self-identify. For example, many
transsexuals see themselves as a separate group, and do not want to be
included under the umbrella term 'transgendered.' Many post-operative
transsexuals no longer consider themselves to be transsexual. Some
non-operative transsexuals identify themselves as transgenderists.
Despite this variation in terminology, most trans people will agree that
their self-identification is an important personal right.
Crossdressers are the largest group of transgendered persons.
Although most crossdressers are heterosexual men, there are also gay and
bisexual men, as well as lesbians, bisexual and straight women, who
crossdress. Most male crossdressers are married and many have children.
The vast majority live in secrecy about their transgendered status.
Unlike transsexuals, they do not wish to change their physical sex.
Intersex people are born with chromosomal anomalies or
ambiguous genitalia. Those with unusual genitalia are often subjected to
surgical "normalization" procedures from infancy to adolescence, which
usually results in loss of sexual response in adulthood. The Intersexed
Society of North America has labeled this practice Infant Genital
Mutilation. Some intersexed infants have even been sexually reassigned -
without their consent - and later in life develop gender identity issues
strikingly similar to those of transsexual people.
No one really knows, but there are many theories. It may be
caused by the bathing of a fetus by opposite birth sex hormones while in
utero, or perhaps by some spontaneous genetic mutation, which is also
one of the theories of the origin of homosexuality. Transsexual persons
include female-to-male (FTM) transmen as well as the more familiar
male-to female (MTF) transwomen. Due to the intensity of their gender
dysphoria, they come to feel they can no longer continue living in the
gender associated with their physical (birth) sex.
Gender dysphoria is the overall psychological term used to
describe the feelings of pain, anguish, and anxiety that arise from the
mismatch between a trans person's physical sex and gender identity, and
from parental and societal pressure to conform to gender norms. Almost
all transgendered people suffer from gender dysphoria in varying
degrees. Some transsexual persons discover at an early age that they are
unable to live in the gender of their birth sex, but the majority
struggle to conform, in spite of intense suffering, until their adult
years. To seek relief, transsexual persons enter gender transition.
Unlike sexual orientation, transgenderism — technically
"gender identity disorder" (GID) — is still deemed a mental illness by
the American Psychiatric Association. Medical professionals tend to
believe that transgenderism is a medical and mental health condition
that may require treatment rather than labeling it a mental illness.
There is disagreement among some transgender leaders
about attempts to remove GID from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders. Some want it removed because they feel it
stigmatizes transgender people and provides a pretext for discrimination
against them. They also believe it may cause harm to children when
parents seek treatment for a child although the child may merely be
expressing gender variance. Some transgender people believe it is not
the condition but society's rigid approach to sex and gender that are
problematic. Others want GID to remain because a GID diagnosis in some
states could qualify as a disability, for which medical coverage could
be available and to which disability discrimination provisions could
apply.
Gender transition is the period during which transsexual persons
begin changing their appearances and bodies to match their internal
gender identity. Because gender is so visible, transsexuals in
transition MUST "out" themselves to their employers, their families, and
their friends - literally everyone in their lives. While in transition,
they are very vulnerable to discrimination and in dire need of support
from family and friends. Hormonal therapy can take several months to
many years to effect the physical changes in secondary sexual
characteristics that will produce a passable appearance, and some may
never pass completely.
For transsexual persons seeking Sex Reassignment Surgery
(SRS), the Real Life Test (also called the Real-Life Experience) is a
one-year minimum period during which they must be able to demonstrate to
their psychotherapists their ability to live and work full-time
successfully in their congruent gender. The Real Life Test is a
prerequisite for sex reassignment surgery under the Standards of Care.
The Standards of Care are a set of guidelines formulated and
recently revised by the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria
Association (HBIGDA) under which many transsexual persons obtain
hormonal and surgical sex reassignment. While the Standards of Care
minimize the chance of someone making a mistake, they have been
criticized as a "gatekeeper" system. In general, a complete gender
transition includes a period of psychotherapy to confirm one's true
gender, the beginning of lifelong hormonal therapy, the Real Life Test,
and finally, if desired, sex reassignment surgery.
SRS is the permanent surgical refashioning of sexual anatomy
to resemble that of the appropriate sex. For MTF transsexuals, SRS
involves the conversion of penile and scrotal tissue into female
genitalia. For FTM transsexuals, it may be limited to just top surgery
(breast removal) and sometimes hysterectomy. While many transmen become
satisfied with their new male anatomy, most opt out of genital surgeries
for a variety of reasons, including the expense and dissatisfaction with
the results. Many MTF trans people also undergo additional cosmetic
procedures, including electrolysis to remove facial and body hair,
breast augmentation, Adams Apple reduction, hair transplantation,
liposuction and many types of facial surgeries.
Gender identity is a person's internal sense of being a man
or a woman, a boy or a girl. Sexual orientation is someone's sexual
attraction to others who may be of the opposite sex, the same sex, or
either sex. Like other people, transgendered people can be straight,
gay, lesbian or bisexual. Generally speaking, their gender identity -
not their physical sex status - determines their sexual orientation.
GID is a psychological classification found in the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric
Association. Although GID is the only diagnosis under which trans people
may receive treatment, and therefore necessary, it also is
controversial. GID has been used inappropriately and harmfully by some
psychotherapists to treat gender variant youth. Moreover, many if not
most trans people also believe they do not have a mental disorder.
Transsexuals: people who pursue gender
reassignment through the use of hormones, surgery, and/or changes In
identity, to live as a gender other than the one assigned to them at
birth.
Crossdressers (preferred over transvestite):
people who wear clothes and assume the identity of a gender other than
that assigned to them at birth. Usually crossdressing is not done on a
full time basis, Crossdressing is done for a number of personal reasons:
to lend a sense of completeness to one's Identity, to express a
feminine/masculine side of personality, to express oneself erotically,
etc.
Intersexuals (preferred over hermaphrodite):
people who are born with genitals of both sexes (ranging in degree);
often an infant who is born intersexed will be surgically altered to
represent one gender. Unfortunately, this is done before the child has
had a chance to express which gender he or she is or would choose to be.
To learn more about Intersexuality, go to the
Intersex Society of North America website.
Multi-gendered (or sometimes bi-gendered, Third
Gender, etc.): those who reject the over-simplicity of a
polarized, two-gender system: often believe that there are a
multiplicity of genders which are fluid in expression.
The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) is a peer
support, education, and advocacy group founded and operated by and for
intersexuals: individuals born with anatomy or physiology which differs
from cultural ideals of male and female. Examples of medical labels
applied to intersexuals are: 'clitoromegaly, micropenis, hypospadias,
ambiguous genitals, early genital surgery, adrenal hyperplasia,
Klinefelter's, androgen insensitivity, testicular feminization.' Please
access their website for further
information.
Adapted from a booklet by Parents Families and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)'s Transgender Network (http://youth-guard.org/pflag-tnet/)
From the UCLA LGBT Campus Resource Center (www.uclalgbt.com) |