Transsexualism is a condition in which an individual identifies with a physical sex different from the one with which he or she was born. A medical diagnosis can be made if a person experiences discomfort as a result of a desire to be a member of the opposite sex, or if a person experiences impaired functioning or distress as a result of that gender identification.
Cross-dressing (aka transvestism) is the act of wearing clothing commonly associated with another gender within a particular society. Nearly every human society throughout history has distinguished between male and female gender by the style, color, or type of clothing they wear and has had a set of norms, views, guidelines, or even laws defining what type of clothing is appropriate for each gender. Cross-dressing is a behavior which runs significantly counter to those norms.
A drag queen is a man who dresses like a woman and wears makeup like a woman. Although many assume all drag queens are gay men or transgender, there are drag artists of all genders and sexualities who do drag for various reasons. Generally, drag queens dress in a female gender role, often exaggerating certain characteristics for comic, dramatic or satirical effect. Other drag performers include drag kings, who are women who perform in male roles.
Transgender is a umbrella term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. Transgender is the state of one's "gender identity" (self-identification as woman, man, or neither) not matching one's "assigned sex" (identification by others as male or female based on physical/genetic sex). "Transgender" does not imply any specific form of sexual orientation; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, or asexual. The precise definition for transgender remains in flux, but includes:
"Of, relating to, or designating a person whose identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender roles, but combines or moves between these."
"People who were assigned a sex, usually at birth and based on their genitals, but who feel that this is a false or incomplete description of themselves."
"Non-identification with, or non-presentation as, the sex (and assumed gender) one was assigned at birth."
Sorry to state the obvious in the intro above, but like Glinda, I believe it's always best to start at the beginning, just in case anyone happens in, who is completely unaware of these distinctions.
Charlotte has a series of Transgender related video blogs on YouTube which are for the most part very imformative and well done. (I presume the bit at the 2 minute mark is tongue in cheek.)
Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria (discontent with the biological sex they were born with). It is a psychiatric classification and describes the attributes related to transsexuality, transgender identity, and transvestism. It is the diagnostic classification most commonly applied to transsexuals.
Harry Benjamin, an endocrinologist and namesake for the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association was one of the first physicians to assist transsexuals obtain sex reassignment. He quotes from a letter he received from Dr. Christian Hamburger, the physician who treated Christine Jorgensen:
These many personal letters from almost 500 deeply unhappy persons leave an overwhelming impression. One tragic existence is unfolded after another; they cry for help and understanding. It is depressing to realize how little can be done to come to their aid. One feels it a duty to appeal to the medical profession and to the responsible legislature: do your utmost to ease the existence of people who are deprived of the possibilities of a harmonious and happy life—through no fault of their own.
Gender identity disorder in children is usually reported as "having always been there" since childhood, and is considered clinically distinct from GID which appears in adolescence or adulthood, which has been reported by some as intensifying over time. Since many cultures strongly disapprove of cross-gender behavior, it often results in significant problems for affected persons and those in close relationships with them. In many cases, discomfort is also reported as stemming from the feeling that one's body is "wrong" or meant to be different.
Transsexual people almost universally prefer to be referred to by the gender pronouns and terms associated with their target gender. For example, a transsexual man is a person who was assigned the female sex at birth on the basis of his genitals, but despite that assignment identifies as a man and is transitioning or has transitioned to a male gender role and has or will have a masculine body. Transsexual people are sometimes referred to with "assigned-to-target" sex terms such as "female-to-male" for a transsexual man or "male-to-female" for a transsexual woman.
Transsexual people are often considered part of the LGBT community, and although many do identify with this community, others do not, or prefer not to use this term. Transsexual people typically feel it important for people to understand that transsexualism neither depends upon, nor is related to, sexual orientation. Transsexual men and women exhibit a range of sexual orientations just as non-transsexual (some times referred to as Cisgender or Cissexual) people do, and they will almost always use terms for their sexual orientation that relate to the sex with which they identify. For example, someone assigned to the male sex but who identifies as a woman, and who is attracted solely to men, will identify as heterosexual, not gay. Likewise, someone who was assigned to the female sex, identifies as a man, and prefers male partners will identify as gay, not heterosexual. Transsexual people, like other people, can also be bisexual or asexual as well.
There are no reliable statistics on the prevalence of transsexualism. A 1994 study quotes prevalence of roughly 1 in 30,000 assigned males and 1 in 100,000 assigned females seek sex reassignment surgery in the USA. In September 2007, Olyslager and Conway presented a paper demonstrating that the data from this and similar studies actually implies much higher prevalence rates, with minimum lower bounds of 1:4,500 assigned males and 1:8,000 assigned females across a number of countries worldwide. They also present other evidence suggesting the actual prevalence might be as high as 1:500 births overall.
Many psychological causes for transsexualism have been proposed, while research has also been presented to suggest that the cause of transsexualism has its roots in biology. There remains no agreement, however, as to the cause of transsexualism.
Some transsexual people and professionals feel that research into causes of transsexualism assumes at face value the legitimacy of a normative gender identity, and/or that transsexualism is contrary to normal development, and could be considered a disease, or syndrome, which transsexual people may find stigmatizing. This subset usually considers such research to be unnecessary, and wonder if such studies might possibly be causing more harm than good for transsexual people.
Meanwhile, other transsexual individuals and professionals believe that transsexualism is, in fact, a syndrome with a physiological basis as a form of intersexuality. Those with this viewpoint generally support research as to the cause, believing that it will verify the theory of a biological origin and thereby reduce social stigma by demonstrating that it is not a delusion, a political statement, or a paraphilia. Note stigma has a role to play in the development of and adherence to both viewpoints.
Studies indicate that transsexualism is connected with a difference in the human brain called the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. In one study, male-to-female transsexuals and cisgendered women were shown to have brains that were similar to each other in the BSTc area of the brain. Both heterosexual and homosexual men showed male brain structuring in this area.
Increasingly, biological factors are being implicated in gender identity. DNA analysis from 112 male-to-female transsexual volunteers showed they were more likely to have a longer version of the androgen receptor gene. The genetic difference may cause weaker testosterone signals, the team reported in Biological Psychiatry. However, other genes are also likely to play a part, they stressed.
Psychological techniques that attempt to alter gender identity to one considered appropriate for the person's assigned sex have typically been shown to be ineffective. The internationally accepted and followed Standards of Care note that sometimes the only reasonable and effective course of treatment for transsexual people is to go through sex reassignment therapy. The need for treatment is emphasized by the high rate of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and various addictions, as well as a higher suicide rate among untreated transsexual people than in the general population. Many of these problems, in the majority of cases, disappear or decrease significantly after a change of gender role and/or physical characteristics. Many transgender and transsexual activists, and many caregivers, point out that these problems usually are not related to the gender identity issues themselves, but to problems that arise from dealing with those issues and social problems related to them. Also, many feel that those problems are much more likely to be diagnosed in transsexual people than in the general population, because transsexual people are usually required to visit a mental health professional to obtain approval for hormones and sex reassignment surgery. This exposes the transsexual community to a higher level of evaluation for mental health issues than the general populace.
Part 2;
Part 3;
Part 4;
Part 5.
Transgender people are often targeted for hate violence based on their non-conformity with gender norms and/or their perceived sexual orientation. Hate crimes against transgender people tend to be particularly violent. Kay Brown of the Harvey Milk Institute in San Francisco estimates that transgender individuals living in America today have a one in 12 chance of being murdered while the average person has about a one in 18,000 chance. Transgender people are frequently mistrustful of local law enforcement authorities because they often lack training and understanding of transgender people. This lack of understanding illustrates the need for a federal backstop for state and local authorities, particularly in cases where the local law enforcement authorities exhibit intolerance or fail to investigate or prosecute cases of transgender hate crimes. The HRC website has a complete list of state by state hate crimes laws based of sexual orientation and gender identity.
There is no group with a higher suicide rate then the transgendered. It stands at 31%. In a survey from Laura's Playground/Suicide Hotline 50% of Transsexuals have had at least one suicide attempt by their 20th birthday. Many have had multiple attempts from ages as young as 7. Most would never have attempted suicide if they were gotten into therapy at the age of 4 or 5 when most Transsexuals first become aware that they are trapped in the wrong body. The toll for being Transgender is astronomical. Forced to be someone else, violence, ostracization, lonliness and even mental illnesses can be the price they pay. Almost all have severe clinical depression. Laura's Playground Chat Room and Online Suicide Prevention is a Live Support Moderated Chat Room for Transsexuals both FTM and MTF, Transgendered, Intersex, Androgynes, Crossdressers and their friends, famiies and significant others.
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Some notes from the diarist-
I (tnichlsn/WGLB) would welcome a follow-up diary from any members of the DailyKos Transgender community to highlight/refute or further elaborate any information or misinformation presented here today. With the exception of the videos, every word contained above the break was lifted verbatim from Wikipedia, the Human Rights Campaign or Laura's Playground website. I presume the Transgender community has been in Wiki right along, correcting, clarifying and elucidating this terminology and fine tuning definitions to most accurately represent their perspectives on their issues.
While cobbling this diary together, our Yahoo Group had rather heated discussions on various aspects of Transsexualism. This is why I felt it made sense to present this topic in two separate diaries. The first on what the GLB community perceives the Transgender community to be about and the rebuttal on what the Transgender community perceives the GLB community to be about. I played the devil's advocate throughout this diary warm-up discussion, pissing off a few folks who chose not to give me the benefit of the doubt on the compassion meter, with my pointed questions and politically incorrect terminology. I'm glad they were to a man, erring on the side of compassion when discussing how we as gay (and a straight ally) individuals want to approach our political alignment with the Transgender community's political positions.
What I find most interesting, from a completely dispassionate perspective, is the way Transgender political voice is just now coalescing in may regards, having lived through the GLB community's coming out phase into political awareness and cohesion. One of our regular contributors, plf, wrote a diary a few months back discussing the ENDA legislation that was resurrected towards the end of the Bush second term and created a firestorm of controversy when Barney Frank, with the backing of the HRC decided it should move forward without inclusion of a protection for gender identity, in essence divorcing the 'T' from the 'GLBT' struggle for employment nondiscrimination. Rather than simply revisit this same debate I prefer to throw the diary open to the greater discussion of how do the GLB and T communities view each other. Some members of our Yahoo Group worried that this discussion would inevitably deteriorate into a flame war. I hope not, because I think this discussion, along the follow-up diary, are important aspects of our civil rights struggle(s) that need to be discussed.
plf's diary framed our alliance as one based on our shared 'ickyness'. More precisely that our alliance is based on much of the straight worlds view of us GLBT's as sexual outlaws or deviants. Sharing the oppressed minority status was cause for our banding together on civil rights inclusion campaigns. The flip side of the ENDA debate is that Transsexualism is not a sexual orientation as GLB is. Obviously post-op transsexuals assume either a GLB sexual orientation or a heterosexual orientation. These two classifications, GLB and T, may in fact share the 'icky' but they are obviously separate classifications. The folks that argued for attempting to pass ENDA without protections for gender identity within its scope presumably intended to take what was politically within grasp, and go back and try to tack protections for gender identity at some later date. The Human Rights Campaign in particular took much heat over their willingness to embrace this tactic. After all, the march towards civil rights in this country has been an evolving, continuing battle.
The other great issue on our plate at the moment is the marriage debate. Laws regarding Transsexual marriage are also a state by state hodgepodge. As most legal jurisdictions have at least some recognition of the two traditional genders at the exclusion of other categories, this raises many legal issues and aspects of transsexualism. Most of these issues tend to be located in what is generally considered family law, especially the issue of marriage, but also things such as the ability of a transgendered person to benefit from a partner's insurance or social security. The degree of legal recognition provided to transsexualism varies widely throughout the world. Many countries now extend legal recognition to sex reassignment by permitting a change of gender on the birth certificate. Many transsexuals have their bodies permanently changed by surgical means or semi-permanently changed by hormonal means. In many countries, some of these modifications are required for legal recognition. In a few, the legal aspects are directly tied to health care; i.e. the same bodies or doctors decide whether a person can go ahead, and the subsequent processes automatically incorporate both matters.
The amount to which non-transsexual transgender people can benefit from the legal recognition given to transsexual people varies. In some countries, an explicit medical diagnosis of transsexualism is (at least formally) necessary. In others, a diagnosis of gender identity disorder, or simply the fact that one has established a different gender role, can be sufficient for some or all of the legal recognition available.
The Iranian government, of all places, is very supportive of sexual reassignment surgery. In fact Ayatollah Khomeini himself passed a fatwa supporting gender reassignment operations as a cure for "diagnosed transsexuals". And later Ayatollah Khamenei, Khomeini's successor, reconfirmed the original fatwa. So while GLB are persecuted and sometimes executed for their orientation, Transsexuals are provided medical resources and encouraged to get reassignment surgery. An early campaigner for transsexual rights in Iran is Maryam Hatoon Molkara. Iranian society has yet to catch up with its religious leaders - who say transsexuality is an illness like any other for which Islam has the solution and science the cure.
I presume the clerics look at the issue of a man trapped in a woman's body as a type of birth defect, while signing on to the propaganda espoused by our own brand of religious fanatics, that GLB sexual orientations are a choice. Or maybe they just use a different 'icky' scale than we do in this country...
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In closing, I relay two stories of friends of mine who are transsexuals.
When I arrived in Boston, 20 odd years ago, I went to work at a university here in the city and worked somewhat closely with a guy (X) with whom I developed a reasonably friendly relationship. I had been outed at that time, so everyone knew my business and were cool with my being gay. After a good 7-8 years of knowing X, I learned that he was about to head down the path towards sexual reassignment surgery. When his boss came to inform us of what was to come, at first I thought he was joking, because X was someone I never would have suspected as having gender identity issues and/or wanting reassignment therapy/surgery. I was shocked to say the least. And as X traveled down this terribly difficult road, I was less than supportive. I felt a bit insulted that he failed to share this 'icky' information with me and felt betrayed that he was going to change his gender to be with a man; I guess more specifically that somehow gay men in a relationship wasn't good enough for him and his friend. Last I heard, X had married the guy she was dating and still working at the same university, that I had since left. We happened to cross paths a couple of years ago in the Fenway Community Health Center, where I was taking an HIV test. An uncomfortable exchange of hellos was all the two of us managed to say... I have serious doubts as to whether gender reassignment in this instance was the answer X needed to find happiness and inner peace.
About 12 years ago, after I had been in Boston a while and grown to know the gay scene in the city, my friends and I started visiting the drag bar named Jacques. We had 3 very close friends who performed there on occasion. Their shows were amazingly entertaining and our group of friends would spend the evenings there in stitches from their hilarious stand-up routines and banter. The shy member of this talented threesome was a dark haired guy who stood 6-5, (not in heels), could grow a stubbly beard in an afternoon, and was the sweetest, most unassuming person you would ever meet. Well no one was remotely surprised when this friend (XX) announced that he was about to embark on this same gender reassignment journey. XX disappeared for about a year while the transitioning was occurring, and when she emerged she was a breathtakingly gorgeous, dark haired beauty. I'm not sure of her sexual orientation, but I'm certain that gender reassignment in XX's case was the correct decision.