Transgender is an umbrella term. In addition to trans men and trans women, it may also include people who are non-binary.[6][7] Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, or else conceptualize transgender people as a third gender.[8][9] Some two-spirit people may also identify as transgender.[10]
Gender identity is distinct from sexual orientation,[11] and transgender people may be of any sexual orientation. The opposite of transgender is cisgender, which describes people whose gender identity matches their assigned sex.[12]
Statistics on the number of transgender people vary widely,[13] in part due to differing definitions of transgender.[14] Some countries, such as Canada, collect census data on transgender people.[15] Transgender identity is generally found in less than 1% of the worldwide population, with figures ranging from <0.1% to 0.6%.[a][16][17][18][19] However, this percentage is likely greater when including non-binary identities in population estimates.[20][21]
Many transgender people face discrimination in the workplace,[22] in accessing public accommodations,[23] and in healthcare.[24] In many countries, they are not legally protected from discrimination.[25]
Before the mid-20th century various terms were used within and beyond Western medical and psychological sciences to identify persons and identities labeled transsexual, and later transgender from mid-century onward.[28][29] Imported from the German and ultimately modeled after German Transsexualismus (coined in 1923),[30] the English term transsexual has enjoyed international acceptability, though transgender has been increasingly preferred over transsexual.[31] The word transgender acquired its modern umbrella term meaning in the 1990s.[32][33]
Transgender
Psychiatrist John F. Oliven of Columbia University used the term transgenderism in his 1965 reference work Sexual Hygiene and Pathology,[34][35][36] writing that the term which had previously been used, transsexualism, "is misleading; actually, 'transgenderism' is meant, because sexuality is not a major factor in primary transvestism."[37][38] The term transgender was then popularized with varying definitions by various transgender, transsexual, and transvestite people, including Virginia Prince,[4] who used transgenderal[39] in the December 1969 issue of Transvestia, a national magazine for cross-dressers she founded.[40] By the mid-1970s both trans-gender and trans people were in use as umbrella terms,[note 1] while transgenderist and transgenderal were used to refer to people who wanted to live cross-gender without sex reassignment surgery (SRS).[41] By 1976, transgenderist was abbreviated as TG in educational materials.[42][verification needed]
By 1984, the concept of a "transgender community" had developed, in which transgender was used as an umbrella term.[43] In 1985, Richard Elkins established the "Trans-Gender Archive" at the University of Ulster.[40] By 1992, the International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy defined transgender as an expansive umbrella term including "transsexuals, transgenderists, cross dressers", and anyone transitioning.[44]Leslie Feinberg's pamphlet, "Transgender Liberation: A Movement Whose Time has Come", circulated in 1992, identified transgender as a term to unify all forms of gender nonconformity; in this way transgender has become synonymous with queer.[45] In 1994, gender theorist Susan Stryker defined transgender as encompassing "all identities or practices that cross over, cut across, move between, or otherwise queer socially constructed sex/gender boundaries", including, but not limited to, "transsexuality, heterosexual transvestism, gay drag, butch lesbianism, and such non-European identities as the Native American berdache or the Indian Hijra".[46]
Between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s, the primary terms used under the transgender umbrella were "female to male" (FtM) for men who transitioned from female to male, and "male to female" (MtF) for women who transitioned from male to female. These terms have been superseded by "trans man" and "trans woman", respectively.[47] This shift in preference from terms highlighting biological sex ("transsexual", "FtM") to terms highlighting gender identity and expression ("transgender", "trans man") reflects a broader shift in the understanding of transgender people's sense of self and the increasing recognition of those who decline medical reassignment as part of the transgender community.[47]
Transgender can also refer specifically to a person whose gender identity is opposite (rather than different from) the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth.[48][49][50][51]
Transfeminine is a term for any person, binary or non-binary, who was assigned male at birth and has a predominantly feminine gender identity or presentation.[52]
Transmasculine refers to a person assigned female at birth who has a predominantly masculine gender identity or presentation.[52]
Transgendered is a common term in older literature. Many within the transgender community deprecate it on the basis that transgender is an adjective, not a verb.[53] Organizations such as GLAAD and The Guardian also state that transgender should never be used as a noun (e.g., "Max is transgender" or "Max is a transgender man", not "Max is a transgender").[28][54] "Transgender" is also a noun for the broader topic of transgender identity and experience.[55]
Although the term "transgenderism" was once considered acceptable, it has come to be viewed as offensive, according to GLAAD.[56] In 2020 the International Journal of Transgenderism changed its name to the International Journal of Transgender Health "to reflect a change toward more appropriate and acceptable use of language in our field."[57]
Health-practitioner manuals, professional journalistic style guides, and LGBT advocacy groups advise the adoption by others of the name and pronouns identified by the person in question, including present references to the transgender person's past.[58][59]
In contrast, people whose sense of personal identity corresponds to the sex and gender assigned to them at birth – that is, those who are neither transgender nor non-binary or genderqueer – are called cisgender.[60]
Inspired by Magnus Hirschfeld's 1923 term seelischer Transsexualismus, the term transsexual was introduced to English in 1949 by David Oliver Cauldwell[note 2] and popularized by Harry Benjamin in 1966, around the same time transgender was coined and began to be popularized.[4] Since the 1990s, transsexual has generally been used to refer to the subset of transgender people[4][61][62] who desire to transition permanently to the gender with which they identify and who seek medical assistance (for example, sex reassignment surgery) with this.
Distinctions between the terms transgender and transsexual are commonly based on distinctions between gender and sex.[63][64] Transsexuality may be said to deal more with physical aspects of one's sex, while transgender considerations deal more with one's psychological gender disposition or predisposition, as well as the related social expectations that may accompany a given gender role.[65] Many transgender people reject the term transsexual.[5][66][28]Christine Jorgensen publicly rejected transsexual in 1979 and instead identified herself in newsprint as trans-gender, saying, "gender doesn't have to do with bed partners, it has to do with identity."[67][68] Some have objected to the term transsexual on the basis that it describes a condition related to gender identity rather than sexuality.[69][better source needed][note 3][failed verification] Some transsexual people object to being included in the transgender umbrella.[70][71][72]
In his 2007 book Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category, anthropologist David Valentine asserts that transgender was coined and used by activists to include many people who do not necessarily identify with the term and states that people who do not identify with the term transgender should not be included in the transgender spectrum.[70] Leslie Feinberg likewise asserts that transgender is not a self-identifier (for some people) but a category imposed by observers to understand other people.[71] According to the Transgender Health Program (THP) at Fenway Health in Boston, there are no universally-accepted definitions, and confusion is common because terms that were popular at the turn of the 21st century may have since been deemed offensive. The THP recommends that clinicians ask clients what terminology they prefer, and avoid the term transsexual unless they are sure that a client is comfortable with it.[69][undue weight? – discuss]
Harry Benjamin invented a classification system for transsexuals and transvestites, called the Sex Orientation Scale (SOS), in which he assigned transsexuals and transvestites to one of six categories based on their reasons for cross-dressing and the relative urgency of their need (if any) for sex reassignment surgery.[73] Contemporary views on gender identity and classification differ markedly from Harry Benjamin's original opinions.[74] Sexual orientation is no longer regarded as a criterion for diagnosis, or for distinction between transsexuality, transvestism and other forms of gender-variant behavior and expression. Benjamin's scale was designed for use with heterosexual trans women, and trans men's identities do not align with its categories.[75]
Some non-binary (or genderqueer) people identify as transgender. These identities are not specifically male or female. They can be agender, androgynous, bigender, pangender, or genderfluid,[76] and exist outside of cisnormativity.[77][78] Bigender and androgynous are overlapping categories; bigender individuals may identify as moving between male and female roles (genderfluid) or as being both masculine and feminine simultaneously (androgynous), and androgynes may similarly identify as beyond gender or genderless (agender), between genders (intergender), moving across genders (genderfluid), or simultaneously exhibiting multiple genders (pangender).[79] Non-binary gender identities are independent of sexual orientation.[80][81]
A transvestite is a person who cross-dresses, or dresses in clothes typically associated with the gender opposite the one they were assigned at birth.[82][83] The term transvestite is used as a synonym for the term cross-dresser,[84][85] although cross-dresser is generally considered the preferred term.[85][86] The term cross-dresser is not exactly defined in the relevant literature. Michael A. Gilbert, professor at the Department of Philosophy, York University, Toronto, offers this definition: "[A cross-dresser] is a person who has an apparent gender identification with one sex, and who has and certainly has been birth-designated as belonging to [that] sex, but who wears the clothing of the opposite sex because it is that of the opposite sex."[87] This definition excludes people "who wear opposite sex clothing for other reasons", such as "those female impersonators who look upon dressing as solely connected to their livelihood, actors undertaking roles, individual males and females enjoying a masquerade, and so on. These individuals are cross dressing but are not cross dressers."[88] Cross-dressers may not identify with, want to be, or adopt the behaviors or practices of the opposite gender and generally do not want to change their bodies medically or surgically. The majority of cross-dressers identify as heterosexual.[89]
The term transvestite and the associated outdated term transvestism are conceptually different from the term transvestic fetishism, as transvestic fetishist refers to those who intermittently use clothing of the opposite gender for fetishistic purposes.[90][91] In medical terms, transvestic fetishism is differentiated from cross-dressing by use of the separate codes 302.3 in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)[91] and F65.1 in the ICD.[90][needs update]
Drag is clothing and makeup worn on special occasions for performing or entertaining, unlike those who are transgender or who cross-dress for other reasons.[92] Drag performance includes overall presentation and behavior in addition to clothing and makeup. Drag can be theatrical, comedic, or grotesque. Drag queens have been considered caricatures of women by second-wave feminism. Drag artists have a long tradition in LGBT culture.
Generally the term drag queen covers men doing female drag, drag king covers women doing male drag, and faux queen covers women doing female drag.[93][94] Nevertheless, there are drag artists of all genders and sexualities who perform for various reasons. Drag performers are not inherently transgender. Some drag performers, transvestites, and people in the gay community have embraced the pornographically derived term tranny for drag queens or people who engage in transvestism or cross-dressing; this term is widely considered an offensive slur if applied to transgender people.
Transgender people have existed since ancient times. A wide range of societies had traditional third gender roles, or otherwise accepted trans people in some form.[95] A precise history is difficult because the modern concept of being transgender, and gender in general, did not develop until the mid-1900s. Historical understandings are thus inherently filtered through modern principles, and were largely viewed through a medical lens until the late 1900s.[96]
The Hippocratic Corpus (interpreting the writing of Herodotus) describes the "disease of the Scythians" (regarding the Enaree), which it attributes to impotency due to riding on a horse without stirrups. This reference was well discussed by medical writings of the 1500s–1700s. Pierre Petit writing in 1596 viewed the "Scythian disease" as natural variation, but by the 1700s writers viewed it as a "melancholy", or "hysterical" psychiatric disease. By the early 1800s, being transgender separate from Hippocrates' idea of it was claimed to be widely known, but remained poorly documented. Both trans women and trans men were cited in European insane asylums of the early 1800s. One of the earliest recorded transgender people in America was Thomas(ine) Hall, a seventeenth century colonial servant.[97] The most complete account of the time came from the life of the Chevalier d'Éon (1728–1810), a French diplomat. As cross-dressing became more widespread in the late 1800s, discussion of transgender people increased greatly and writers attempted to explain the origins of being transgender. Much study came out of Germany, and was exported to other Western audiences. Cross-dressing was seen in a pragmatic light until the late 1800s; it had previously served a satirical or disguising purpose. But in the latter half of the 1800s, cross-dressing and being transgender became viewed as an increasing societal danger.[96]
William A. Hammond wrote an 1882 account of transgender Pueblo shamans (mujerados), comparing them to the Scythian disease. Other writers of the late 1700s and 1800s (including Hammond's associates in the American Neurological Association) had noted the widespread nature of transgender cultural practices among native peoples. Explanations varied, but authors generally did not ascribe native transgender practices to psychiatric causes, instead condemning the practices in a religious and moral sense. Native groups provided much study on the subject, and perhaps the majority of all study until after WWII.[96]
Critical studies first began to emerge in the late 1800s in Germany, with the works of Magnus Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld coined the term "transvestite" in 1910 as the scope of transgender study grew. His work would lead to the 1919 founding of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin. Though Hirscheld's legacy is disputed, he revolutionized the field of study. The Institut was destroyed when the Nazis seized power in 1933, and its research was infamously burned in the May 1933 Nazi book burnings.[98] Transgender issues went largely out of the public eye until after World War II. Even when they re-emerged, they reflected a forensic psychology approach, unlike the more sexological that had been employed in the lost German research.[96][99]
Gender, gender identity, and being transgender are distinct concepts from sexual orientation.[100] Sexual orientation is an individual's enduring pattern of attraction, or lack thereof, to others (being straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, etc.), whereas gender identity is a person's innate knowledge of their own gender (being a man, woman, non-binary, etc.).[56] Transgender people can have any orientation, and generally use labels corresponding to their gender, rather than assigned sex at birth. For example, trans women who are exclusively attracted to other women commonly identify as lesbians, and trans men exclusively attracted to women would identify as straight.[56] Many trans people describe their sexual orientation as queer, in addition to or instead of, other terms.[101][102][103]
For much of the 20th century, transgender identity was conflated with homosexuality and transvestism.[104][105] In earlier academic literature, sexologists used the labels homosexual and heterosexual transsexual to categorize transgender individuals' sexual orientation based on their birth sex.[106] Critics consider these terms "heterosexist",[107] "archaic",[108] and demeaning.[109] Newer literature often uses terms such as attracted to men (androphilic), attracted to women (gynephilic), attracted to both (bisexual), or attracted to neither (asexual) to describe a person's sexual orientation without reference to their gender identity.[110] Therapists are coming to understand the necessity of using terms with respect to their clients' gender identities and preferences.[111]
The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey reported that of the 27,715 transgender and non-binary respondents, 21% said queer best described their sexual orientation, 18% said pansexual, 16% said gay, lesbian, or same-gender-loving, 15% said straight, 14% said bisexual, and 10% said asexual.[102] A 2019 Canadian survey of 2,873 trans and non-binary people found that 51% described their sexual orientation as queer, 13% as asexual, 28% as bisexual, 13% as gay, 15% as lesbian, 31% as pansexual, 8% as straight or heterosexual, 4% as two-spirit, and 9% as unsure or questioning.[103]
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Despite the distinction between sexual orientation and gender, throughout history gay, lesbian and bisexual subcultures were often the only places where gender-variant people were socially accepted in the gender role they felt they belonged to; especially during the time when legal or medical transitioning was almost impossible. This acceptance has had a complex history. Like the wider world, the gay community in Western societies did not generally distinguish between sex and gender identity until the 1970s, and the role of the transgender community in the history of LGBT rights is often overlooked.[112]
According to a study done at University of California, Los Angeles in 2011, conducted in part by Gary J. Gates, 3.5% of adults across the United States identify as either gay, lesbian, or bisexuals whereas only 0.3% of adults identify as transgender.[113] Transgender individuals have been part of various LGBT movements throughout history, with significant contributions dating back to the early days of the gay liberation movement.[114]
The LGBT community is not a monolithic group, and there are different modes of thought on who is a part of this diverse community. The changes that came with the Gay Liberation Movement and Civil Rights movement saw many gay, lesbian, and bisexual people making headway within the public sphere, and gaining support from the wider public, throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. The trans community only experienced a similar surge in activism during the start of the twenty-first century.[115][114] Due to the many different groups that make up the broader LGBT movement, there are those within the larger community who do not believe that the trans community has a place within the LGBT space.[115][116]
People who experience discord between their gender and the expectations of others or whose gender identity conflicts with their body may benefit by talking through their feelings in depth. While individuals may find counseling or psychotherapy helpful, it is no longer recommended as a prerequisite for further transition steps.[21] Research on gender identity with regard to psychology, and scientific understanding of the phenomenon and its related issues, is relatively new.[117][needs update?] The term gender incongruence is listed in the ICD by the WHO. In the American (DSM), the term gender dysphoria is listed under code F64.0 for adolescents and adults, and F64.2 for children[118]
France removed gender identity disorder as a diagnosis by decree in 2010,[119][120] but according to French trans rights organizations, beyond the impact of the announcement itself, nothing changed.[121] In 2017, the Danish parliament abolished the F64 Gender identity disorders. The DSM-5 refers to the topic as gender dysphoria (GD) while reinforcing the idea that being transgender is not considered a mental illness.[122]
Transgender people may meet the criteria for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria "only if [being transgender] causes distress or disability."[123] This distress may manifest as depression or inability to work and form healthy relationships with others. This diagnosis is often misinterpreted as implying that all transgender people suffer from GD, which has confused transgender people and those who seek to either criticize or affirm them. Transgender people who are comfortable with their gender and whose gender is not directly causing inner frustration or impairing their functioning do not suffer from GD. Moreover, GD is not necessarily permanent and is often resolved through therapy or transitioning. Feeling oppressed by the negative attitudes and behaviours of such others as legal entities does not indicate GD. GD does not imply an opinion of immorality; the psychological establishment holds that people with any kind of mental or emotional problem should not receive stigma. The solution for GD is whatever will alleviate suffering and restore functionality; this solution often, but not always, consists of undergoing a gender transition.[117]
Clinical training lacks relevant information needed in order to adequately help transgender clients, which results in a large number of practitioners who are not prepared to sufficiently work with this population of individuals.[124] Many mental healthcare providers know little about transgender issues. Those who seek help from these professionals often educate the professional without receiving help.[117] This solution usually is good for transsexual people but is not the solution for other transgender people, particularly non-binary people who lack an exclusively male or female identity. Instead, therapists can support their clients in whatever steps they choose to take to transition or can support their decision not to transition while also addressing their clients' sense of congruence between gender identity and appearance.[125]
Research on the specific problems faced by the transgender community in mental health has focused on diagnosis and clinicians' experiences instead of transgender clients' experiences.[126] Therapy was not always sought by transgender people due to mental health needs. Prior to the seventh version of the Standards of Care (SOC), an individual had to be diagnosed with gender identity disorder in order to proceed with hormone treatments or sexual reassignment surgery. The new version decreased the focus on diagnosis and instead emphasized the importance of flexibility in order to meet the diverse health care needs of transsexual, transgender, and all gender-nonconforming people.[127]
The reasons for seeking mental health services vary according to the individual. A transgender person seeking treatment does not necessarily mean their gender identity is problematic. The emotional strain of dealing with stigma and experiencing transphobia pushes many transgender people to seek treatment to improve their quality of life, as one trans woman reflected: "Transgendered individuals are going to come to a therapist and most of their issues have nothing to do, specifically, with being transgendered. It has to do because they've had to hide, they've had to lie, and they've felt all of this guilt and shame, unfortunately usually for years!"[126] Many transgender people also seek mental health treatment for depression and anxiety caused by the stigma attached to being transgender, and some transgender people have stressed the importance of acknowledging their gender identity with a therapist in order to discuss other quality-of-life issues.[126] Rarely, some choose to detransition.[128]
Problems still remain surrounding misinformation about transgender issues that hurt transgender people's mental health experiences. One trans man who was enrolled as a student in a psychology graduate program highlighted the main concerns with modern clinical training: "Most people probably are familiar with the term transgender, but maybe that's it. I don't think I've had any formal training just going through [clinical] programs ... I don't think most [therapists] know. Most therapists – Master's degree, PhD level – they've had ... one diversity class on GLBT issues. One class out of the huge diversity training. One class. And it was probably mostly about gay lifestyle."[126] Many health insurance policies do not cover treatment associated with gender transition, and numerous people are under- or uninsured, which raises concerns about the insufficient training most therapists receive prior to working with transgender clients, potentially increasing financial strain on clients without providing the treatment they need.[126] Many clinicians who work with transgender clients only receive mediocre training on gender identity, but introductory training on interacting with transgender people has recently been made available to health care professionals to help remove barriers and increase the level of service for the transgender population.[129] In February 2010, France became the first country in the world to remove transgender identity from the list of mental diseases.[130][131]
A 2014 study carried out by the Williams Institute (a UCLA think tank) found that 41% of transgender people had attempted suicide, with the rate being higher among people who experienced discrimination in access to housing or healthcare, harassment, physical or sexual assault, or rejection by family.[132] A 2019 follow-up study found that transgender people who wanted and received gender-affirming medical care had substantially lower rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts.[133] However, a study on the impact of parental support on trans youth found that among trans children with supportive parents, only 4% attempted suicide, a 93% decrease.[134]
Autism is more common in people who are gender dysphoric. It is not known whether there is a biological basis. This may be due to the fact that people on the autism spectrum are less concerned with societal disapproval, and feel less fear or inhibition about coming out as trans than others.[135][better source needed]
Physical healthcare
Medical and surgical procedures exist for transsexual and some transgender people, though most categories of transgender people as described above are not known for seeking the following treatments. Hormone replacement therapy for trans men induces beard growth and masculinizes skin, hair, voice, and fat distribution. Hormone replacement therapy for trans women feminizes fat distribution and breasts, as well as diminishes muscle mass and strength. Laser hair removal or electrolysis removes excess hair for trans women. Surgical procedures for trans women feminize the voice, skin, face, Adam's apple, breasts, waist, buttocks, and genitals. Surgical procedures for trans men masculinize the chest and genitals and remove the womb, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. The acronyms "Gender-affirming surgery (GAS)" and "sex reassignment surgery" (SRS) refer to genital surgery. The term "sex reassignment therapy" (SRT) is used as an umbrella term for physical procedures required for transition. Use of the term "sex change" has been criticized for its emphasis on surgery, and the term "transition" is preferred.[28][136] Availability of these procedures depends on degree of gender dysphoria, presence or absence of gender identity disorder,[137] and standards of care in the relevant jurisdiction.
Trans men who have not had a hysterectomy and who take testosterone are at increased risk for endometrial cancer because androstenedione, which is made from testosterone in the body, can be converted into estrogen, and external estrogen is a risk factor for endometrial cancer.[138]
Detransition refers to the cessation or reversal of a sex reassignment surgery or gender transition. Formal studies of detransition have been few in number,[139] of disputed quality,[140] and politically controversial.[141] Estimates of the rate at which detransitioning occurs vary from less than 1% to as high as 13%.[142] Those who undergo sex reassignment surgery have very low rates of detransition or regret.[128][143][144][145]
The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, with responses from 27,715 individuals who identified as "transgender, trans, genderqueer, [or] non-binary", found that 8% of respondents reported some kind of detransition. "Most of those who de-transitioned did so only temporarily: 62% of those who had de-transitioned reported that they were currently living full time in a gender different than the gender they were thought to be at birth."[102] Detransition was associated with assigned male sex at birth, nonbinary gender identity, and bisexual orientation, among other cohorts.[144] Only 5% of detransitioners (or 0.4% of total respondents) reported doing so because gender transition was "not for them"; 82% cited external reason(s), including pressure from others, the difficulties of transition, and discrimination. "The most common reason cited for de-transitioning was pressure from a parent (36%)."[146][147][102]
Law
Camille Cabral, a French transgender activist at a demonstration for transgender people in Paris, October 1, 2005
Legal procedures exist in some jurisdictions which allow individuals to change their legal gender or name to reflect their gender identity. Requirements for these procedures vary from an explicit formal diagnosis of transsexualism, to a diagnosis of gender identity disorder, to a letter from a physician that attests the individual's gender transition or having established a different gender role.[148] In 1994, the DSM IV entry was changed from "Transsexual" to "Gender Identity Disorder". In 2013, the DSM V removed "Gender Identity Disorder" and published "Gender Dysphoria" in its place.[149] In many places, transgender people are not legally protected from discrimination in the workplace or in public accommodations.[25] A report released in February 2011 found that 90% of transgender people faced discrimination at work and were unemployed at double the rate of the general population,[23] and over half had been harassed or turned away when attempting to access public services.[23] Members of the transgender community also encounter high levels of discrimination in health care.[150]
36 countries in Europe require a mental health diagnosis for legal gender recognition and 20 countries require sterilisation.[151] In April 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that requiring sterilisation for legal gender recognition violates human rights.[152]
Denmark
Since 2014 it has been possible for adults without the requirement of a psychiatric evaluation, medical or surgical treatment, divorce or castration, to after a six-month 'reflection period' have their social security number changed and legally change gender.[153][154]
In November 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the civil status law must allow a third gender option.[155] Thus officially recognising "third sex" meaning that birth certificates will not have blank gender entries for intersex people. The ruling came after an intersex person, who is neither a man nor woman according to chromosomal analysis, brought a legal challenge after attempting to change their registered sex to "inter" or divers.[156]
In 2020, an Icelandic law went into effect to allow a third gender option; due to a delay in updating the register, the law took until 2021 to implement.[157]
Jurisdiction over legal classification of sex in Canada is assigned to the provinces and territories. This includes legal change of gender classification. On June 19, 2017, Bill C-16, having passed the legislative process in the House of Commons of Canada and the Senate of Canada, became law upon receiving Royal Assent, which put it into immediate force.[158][159][160] The law updated the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to include "gender identity and gender expression" as protected grounds from discrimination, hate publications and advocating transgender genocide. The bill also added "gender identity and expression" to the list of aggravating factors in sentencing, where the accused commits a criminal offence against an individual because of those personal characteristics. Similar transgender laws also exist in all the provinces and territories.[161]
In the United States, transgender people are protected from employment discrimination by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Exceptions apply to certain types of employers, for example, employers with fewer than 15 employees and religious organizations.[162] In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that Title VII prohibits discrimination against transgender people in the case R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.[163]
Nicole Maines, a trans girl, took a case to Maine's supreme court in June 2013. She argued that being denied access to her high school's women's restroom was a violation of Maine's Human Rights Act; one state judge has disagreed with her,[164] but Maines won her lawsuit against the Orono school district in January 2014 before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.[165] On May 14, 2016, the United States Department of Education and Department of Justice issued guidance directing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identities.[166]
On June 30, 2016, the United States Department of Defense removed the ban that prohibited transgender people from openly serving in the US military.[167] On July 27, 2017, President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender Americans would not be allowed to serve "in any capacity" in the United States Armed Forces.[168] Later that day, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford announced, "there will be no modifications to the current policy until the president's direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the secretary has issued implementation guidance."[169]Joe Biden later reversed Trump's policy when he became president in 2021.[170][171]
In April 2014, the Supreme Court of India declared transgender to be a 'third gender' in Indian law.[172][173][174] The transgender community in India (made up of Hijras and others) has a long history in India and in Hindu mythology.[175][176] Justice KS Radhakrishnan noted in his decision that, "Seldom, our society realizes or cares to realize the trauma, agony and pain which the members of Transgender community undergo, nor appreciates the innate feelings of the members of the Transgender community, especially of those whose mind and body disown their biological sex", adding:
Non-recognition of the identity of Hijras/transgender persons denies them equal protection of law, thereby leaving them extremely vulnerable to harassment, violence and sexual assault in public spaces, at home and in jail, also by the police. Sexual assault, including molestation, rape, forced anal and oral sex, gang rape and stripping is being committed with impunity and there are reliable statistics and materials to support such activities. Further, non-recognition of identity of Hijras/transgender persons results in them facing extreme discrimination in all spheres of society, especially in the field of employment, education, healthcare etc.[177]
Hijras face structural discrimination including not being able to obtain driving licenses, and being prohibited from accessing various social benefits. It is also common for them to be banished from communities.[178]
The Catholic Church has been involved in the outreach to LGBT community for several years and continues doing so through Franciscan urban outreach centers, for example, the Open Hearts outreach in Hartford, Connecticut.[179] The Vatican holds that transgender people cannot become godparents and compares transitioning to self-harm.[180]
The Church of England passed a motion at the 2017 General Synod, which would ensure Anglican churches accepted transgender people, even suggesting on their website that transgender people could be gifted a Bible with their new name inscribed to support them.[181]
Feminist views on transgender women have changed over time, but have generally become more positive. Second-wave feminism saw numerous clashes opposed to transgender women, since they were not seen as "true" women, and as invading women-only spaces.[182][183] Though second-wave feminism argued for the sex and gender distinction, some feminists believed there was a conflict between transgender identity and the feminist cause; e.g., they believed that male-to-female transition abandoned or devalued female identity and that transgender people embraced traditional gender roles and stereotypes.[184] By the emergence of third-wave feminism (around 1990), opinions had shifted to being more inclusive of both trans and gay identities.[185][186]Fourth-wave feminism (starting around 2012) has been widely trans-inclusive, but trans-exclusive groups and ideas remain as a minority, though one that is especially prominent in the UK.[187][185][188] Feminists who do not accept that trans women are women have been labeled "trans-exclusionary radical feminists" (TERFs) or gender-critical feminists by opponents.[189][190]
Transgender individuals experience significant rates of employment discrimination. Approximately 90% of trans people have encountered some form of harassment or mistreatment in their workplace. Moreover, 47% have experienced some form of adverse employment outcome due to being transgender; of this figure, 44% were passed over for a job, 23% were denied a promotion, and 26% were terminated on the grounds that they were transgender.[191]
Support
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Studies in several cultures have found that cisgender women are more likely to be accepting of trans people than cisgender men.[192][193][194][195]
The start of the twenty-first century saw the rise in transgender activism and with it an increase in support.[114] Within the United States, groups such as the Trevor Project have been serving the wider LGBT community including people who identify with the term transgender. The group offers support in the form of educational resources including research, advocacy, and crisis services.[196] The American Civil Liberties Unions (ACLU) is another group that fights legal battles in support of many different groups including those in the trans community.[197]
Other groups within the United States specifically advocate for transgender rights. One of these groups directly related to transgender support is the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), which is committed to advocating for policy changes that protect transgender people and promote equality. Through their research, education, and advocacy efforts, the NCTE works to address issues such as healthcare access, employment discrimination, and legal recognition for transgender individuals.[198]
One prominent organization within Europe is Transgender Europe (TGEU), a network of organizations and individuals committed to promoting equality and human rights for transgender people within European borders. TGEU works to challenge discrimination, improve transgender healthcare access, advocate for legal recognition of gender identity, and support the well-being of transgender communities.[199]
Scientific studies of transsexuality
A 1996 study of Swedes estimated a ratio of 1.4:1 trans women to trans men for those requesting sex reassignment surgery and a ratio of 1:1 for those who proceeded.[200][non-primary source needed] A study in 2020 noted that, since 1990, of those seeking sex hormone therapy for gender dysphoria there has been a steady increase in the percentage of trans men, such that they equal the number of trans women seeking this treatment.[201]
Studies conducted on twins suggest that there are likely genetic causes of gender incongruence, although the precise genes involved are not known or fully understood.[202][203] One study published in the International Journal of Transgender Health found that in 20% of identical twin pairs, if one twin was trans, the other was as well, compared to only 2.6% of non-identical twins where this was the case; researchers attribute this to their shared genetics.[203]
An observational study revealed that transgender people receiving hormone therapy from the Amsterdam University Medical Centre in the Netherlands had higher mortality rates than the general population, and that this did not decrease during the duration of the study (1972 to 2018). Other studies have also found increased mortality in transgender people.[204]
Little is known about the prevalence of transgender people in the general population and reported prevalence estimates are greatly affected by variable
definitions of transgender.[205] According to a recent systematic review, an estimated 9.2 out of every 100,000 people have received or requested gender affirmation surgery or transgender hormone therapy; 6.8 out of every 100,000 people have received a transgender-specific diagnoses; and 355 out of every 100,000 people self-identify as transgender.[205] These findings underscore the value of using consistent terminology related to studying the experience of transgender, as studies that explore surgical or hormonal gender affirmation therapy may or may not be connected with others that follow a diagnosis of "transsexualism", "gender identity disorder", or "gender dysphoria", none of which may relate with those that assess self-reported identity.[205] Common terminology across studies does not yet exist, so population numbers may be inconsistent, depending on how they are being counted.
The cultures of the Indian subcontinent include a third gender, referred to as hijra in Hindi. In India, the Supreme Court on April 15, 2014, recognized a third gender that is neither male nor female, stating "Recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue."[223] In 1998, Shabnam Mausi became the first transgender person to be elected in India, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.[224]
A 2011 survey conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK found that of 10,026 respondents, 1.4% would be classified into a gender minority group. The survey also showed that 1% had gone through any part of a gender reassignment process (including thoughts or actions).[226]
In the England and Wales section of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 0.5% of respondents aged 16 and over indicated that their gender identity was different from their sex assigned at birth.[227]
North America
Canada
The 2021 Canadian census released by Statistics Canada found that 59,460 Canadians (0.19% of the population) identified as transgender.[228]
According to the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces by Statistics Canada in 2018, 0.24% of the Canadian population identified as transgender men, women or non-binary individuals.[229]
United States
The Social Security Administration has tracked the sex of citizens since 1936.[230] Using this information, along with the Census data, Benjamin Cerf Harris tracked the prevalence of citizens changing to names associated with the opposite sex or changing sex marker. Harris found that such changes had occurred as early as 1936. He estimated that 89,667 individuals included in the 2010 Census had changed to an opposite-gendered name, 21,833 of whom had also changed sex marker.[230] Prevalence in the States varied, from 1.4 to 10.6 per 100,000.[230] While most people legally changed both name and sex, about a quarter of people changed name, and then five years later changed sex.[230] An earlier estimate in 1968, by Ira B. Pauly, estimated that about 2,500 transsexual people were living in the United States, with four times as many trans women as trans men.[231]
One effort to quantify the population in 2011 gave a "rough estimate" that 0.3% of adults in the US are transgender.[232][233] More recent studies released in 2016 estimate the proportion of Americans who identify as transgender at 0.5 to 0.6%. This would put the total number of transgender Americans at approximately 1.4 million adults (as of 2016[update]).[234][235][236][237]
A survey by the Pew Research Center in 2017 found that American society is divided on "whether it's possible for someone to be a gender different from the sex they were assigned at birth."[238] It states, "Overall, roughly half of Americans (54%) say that whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth, while 44% say someone can be a man or a woman even if that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth."[238]
Native American and First Nations
In the United States and Canada, some Native American and First Nations cultures traditionally recognize the existence of more than two genders,[239] such as the Zuni male-bodied lhamana,[240] the Lakota male-bodied winkte,[241] and the Mohave male-bodied alyhaa and female-bodied hwamee.[242] These traditional people, along with those from other North American Indigenous cultures, are sometimes part of the contemporary, pan-Indian two-spirit community.[241] Historically, in most cultures who have alternate gender roles, if the spouse of a third gender person is not otherwise gender variant, they have not generally been regarded as other-gendered themselves, simply for being in a same-sex relationship.[242] In Mexico, the Zapotec culture includes a third gender in the form of the Muxe.[243]Mahu is a traditional third gender in Hawai'i and Tahiti. Mahu are valued as teachers, caretakers of culture, and healers, such as Kapaemahu. Diné (Navajo) have Nádleehi.[95]
Latin America
In Latin American cultures, a travesti is an individual who has been assigned male at birth and who has a feminine, transfeminine, or "femme" gender identity. Travestis generally undergo hormonal treatment, use female gender expression including new names and pronouns from the masculine ones they were given when assigned a sex, and might use breast implants, but they are not offered or do not desire sex-reassignment surgery. Travesti might be regarded as a gender in itself (a "third gender"), a mix between man and woman ("intergender/androgynes"), or the presence of both masculine and feminine identities in a single person ("bigender"). They are framed as something entirely separate from transgender women, who possess the same gender identity of people assigned female at birth.[244]
Other transgender identities are becoming more widely known, as a result of contact with other cultures of the Western world.[245] These newer identities, sometimes known under the umbrella use of the term "genderqueer",[245] along with the older travesti term, are known as non-binary and go along with binary transgender identities (those traditionally diagnosed under the obsolete label of "transsexualism") under the single umbrella of transgender, but are distinguished from cross-dressers and drag queens and kings, that are held as nonconforming gender expressions rather than transgender gender identities when a distinction is made.[246]
Deviating from the societal standards for sexual behavior, sexual orientation/identity, gender identity, and gender expression have a single umbrella term that is known as sexodiverso or sexodiversa in both Spanish and Portuguese, with its most approximate translation to English being "queer".[citation needed]
Ancient cultures
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Among the ancient Middle Eastern Akkadian people, a salzikrum was a person who appeared biologically female but had distinct male traits. Salzikrum is a compound word meaning male daughter. According to the Code of Hammurabi, salzikrūm had inheritance rights like that of priestesses; they inherited from their fathers, unlike regular daughters. A salzikrum's father could also stipulate that she inherit a certain amount.[247] In ancient Rome, the Gallae were castrated[248] followers of the Phrygian goddess Cybele and can be regarded as transgender.[249][250]
In early Medina, gender-variant[251] male-to-female Islamic people were acknowledged[252] in the form of the Mukhannathun. Also, in Fa'asamoa traditions, the Samoan culture allows a specific role for male to female transgender individuals as Fa'afafine.
Some historians consider Roman emperor Elagabalus to have been transgender. Elagabalus was reported to have dressed in a feminine manner, preferred to be called "Lady" instead of "Lord" and may have even sought a primitive form of gender-affirming surgery.[253]
Transgender people vary greatly in choosing when, whether, and how to disclose their transgender status to family, close friends, and others. The prevalence of discrimination[254] and violence (transgender people are 28% more likely to be victims of violence)[255] against transgender persons can make coming out a risky decision. Fear of retaliatory behavior, such as being removed from the parental home while underage, is a cause for transgender people to not come out to their families until they have reached adulthood.[256] Parental confusion and lack of acceptance of a transgender child may result in parents treating a newly revealed gender identity as a "phase" or making efforts to change their children back to "normal" by utilizing mental health services to alter the child's gender identity.[257][258]
The internet can play a significant role in the coming out process for transgender people. Some come out in an online identity first, providing an opportunity to go through experiences virtually and safely before risking social sanctions in the real world.[259]
As more transgender people are represented and included within the realm of mass culture, the stigma that is associated with being transgender can influence the decisions, ideas, and thoughts based upon it. Media representation, culture industry, and social marginalization all hint at popular culture standards and the applicability and significance to mass culture as well. These terms play an important role in the formation of notions for those who have little recognition or knowledge of transgender people. Media depictions represent only a minuscule spectrum of the transgender group,[260] which essentially conveys that those that are shown are the only interpretations and ideas society has of them.
In 2014, the United States reached a "transgender tipping point", according to Time.[261][262] At this time, the media visibility of transgender people reached a level higher than seen before. Since then, the number of transgender portrayals across TV platforms has stayed elevated.[263] Research has found that viewing multiple transgender TV characters and stories improves viewers' attitudes toward transgender people and related policies.[264]
International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual holiday occurring on March 31[265][266] dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide. The holiday was founded by Michigan-based transgender activist[267] Rachel Crandall in 2009.[268]
Transgender Awareness Week is a one-week celebration leading up to Transgender Day of Remembrance. The purpose of Transgender Awareness Week is to educate about transgender and gender non-conforming people and the issues associated with their transition or identity.[269]
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is held every year on November 20 in honor of Rita Hester, who was killed on November 28, 1998, in an anti-transgender hate crime. It memorializes dead victims of hate crimes and prejudice and raises awareness of hate crimes committed upon living transgender people.[270]
Annual marches, protests or gatherings take place around the world for transgender issues, often taking place during the time of local Pride parades for LGBT people. These events are frequently organised by trans communities to build community, address human rights struggles, and create visibility.[271][272][273][274]
A common symbol for the transgender community is the Transgender Pride Flag, which was designed by the American transgender woman Monica Helms in 1999, and was first shown at a pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2000. The flag consists of five horizontal stripes: light blue, pink, white, pink, and light blue. Helms describes the meaning of the flag as follows:
The light blue is the traditional color for baby boys, pink is for girls, and the white in the middle is for "those who are transitioning, those who feel they have a neutral gender or no gender", and those who are intersex. The pattern is such that "no matter which way you fly it, it will always be correct. This symbolizes us trying to find correctness in our own lives."[275]
Other transgender symbols include the butterfly (symbolizing transformation or metamorphosis),[276] and a pink/light blue yin and yang symbol.[277] Several gender symbols have been used to represent transgender people, including ⚥ and ⚧.[278][279]
^* In April 1970, TV Guide published an article which referenced a post-operative transsexual movie character as being "transgendered."("Sunday Highlights". TV Guide. April 26, 1970. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012. [R]aquel Welch (left), moviedom's sex queen soon to be seen as the heroine/hero of Gore Vidal's transgendered "Myra Breckinridge"...)
In the 1974 edition of Clinical Sexuality: A Manual for the Physician and the Professions, transgender was used as an umbrella term and the Conference Report from the 1974 "National TV.TS Conference" held in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK used "trans-gender" and "trans.people" as umbrella terms.(Oliven, John F. (1974). Clinical sexuality: A Manual for the Physician and the Professions (3rd ed.). Lippincott. "Transgender deviance" p 110, "Transgender research" p 484, "transgender deviates" p 485, Transvestites not welcome at "Transgender Center" p 487. ISBN9780397503292. OCLC563898062. Archived from the original on 2015-12-05.), (2006). The Transgender Phenomenon (Elkins, Richard; King, Dave (2006). The Transgender Phenomenon. Sage. p. 13. ISBN978-0-7619-7163-4. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26.)
A Practical Handbook of Psychiatry (1974) references "transgender surgery" noting, "The transvestite rarely seeks transgender surgery, since the core of his perversion is an attempt to realize the fantasy of a phallic woman."(Novello, Joseph R. (1974). A Practical Handbook of Psychiatry. Springfield, Illinois: C. C. Thomas. p. 176. ISBN9780398028688. OCLC643581864. Archived from the original on 2015-09-19.)
^Magnus Hirschfeld coined the German term Transsexualismus in 1923, which Cauldwell translated into English.
^The recurring concern that transsexual implies sexuality stems from the tendency of many informal speakers to ignore the sex and gender distinction and use gender for any male/female difference and sex for sexual activity. (Liberman, Mark. "Single-X Education". Language Log. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.)
Explanatory notes
^Figures are the percentage of people who currently identify as trans. This figure may not be accurate or representative, due to surveying methodologies.
^ abMaizes, Victoria; Low Dog, Tieraona (19 November 2015). Integrative Women's Health. Oxford University Press. p. 745. ISBN978-0190214807. Many transgender people experience gender dysphoria – distress that results from the discordance of biological sex and experienced gender. Treatment for gender dysphoria, considered to be highly effective, includes physical, medical, and/or surgical treatments [...] some [transgender people] may not choose to transition at all.
^ abcdBevan, Dana J. (17 November 2014). The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio/Greenwood Publishing. p. 42. ISBN9781440831270. OCLC1021404840. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022. The term transsexual was introduced by Cauldwell (1949) and popularized by Harry Benjamin (1966) [...]. The term transgender was coined by John Oliven (1965) and popularized by various transgender people who pioneered the concept and practice of transgenderism. It is sometimes said that Virginia Prince (1976) popularized the term, but history shows that many transgender people advocated the use of this term much more than Prince.
^Forsyth, Craig J.; Copes, Heith (2014). Encyclopedia of Social Deviance. SAGE Publications. p. 740. ISBN978-1483364698. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016. Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identities, gender expressions, and/or behaviors are different from those culturally associated with the sex that they were assigned at birth.
^Chrisler, Joan C.; McCreary, Donald R. (12 March 2010). Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology, Volume 1. New York; London: Springer Publishing. p. 486. ISBN9781441914651. OCLC647897357. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022. Transgender is a broad term characterized by a challenge of traditional gender roles and gender identity [...] For example, some cultures classify transgender individuals as a third gender, thereby treating this phenomenon as normative.
^DiGuglielmo, Joey (11 May 2016). "Querry: Bianca Rey". Washington Blade. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
^Griggs, Brandon (1 June 2015). "America's transgender moment". CNN. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2020. Hayden Mora, deputy chief of staff at the Human Rights Campaign and a transgender man....
^ abcd"GLAAD Media Reference Guide – Transgender". Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2020. An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth [...] Transgender should be used as an adjective, not as a noun. Do not say, 'Tony is a transgender,' or 'The parade included many transgenders.' [...] The adjective transgender should never have an extraneous '-ed' tacked onto the end. An '-ed' suffix adds unnecessary length to the word and can cause tense confusion and grammatical errors. It also brings transgender into alignment with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer. You would not say that Elton John is 'gayed' or Ellen DeGeneres is 'lesbianed,' therefore you would not say Chaz Bono is 'transgendered.'
^Polly, Nicole J (2011). "Understanding the transsexual patient: culturally sensitive care in emergency nursing practice". Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal. 33 (1): 55–64. doi:10.1097/TME.0b013e3182080ef4. PMID21317698. S2CID2481961.
^Hirschfeld, Magnus (1923). "Die Intersexuelle Konstitution" [The Intersexual Constitution]. Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen [Yearbook for Intermediate Sexual Types] (in German).
^"Answers to your questions about transgender people". www.apa.org. American Psychological Association. 2014. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022. According to the APA Style guide, the term "transsexual" is largely outdated...
^Mills, Robert (2015). Seeing Sodomy in the Middle Ages. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN9780226169262. Indeed, it is arguably only since the 1990s, with the coining of the umbrella term "transgender," that gender variance has come to be understood, in certain activist and institutional settings, as being ontologically different from homosexuality.
^Transgender rights. Phyllis Randolph Frye, Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, Shannon Minter. Minneapolis. 2006. ISBN0-8166-4311-3. OCLC68221085. From signifying a subject position between cross-dresser and transsexual, the meaning of transgender expanded radically in the early 1990s to include them, along with other cross-gender practices and identities.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
^Thomas E. Bevan, The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism (2014, ISBN1440831270, pages 42, 61: "The term transsexual was introduced by Cauldwell (1949) and popularized by Harry Benjamin (1966) [...]. The term transgender was coined by John Oliven (1965) and was popularized by various transgender people who pioneered the concept and practice of transgenderism....Oliven, J. (1965, June). Transgenderism = transsexualism. Sexual Hygiene and Pathology, 514.
^Simon, Ray (2017). "Stirring up the origin of the 'alphabet soup'". Erie Gay News. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. "According to scholars, the word first appeared in print in John F. Oliven's 1965 book, "Sexual Hygiene and Pathology." Oliven writes: Where the compulsive urge reaches beyond female vestments, and becomes an urge for gender ('sex') change, transvestism becomes 'transsexualism.' The term is misleading; actually, 'transgenderism' is what is meant, because sexuality is not a major factor in primary transvestism. Although Oliven's understanding of "transgender"is not the same as our understanding of it today, his use of it is still significant. As K.J. Rawson and Cristan Williams note in their book, "Transgender*: The Rhetorical Landscape of a Term," Oliven didn't use the word in the book's 1955 edition; it was added later, when the second edition was revised and published. Gradually, some members of this marginalized community began to apply the word "transgender"to themselves. For example, Virginia Charles Prince, publisher of the long-running periodical "Transvestia," occasionally used a variation of the word, "transgenderal.""
^Oliven, John F. (1965). "Sexual Hygiene and Pathology". The American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 250 (2): 235. doi:10.1097/00000441-196508000-00054.: "Where the compulsive urge reaches beyond female vestments, and becomes an urge for gender ("sex") change, transvestism becomes "transsexualism." The term is misleading; actually, "transgenderism" is what is meant, because sexuality is not a major factor in primary transvestism. Psychologically, the transsexual often differs from the simple cross-dresser; he is conscious at all times of a strong desire to be a woman, and the urge can be truly consuming.", p. 514
^Prince, Virginia (1969). "Change of Sex or Gender". Transvestia. Chevalier Publications. IX (60): 65. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021.: "I, at least, know the difference between sex and gender and have simply elected to change the latter and not the former. If a word is necessary, I should be termed a “transgenderal.”"
^Ekins, Richard; King, Dave (1999). "Towards a Sociology of Transgendered Bodies". The Sociological Review. 47 (3): 580–602. doi:10.1111/1467-954X.00185. S2CID144738527. Virginia Prince pioneered the term 'transgenderist' and 'transgenderal' (Prince, 1976: 145) to refer to people who lived full-time in the gender opposite their biological sex, but did not seek sex/gender re-assignment surgery. Richard Ekins established the Trans-Gender Archive, at the University of Ulster, in 1986 (Ekins, 1988). The term was chosen to provide an umbrella concept which avoided such medical categories as transsexual and transvestite; which included the widest possible range of transgender phenomena; and which took the sociological view that aspects of sex, sexuality and gender (not just gender), including the binary divide, all have socially constructed components. Not long afterwards, the 'transgender community' came to be used as an umbrella term to include transsexuals, transvestites, transgenderists, drag queens, and so on, as well as (in some uses) to include their partners and friends and professional service providers.
^Rayner, Claire (2 June 1979). "Crossing Over". Radio Times. BBC Radio 4 (published 6 June 1979). Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
^"First International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy (1992)". organizational pamphlet. ICTLEP/. 1992. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012. Transgendered persons include transsexuals, transgenderists, and other crossdressers of both sexes, transitioning in either direction (male to female or female to male), of any sexual orientation, and of all races, creeds, religions, ages, and degrees of physical impediment.
^Mallon, Gerald P. (1998). "Appendix: Definitions of Key Terms". In Gerald P. Mallon (ed.). Foundations of Social Work Practice with Lesbian and Gay Persons. Harrington Park Press. pp. 275–276. ISBN1-56023-101-7. LCCN97-13382. OCLC37361633. "Transgender: Is a person whose gender identity is different from her/his biological gender. Many transgender individuals are persons who report feeling trapped in the wrong body. These people psychologically identify themselves with the opposite biological gender and desire to be a person of that gender."
^"transgender". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. "especially : of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity is opposite the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth"
^"Guardian and Observer style guide: T". London: Guardian News & Media. 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2017-07-09. [U]se transgender [...] only as an adjective: transgender person, trans person; never 'transgendered person' or 'a transgender'.
^Martin, Katherine. "New words notes June 2015". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
^Transgender Rights (2006, ISBN0-8166-4312-1), edited by Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, Shannon Minter
^For example, Virginia Prince used transgender to distinguish cross-dressers from transsexual people ("glbtq > social sciences >> Prince, Virginia Charles". glbtq.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-11.), writing in Men Who Choose to Be Women (in Sexology, February 1969) that "I, at least, know the difference between sex and gender and have simply elected to change the latter and not the former."
^"Sex -- Medical Definition". medilexicon.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22.: defines sex as a biological or physiological quality, while gender is a (psychological) "category to which an individual is assigned by self or others...".
^A Swenson, Medical Care of the Transgender Patient, in Family Medicine (2014): "While some transsexual people still prefer to use the term to describe themselves, many transgender people prefer the term transgender to transsexual."
^Parker, Jerry (October 18, 1979). "Christine Recalls Life as Boy from the Bronx". Newsday/Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012. If you understand trans-genders," she says, (the word she prefers to transsexuals), "then you understand that gender doesn't have to do with bed partners, it has to do with identity.
^"News From California: 'Transgender'". Appeal-Democrat/Associate Press. May 11, 1982. pp. A–10. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012. she describes people who have had such operations' "transgender" rather than transsexual. "Sexuality is who you sleep with, but gender is who you are," she explained
^ abValentine, David. Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category, Duke University, 2007
^ abStryker, Susan. "Introduction". In Stryker and S. Whittle (eds.), The Transgender Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2006. pp. 1–17. ISBN1-135-39884-4.
^Winters, Kelley (2008). Gender Madness in American Psychiatry : essays from the struggle for dignity. Dillon, Colorado: GID Reform Advocates. p. 198. ISBN9781439223888. Some Transsexual individuals also identify with the broader transgender community; others do not.
^Benjamin, H. (1966). The transsexual phenomenon. New York: Julian Press, page 23.
^Ekins, Richard (2005). Science, politics and clinical intervention: Harry Benjamin, transsexualism and the problem of heteronormativity Sexualities July 2005 vol. 8 no. 3 306-328 doi:10.1177/1363460705049578
^Hansbury, Griffin (2008). The Middle Men: An Introduction to the Transmasculine Identities. Studies in Gender and Sexuality Volume 6, Issue 3, 2005 doi:10.1080/15240650609349276
^McCrea, Amy. Under the Transgender Umbrella: Improving ENDA's Protections, in the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law (2013): "This article will begin by providing a background on transgender people, highlighting the experience of a subset of non-binary individuals, bigender people, ..."
^Wilchins, Riki Anne (2002) 'It's Your Gender, Stupid', pp.23–32 in Joan Nestle, Clare Howell and Riki Wilchins (eds.) Genderqueer: Voices from Beyond the Sexual Binary. Los Angeles:Alyson Publications, 2002.
^Nestle, J. (2002) "...pluralistic challenges to the male/female, woman/man, gay/straight, butch/femme constructions and identities..." from Genders on My Mind, pp.3–10 in Genderqueer: Voices from Beyond the Sexual Binary, edited by Joan Nestle, Clare Howell and Riki Wilchins, published by Los Angeles:Alyson Publications, 2002:9. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
^ abAPA task force (1994) "...The paraphiliac focus of Transvestic Fetishism involves cross-dressing. Usually the male with Transvestic Fetishism keeps a collection of female clothes that he intermittently uses to cross-dress. While cross dressed, he usually masturbates..." in DSM-IV: Sections 302.3Archived 2007-02-11 at the Wayback Machine published by the American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
^"Understanding Drag". National Center For Transgender Equality. 28 April 2017. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
^Bockting, Walter; Benner, Autumn; Coleman, Eli (28 March 2009). "Gay and Bisexual Identity Development Among Female-to-Male Transsexuals in North America: Emergence of a Transgender Sexuality". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 38 (5): 688–701. doi:10.1007/s10508-009-9489-3. PMID19330439. S2CID27207925.
^Blanchard, Ray (1989). "The classification and labeling of nonhomosexual gender dysphorias". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 18 (4): 315–334. doi:10.1007/BF01541951. PMID2673136. S2CID43151898.
^Bagemihl, B. (1997). "Surrogate phonology and transsexual faggotry: A linguistic analogy for uncoupling sexual orientation from gender identity". In Livia, Anna; Hall, Kira (eds.). Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality. Oxford University Press. ISBN0195104714.
^Wahng SJ (2004). Double Cross: Transmasculinity Asian American Gendering in Trappings of Transhood. in Aldama AJ (ed.) Violence and the Body: Race, Gender, and the State. Indiana University Press. ISBN025334171X
^Leiblum SR, Rosen RC (2000). Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, Third Edition. ISBN1-57230-574-6, Guilford Press of New York, c2000.
^APA task force (1994) "...For sexually mature individuals, the following specifiers may be noted based on the individual's sexual orientation: Sexually Attracted to Males, Sexually Attracted to Females, Sexually Attracted to Both, and Sexually Attracted to Neither..." in DSM-IV: Sections 302.6 and 302.85Archived 2007-02-11 at the Wayback Machine published by the American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved via Mental Health MattersArchived 2007-04-07 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-04-06.
^Goethals, S.C. and Schwiebert, V.L. (2005) "...counselors to rethink their assumptions regarding gender, sexuality and sexual orientation. In addition, they supported counselors' need to adopt a transpositive disposition to counseling and to actively advocate for transgendered persons..." Counseling as a Critique of Gender: On the Ethics of Counseling Transgendered Clients from the International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, Vol. 27, No. 3, September 2005. Retrieved via SpringerLinkArchived 2012-01-22 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-04-06.
^Retro Report (2015-06-15). "Transforming History". Retro Report. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
"Detransitioning after surgical interventions ... is exceedingly rare. Research has often put the percentage of regret between 1 and 2% ... Detransitioning is actually far more common in the stages before surgery, when people are still exploring their options. 'There are people who take hormones and then decide to go off hormones,' says Randi Ettner, a therapist who has served on the board of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. 'That is not uncommon.'" Clark-Flory 2015
"There were 15 (5 [female-to-male] and 10 [male-to-female]) regret applications corresponding to a 2.2% regret rate for both sexes. There was a significant decline of regrets over the time period." (Dhejne et al. define "regret" as "application for reversal of the legal gender status among those who were sex reassigned" which "gives the person the right to treatment to reverse the body as much as possible."), "the median time lag until applying for a reversal was 8 years." Dhejne et al. 2014
^Hanssmann, C.; Morrison, D.; Russian, E. (2008). "Talking, gawking, or getting it done: Providing trainings to increase cultural and clinical competence for transgender and gender-nonconforming patients and clients". Sexuality Research and Social Policy. 5: 5–23. doi:10.1525/srsp.2008.5.1.5. S2CID52025741.
^Pfäfflin F., Junge A. (1998) "...This critique for the use of the term sex change in connection to sex reassignment surgery stems from the concern about the patient, to take the patient seriously...." in Sex Reassignment: Thirty Years of International Follow-Up Studies: A Comprehensive Review, 1961–1991 from the Electronic Book Collection of the International Journal of Transgenderism. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
^"Detransitioning after surgical interventions ... is exceedingly rare....Detransitioning is actually far more common in the stages before surgery, when people are still exploring their options." Clark-Flory 2015
^Currah, Paisley; M. Juang, Richard; Minter, Shannon Price, eds. (2006). Transgender Rights. Minnesota University Press. pp. 51–73. ISBN978-0-8166-4312-7. Archived from the original on 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
^Heylens G, De Cuypere G, Zucker KJ, Schelfaut C, Elaut E, Vanden Bossche H, et al. (March 2012). "Gender identity disorder in twins: a review of the case report literature". The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 9 (3): 751–7. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02567.x. PMID22146048. Of 23 monozygotic female and male twins, nine (39.1%) were concordant for GID; in contrast, none of the 21 same‐sex dizygotic female and male twins were concordant for GID, a statistically significant difference (P = 0.005)... These findings suggest a role for genetic factors in the development of GID.
^ abDiamond M (2013). "Transsexuality Among Twins: Identity Concordance, Transition, Rearing, and Orientation". International Journal of Transgender Health. 14 (1): 24–38. doi:10.1080/15532739.2013.750222. S2CID144330783. Combining data from the present survey with those from past-published reports, 20% of all male and female monozygotic twin pairs were found concordant for transsexual identity... The responses of our twins relative to their rearing, along with our findings regarding some of their experiences during childhood and adolescence show their identity was much more influenced by their genetics than their rearing.
^de Blok, Christel JM; Wiepjes, Chantal M; van Velzen, Daan M; Staphorsius, Annemieke S; Nota, Nienke M; Gooren, Louis JG; Kreukels, Baudewijntje PC; den Heijer, Martin (2021). "Mortality trends over five decades in adult transgender people receiving hormone treatment: a report from the Amsterdam cohort of gender dysphoria". The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 9 (10): 663–670. doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(21)00185-6. PMID34481559. S2CID237423345.
^Winter, Sam (2003). Research and discussion paper: Language and identity in transgender: gender wars and the case of the Thai kathoey. Paper presented at the Hawaii conference on Social Sciences, Waikiki, June 2003. Article onlineArchived 29 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
^Harrison, F. (2005) "...He shows me the book in Arabic in which, 41 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini wrote about new medical issues like transsexuality. "I believe he was the first Islamic scientist in the world of Islam who raised the issue of sex change," says Hojatulislam Kariminia. The Ayatollah's ruling that sex-change operations were allowed has been reconfirmed by Iran's current spiritual leader..." in Iran's sex-change operationsArchived 2007-08-17 at the Wayback Machine, from the BBCArchived 1999-04-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
^Mitsuhashi, J. (2006). Translated by Hasegawa, K. "The transgender world in contemporary Japan: the male to female cross‐dressers' community in Shinjuku". Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 7 (2): 202–227. doi:10.1080/14649370600673847. S2CID143080943. "...the male to female cross-dressing (MTFCD) community in Shinjuku, Tokyo, which plays an important role in the overall transgender world and how people in the community think and live..."
^Shim, S. (2006) "...Rush, catering especially to crossdressers and transgenders, is a cafe owned by a 46-year-old man who goes by the female name Lee Cho-rong. "...Many people in South Korea don't really understand the difference between gay and transgender. I'm not gay. I was born a man but eager to live as a woman and be beautiful," said Lee..." in S. Korea in dilemma over transgender citizens right to chooseArchived 2007-08-17 at the Wayback Machine from the Yonhap News AgencyArchived 2007-07-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
^Heng, R. (2005) "...Even if we take Bugis Street as a starting point, we should remember that cross-dressing did not emerge suddenly out of nowhere. Across Asia, there is a tradition of cross-dressing and other forms of transgender behaviour in many places with a rich local lexicon and rituals associated with them...." in Where queens ruled! - a history of gay venues in SingaporeArchived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine from IndigNation. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
^Emerton, R. (2006). "Finding a voice, fighting for rights: the emergence of the transgender movement in Hong Kong". Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 7 (2): 243–269. doi:10.1080/14649370600673896. S2CID145122793. "...Hong Kong's transgender movement at its current stage, with particular reference to the objectives and activities of the Hong Kong Transgender Equality and Acceptance Movement..."
^Ho, J. (2006). "Embodying gender: transgender body/subject formations in Taiwan". Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 7 (2): 228–242. doi:10.1080/14649370600673888. S2CID43951816. Archived from the original on 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2019-11-27. "...specificities of Taiwanese transgender existence in relation to body- and subject-formations, in hope to not only shed light on the actualities of trans efforts toward self-fashioning, but also illuminate the increasing entanglement between trans self-construction and the evolving gender culture that saturates it..."
^ abParker, H. N. (2001). "The Myth of the Heterosexual: Anthropology and Sexuality for Classicists". Arethusa. 34 (3): 313–362. doi:10.1353/are.2001.0016. S2CID161526282.
^Marciano, A. (2014). "Living the VirtuReal: Negotiating transgender identity in cyberspace". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 19 (4): 824–838. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12081.
^Gillig, Traci K; Rosenthal, Erica L; Murphy, Sheila T; Folb, Kate Langrall (2017). "More than a Media Moment: The Influence of Televised Storylines on Viewers' Attitudes toward Transgender People and Policies". Sex Roles. 78 (7–8): 1–13. doi:10.1007/s11199-017-0816-1. S2CID149238194.
^"I'm Scared to Be a Woman". Human Rights Watch. 24 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015. a 22-year-old transgender woman sports a tattoo of a butterfly – a transgender symbol signifying transformation
^Sperry, Len (2016). Mental health and mental disorders : an encyclopedia of conditions, treatments, and well-being. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood. p. 1150. ISBN9781440803826. OCLC915943054.
Bettcher, Talia Mae; Lombardi, Emilia (2005). "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual Individuals". In Levy, Barry; Sidel, Victor (eds.). Social Injustice and Public Health. Oxford University Press.
Lerario, Z Paige, "Voice Training for Transgender People: Speech therapy and language strategies can help save lives", Scientific American, vol. 328, no. 1 (January 2023), p. 55. "Voice training is less costly and invasive than a throat operation... Through sessions with a licensed speech-language pathologist, transgender people learn to control pitch, resonance, word choice and other vocal behaviors.... Such training can improve quality of life, reduce voice-related disability and boost self-confidence."
External links
The dictionary definition of transgender at Wiktionary
Category
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