Transgender


Transgender: A broad term that covers many aspects in the gender experience.

People who identify as transgender feel that their prescribed gender role does not fit with their internal experience of their gender.

Transgender people can be, but are not always, transsexuals. Some people decide to redefine themselves by changing their gender expression only and others feel that they also need to change their bodies.

Sex hormones, electrolysis, plastic surgery, or sex reassignment surgery can help people make a physical change that feels more congruent with their self-image. The term transgender includes the following.

• FTM (female to male): People who were born female but see themselves as male. • MTF (male to female): People who were born male but see themselves as female .

Bigenderist: A person who develops and expresses a distinctly male persona and a distinctly female persona. A bigenderist might, for example, work as a women or socialize as a man (or vice versa). See also: Crossdresser.

Crossdresser: A person who dresses in the clothing of the opposite biological sex.

Crossdressers generally want to relate as, and be accepted as, a person of the gender they are presenting. Crossdressing may be partial or total in amount of time and amount of clothing worn. See: Bigenderist. Crossdressers may identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

Drag: Dressing in the clothing of the opposite biological sex, or in a manner different than how one will usually dress (i.e. “corporate drag” or “military drag”).

“Drag” is often theatrical, and often presents a stereotyped image. Individuals who dress in “Drag” may or may not consider themselves part of the transgender community. They also may identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

Female or Male Impersonator: Person who crossdress as performance art and/or as stage personalities.

They may also consider themselves as “drag performers”. They may or may not consider themselves to be crossdressers or bigenderists, and they may identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

Transsexual: A person who gender identity is other than their biological sex. This person may wish to change their anatomy to be more congruent with their self-perception. Most transsexuals would like to alter their bodies through hormonal therapy, sex reassignment surgeries or other means.

Transvestite: Often a person who may achieve sexual pleasure through the use of clothing or personal adornments of the other gender. Often incorrectly used inter-changeably with “Crossdresser”.

There is no correlation between sexual orientation and transvestite behavior. Transvestites may identify as heterosexuals, gay, lesbian, or bisexual in their sexual orientation.

Transition:

In the parlance of Transgender issues, the “transition” is the time period when an individual changes from expressing one gender to another in their personal life and/or workplace. For most individuals the workplace transition is very carefully planned, often including appropriate levels of management in early discussions, and the transition process may be weeks to months in length. The personal life transition, also eagerly anticipated, may be more sudden.

Intersexed: Some babies are born with genitalia of both sexes (an outdated term would be: Hermaphrodite). In the past, most intersexed individuals have had surgery shortly after birth in an attempt to give them an “identifiable gender”.

Some parents and doctors elect surgery for the infant and assign a gender. Because a person's true gender cannot be known by their genitalia, an assignment at birth can be wrong. Parents often feel forced to make a quick decision with little information. Most intersexed persons are raised as girls/women. Intersexed people have been treated differently by different societies over history.

In some other cultures they are given special places in the group and revered as special. Generally, the more homophobic a society, the less understanding and acceptance there will be for trans- or inter-sexed people.