Why should the general lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community care about transgender issues?
The reason this is so important to the LGB community is that someone who is viewed as being gender different, regardless whether
they identify as transgender or not, is often subject to the exact same oppression, the same violence as those of us who do
identify as being transgender. Being perceived as gender different is the leading reason given for "gay-bashing."
Gender rights are ultimately human rights. Each of us is assigned a gender role at birth that we are expected to conform to,
regardless of how we might feel or view ourselves as being. As a most basic human right, each of us should be free to express
our gender as we wish.
Transgender (ed) / Trans: An umbrella term encompassing other terms defined below. It refers to anyone who is "crossing the male-female dichotomy"
in any way. Trans is a more modern term used as a synonym for transgender.
Sex: Sex is the physiological makeup of a human being, referred to as their biological or natal sex. Sex is usually thought of
in a bipolar way, dividing the world into males and females. In reality, sex is a complex relationship of genetic, hormonal,
morphological, biochemical and anatomical determinates that impact the physiology of the body and the sexual differentiation
of the brain. Although everyone is assigned a sex at birth, approximately 2% of the population are intersex and do not easily
fit into a dimorphic division of two sexes that are "opposite."
Gender: Gender is a social construct that divides people into "natural" categories of men and women that are assumed to derive from
their physiological male and female bodies. Gender attributes vary from culture to culture, and are arbitrarily imposed, denying
individuality. Most people's gender identity is congruent with their assigned sex, but many people experience their gender
identity to be discordant with their natal sex. A person's self concept of their gender (regardless of their biological sex)
is called their gender identity.
Gender Role: Gender role is the expression of masculinity and femininity and has often been referred to as "sex roles." Gender roles are
thought to be a reflection of one's gender identity and are socially dictated and reinforced. Gender roles are how gender
is enacted or "performed" (consciously or unconsciously) and may or may not be related to gender identity or natal sex.
Transsexual: A person who wishes and seriously acts upon the sense of having the wrong gender body, often-- though not always--culminating
in sexual reassignment surgery. Pre-operative transsexuals include those not yet undergoing surgery; post-operative transsexuals
are those who have received surgery; non-operative transsexuals are those who, for whatever reason, cannot or choose not to
have surgery.
NOTE ON PRONOUNS: All transsexuals are referred to by the pronouns of the gender they see themselves as being, whether they
are pre-operative, non-operative, or post-operative. If in doubt, ask the individual.
Female to Male (FtM)/Male to Female (MtF): These terms are widely used in the trans community to define the direction of crossdress or transsexuality. There are harsh
critics of these terms due to the assumption of duality.
Sexual Reassignment Surgery (Sex Change): The term used for the set of surgeries to alter the gender of an individual. For male-to-female transsexuals, it usually involves
amputation of testicles and most of the penis, inversion of the penis skin into a vagina, and optional breast implants, tracheal
shaves, and labiaplasty. For female-to-male transsexuals, it involves mastectomy, hysterectomy, and optional attempts at creating
a penis and scrotum. Preparatory and follow-up hormonal treatment is almost always given, and M-to-Fs often undergo long,
expensive, painful electrolysis.
Transition: This is the process of changing gender role, and also the time period in which the change occurs. The time period starts,
more or less, with the decision to change gender, and ends with surgery. The term is also used in the sense of an event, usually
when a person begins working in the new gender role.
Androgynous/Androgyn: Between genders or without gender.
Intersex: The term preferred by people born with both female and male characteristics; the more commonly used term in history is hermaphrodite.
Children born with obvious intersexed characteristics are often operated on as an infant to remove whichever characteristics
the family or surgeon decides should disappear. This may or may not coincide with which gender the child considers him/herself
to be. Although everyone is assigned a sex at birth, approximately 2% of the population is intersex and do not easily fit
into a dimorphic division of two sexes that are "opposite."
Gender Dysphoria: Clinical literature on transsexualism once spoke of transsexuals having "gender confusion." The term now used is "gender
dysphoria," a fancy way of saying "extreme discomfort." Transsexuals, once given an understanding and a vocabulary for who
they are, are confused mostly by society's reluctance to give them validity. The best science we currently have indicates
that biological gender dysphoria is caused by hormonal fluctuations at a crucial time in fetal development.
Cross-dressing: People who desire to dress and occasionally act as a member of the opposite sex, but do not consider themselves as being
the opposite sex or even want to be.
Bigender: People who see themselves as possessing both genders: man and woman. Some may feel that one side or the other is stronger,
but both sides are there.
Intergender: An identity which falls somewhere between the endpoints of man and woman. It assumes an acceptance of the construct of a
Gender Continuum. Given such a continuum, man and woman become bounding constructs with an infinite number of gendered states
in between. One identifies as neither a man nor a woman but as something separate and unique from either extreme.
Gender Continuum: Also called the Gender Spectrum. The construct that gender is not a binary system where there are only men and women, but
a continuum or spectrum spanning from man to woman with an infinite number of gendered states in between. It is an attempt
to account for the obvious variety and endless differences there are in how people gender themselves.
Drag Queens/Drag King: A term used to refer to gay men (usually) who dress in a feminine manner, often exaggeratedly so. If they do it on stage
as well, they also are impersonators and the terms are sometimes interchangeable. The female form of this is the drag king.
Most commonly found in bars, parties, and parades, as well on television.
Gender Bender: A term used to refer to anyone who acts outside the generally accepted norms of gender behavior, usually by the way she or
he dresses, without care about "what people think."
