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A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
or
gender expression
Gender expression, or gender presentation, is a person's behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender, specifically with the categories of femininity or masculinity. This also includes gender roles. These cat ...
does not correspond with their
sex assigned at birth
Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...
.
Many transgender people experience
dysphoria
Dysphoria (; ) is a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. It is the semantic opposite of euphoria. In a psychiatric context, dysphoria may accompany depression, anxiety, or agitation.
In psychiatry
Intense states of distress and unea ...
, which they seek to alleviate through
transitioning,
often adopting a
different name and set of
pronouns
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts o ...
in the process. Additionally, they may undergo
sex reassignment therapies
Transgender health care, also known as gender-affirming care, includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions, as well as sex reassignment therapies, for transgender individuals.Gorton N, Grubb HM (2014) ...
such as
hormone therapy
Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are oncologic horm ...
and
sex reassignment surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
to more closely align their
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
and
secondary sex characteristics
Secondary sex characteristics are features that appear during puberty in humans, and at sexual maturity in other animals. These characteristics are particularly evident in the sexually dimorphic phenotypic traits that distinguish the sexes of a sp ...
with their gender identity. Not all transgender people desire these treatments, however, and others may be unable to access them for financial or medical reasons.
Those who do desire to medically transition to another sex may identify as
transsexual
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...
.
''Transgender'' is an
umbrella term
In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...
. In addition to
trans men
A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...
and
trans women
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...
, it may also include people who are
non-binary or genderqueer.
Other definitions of ''transgender'' also include people who belong to a
third gender
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...
, or else conceptualize transgender people as a third gender,
and the term may be defined very broadly to include
cross-dressers
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
.
Gender identity is distinct from
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
, and transgender people may be of any sexual orientation. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''
cisgender
Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of ''transgender''. The prefix ''wiktionary:cis ...
'', which describes people whose gender identity matches their assigned sex.
Statistics on the number of transgender people vary widely, in part due to differing definitions of ''transgender.''
Some countries, such as Canada, collect
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
data on transgender people. Transgender identity is generally found in less than 1% of the worldwide population, with figures ranging from <0.1% to 0.6%.
Many transgender people
face discrimination in the workplace, in accessing public accommodations,
and healthcare. In many places, they are not legally protected from discrimination.
Terminology
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.
Imported from the German and ultimately modelled after German ''Transsexualismus'' (coined in 1923), the English term ''transsexual'' has enjoyed international acceptability, though ''transgender'' (1965, by J. Oliven) has been increasingly preferred over ''transsexual''.
''Transgender''
Psychiatrist John F. Oliven of
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
coined the term ''transgender'' in his 1965 reference work ''Sexual Hygiene and Pathology'', writing that the term which had previously been used, ''
transsexual
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...
ism'', "is misleading; actually, 'transgenderism' is meant, because sexuality is not a major factor in primary transvestism."
The term ''transgender'' was then popularized with varying definitions by various transgender, transsexual, and transvestite people, including
Virginia Prince
Virginia Charles Prince (November 23, 1912 – May 2, 2009), born Arnold Lowman, was an American transgender activist. She published '' Transvestia'' magazine, and started the ''Foundation for Personality Expression (FPE)''
and later the Society ...
,
who used it in the December 1969 issue of ''Transvestia'', a national magazine for cross-dressers she founded.
By the mid-1970s both ''trans-gender'' and ''trans people'' were in use as
umbrella term
In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...
s,
[* In April 1970, ''TV Guide'' published an article which referenced a post-operative transsexual movie character as being "transgendered."()
* 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.(), (2006). The Transgender Phenomenon ()
* However ''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."())] while ''transgenderist'' and ''transgenderal'' were used to refer to people who wanted to live cross-gender without
sex reassignment surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
(SRS). By 1976, ''transgenderist'' was abbreviated as ''TG'' in educational materials.
By 1984, the concept of a "transgender community" had developed, in which ''transgender'' was used as an umbrella term. In 1985, Richard Elkins established the "Trans-Gender Archive" at the University of Ulster.
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.
Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg (September 1, 1949 – November 15, 2014) was an American butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author. Feinberg authored '' Stone Butch Blues'' in 1993. '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
Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...
; in this way ''transgender'' has become synonymous with ''
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
''. In 1994, gender theorist
Susan Stryker
Susan O'Neal Stryker (born 1961) is an American professor, historian, author, filmmaker, and theorist whose work focuses on gender and human sexuality. She is a professor of Gender and Women's Studies, former director of the Institute for LGBT Stu ...
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
Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...
or the Indian
Hijra
Hijra, Hijrah, Hegira, Hejira, Hijrat or Hijri may refer to:
Islam
* Hijrah (often written as ''Hejira'' in older texts), the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE
* Migration to Abyssinia or First Hegira, of Muhammad's followers ...
".
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 now been superseded by "
trans man
A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...
" and "
trans woman
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...
", respectively.
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.
' 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; ''transmasculine'' is the equivalent term for someone who was assigned female at birth and has a predominantly masculine gender identity or presentation.
''Transgendered'' is a common term in older literature; many within the transgender community now deprecate it on the basis that ''transgender'' is an adjective, not a verb.
Organizations such as
GLAAD
GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...
and ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' 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''").
However, ''transgender'' is also used as a noun equivalent to the broader topic of transgender identity and experience.
Although the term "transgenderism" was once considered acceptable, it has come to be viewed as offensive, according to
GLAAD
GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...
.
In 2020 the ''International Journal of Transgenderism'' changed its name to the ''
International Journal of Transgender Health
The ''International Journal of Transgender Health'' (IJTH) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on gender dysphoria and gender incongruence, the medical treatment of transgender individuals, social and legal acceptance ...
'' "to reflect a change toward more appropriate and acceptable use of language in our field."
[ See paragraph 5.]
Health-practitioner manuals, professional journalistic
style guide
A style guide or manual of style is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. It is often called a style sheet, although that term also has multiple other meanings. The standards can be applied either for gene ...
s, 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.
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
Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of ''transgender''. The prefix ''wiktionary:cis ...
''.
''Transsexual''
Inspired by
Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist.
Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Com ...
's 1923 term ''seelischer Transsexualismus'', the term ''transsexual'' was introduced to English in 1949 by
David Oliver Cauldwell David Oliver Cauldwell (June 17, 1897 – August 30, 1959) was a prolific and pioneering Sexology, sexologist, who coined the term Transsexualism, transsexual as used in its current definition. Many of his monographs on sex, psychology, or health we ...
Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist.
Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Com ...
coined the German term ''Transsexualismus'' in 1923, which Cauldwell translated into English. and popularized by
Harry Benjamin
Harry Benjamin (January 12, 1885 – August 24, 1986) was a German-American endocrinologist and sexologist, widely known for his clinical work with transgender people.
Early life and career
Benjamin was born in Berlin, and raised in a German ...
in 1966, around the same time ''transgender'' was coined and began to be popularized.
Since the 1990s, ''transsexual'' has generally been used to refer to the subset of transgender people
[''Transgender Rights'' (2006, ), edited by Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, Shannon Minter][A. C. Alegria, ''Transgender identity and health care: Implications for psychosocial and physical evaluation'', in the ''Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners'', volume 23, issue 4 (2011), pages 175–182: "Transgender, Umbrella term for persons who do not conform to gender norms in their identity and/or behavior (Meyerowitz, 2002). Transsexual, Subset of transgenderism; persons who feel discordance between natal sex and identity (Meyerowitz, 2002)."] 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. 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. Many transgender people reject the term ''transsexual''.
[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."] Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was an American trans woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery. She had a career as a successful actress, singer and rec ...
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." Some have objected to the term ''transsexual'' on the basis that it describes a condition related to gender identity rather than
sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
.
[The recurring concern that ''transsexual'' implies ''sexuality'' stems from the tendency of many informal speakers to ignore the ]sex and gender distinction
Though the terms ''sex'' and ''gender'' have been used interchangeably since at least the fourteenth century, in contemporary academic literature they usually have distinct meanings. ''Sex'' generally refers to an organism's biological sex, while ...
and use ''gender'' for any male/female difference and ''sex'' for sexual activity
Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) ...
. () Some transsexual people object to being included in the ''transgender'' umbrella.
[Valentine, David. ''Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category'', Duke University, 2007][Stryker, Susan. "Introduction". In Stryker and S. Whittle (eds.), ''The Transgender Studies Reader'', New York: Routledge, 2006. pp. 1–17. .]
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.
Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg (September 1, 1949 – November 15, 2014) was an American butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author. Feinberg authored '' Stone Butch Blues'' in 1993. likewise asserts that ''transgender'' is not a self-identifier (for some people) but a category imposed by observers to understand other people.
According to the Transgender Health Program (THP) at
Fenway Health
Fenway Health (formally Fenway Community Health Center, Inc.) is an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) health care, research and advocacy organization founded by Northeastern University students and headquartered in Boston, Massachusett ...
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 now be 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.
Harry Benjamin invented a classification system for transsexuals and transvestites, called the
Sex Orientation Scale The Sex Orientation Scale (SOS) was Harry Benjamin's attempt to classify and understand various forms and subtypes of transvestism and transsexualism in biological males, published in 1966.Benjamin, Harry (1966). ''The Transsexual Phenomenon.'' The ...
(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.
[Benjamin, H. (1966). ''The transsexual phenomenon''. New York: Julian Press, page 23.] Contemporary views on gender identity and classification differ markedly from Harry Benjamin's original opinions.
[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 ] 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.
[Hansbury, Griffin (2008). The Middle Men: An Introduction to the Transmasculine Identities. '']Studies in Gender and Sexuality
Study or studies may refer to:
General
* Education
**Higher education
* Clinical trial
* Experiment
* Observational study
* Research
* Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning
Other
* Study (art), a drawing or series of drawin ...
'' Volume 6, Issue 3, 2005
Non-binary identity
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, and exist outside of
cisnormativity
Cisnormativity or cissexual assumption is the assumption that everyone is, or ought to be, cisgender. The term can further refer to a wider range of presumptions about gender assignment, such as the presumption of a gender binary, or expectations ...
. 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). Non-binary gender identities are independent of sexual orientation.
Related identities and practices
Transvestism and cross-dressing
A
transvestite
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...
is a person who
cross-dresses
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
, or dresses in clothes typically associated with the gender opposite the one they were assigned at birth.
[E. D. Hirsch, Jr., E.D., Kett, J.F., Trefil, J. (2002) "Transvestite: Someone who dresses in the clothes usually worn by the opposite sex." i]
Definition of the word "transvestite"
fro
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
. Retrieved 2007-08-13.[various (2006) "trans·ves·tite... (plural trans·ves·tites), noun. Definition: somebody who dresses like opposite sex:" i]
from th
Encarta World English Dictionary (North American Edition)
. Retrieved 2007-08-13. The term ''transvestite'' is used as a synonym for the term ''cross-dresser'',
[Raj, R (2002) "transvestite (TV): n. Synonym: crossdresser (CD):" i]
from the International Journal of Transgenderism 6,2. Retrieved 2007-08-13. [Hall, B. et al. (2007) "...Many say this term (crossdresser) is preferable to transvestite, which means the same thing..." and "...transvestite (TV) – same as cross-dresser. Most feel cross-dresser is the preferred term..." i]
from th
Ontario Human Rights Commission
. Retrieved 2007-08-13. although ''cross-dresser'' is generally considered the preferred term.
[Green, E., Peterson, E.N. (2006) "...The preferred term is 'cross-dresser', but the term 'transvestite' is still used in a positive sense in England..." i]
LGBTTSQI Terminology
fro
Trans-Academics.org
. Retrieved 2007-08-13. The term ''cross-dresser'' is not exactly defined in the relevant literature. Michael A. Gilbert, professor at the Department of Philosophy,
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
, Toronto, offers this definition: "
cross-dresseris a person who has an apparent
gender identification
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
with one sex, and who has and certainly has been birth-designated as belonging to
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
sex, but who wears the clothing of the opposite sex because it is that of the opposite sex." This definition excludes people "who wear opposite sex clothing for other reasons", such as "those
female impersonators
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
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."
[Gilbert, Michael 'Miqqi Alicia' (2000) "The Transgendered Philosopher" i]
Special Issue on What is Transgender?
fro
The International Journal of Transgenderism, Special Issue July 2000
. Retrieved 2007-10-09. 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.
The term ''transvestite'' and the associated outdated term ''transvestism'' are conceptually different from the term ''
transvestic fetishism
Transvestic fetishism is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to men who are thought to have an excessive sexual or erotic interest in cross-dressing; this interest is often expressed in autoerotic behavior. It differs from cross-dressing for entert ...
'', as ''transvestic fetishist'' refers to those who intermittently use clothing of the opposite gender for fetishistic purposes.
[World Health Organisation (1992) "...Fetishistic transvestism is distinguished from transsexual transvestism by its clear association with sexual arousal and the strong desire to remove the clothing once orgasm occurs and sexual arousal declines...." i]
ICD-10, Gender Identity Disorder, category F65.1
published by th
World Health Organisation
. Retrieved 2007-08-13.[APA 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..." i]
published by the American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 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
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...
(DSM) and F65.1
in the
ICD
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a globally used diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management and clinical purposes. The ICD is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is the directing and coordinating ...
.
Drag
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. 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
Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains.
Wh ...
. Drag artists have a long tradition in
LGBT culture
LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), while the term gay culture may be used to mean "LGBT culture" o ...
.
Generally the term ''
drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
'' covers men doing female drag, ''
drag king
Drag kings are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. A typical drag show may incorporate dancing, acting, stand-up comedy and singing, eit ...
'' covers women doing male drag, and ''
faux queen
A female queen, AFAB queen, bio queen, diva queen, faux queen or hyper queen is a drag queen who identifies as a cisgender woman or as a nonbinary person who was assigned female at birth ("AFAB"). These performers are generally indistinguishable ...
'' covers women doing female drag. 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; however, this term is widely considered an offensive
slur if applied to transgender people.
History
Transgender people are known to have existed since ancient times. A wide range of societies had traditional third gender roles, or otherwise accepted trans people in some form.
However, 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.
Ancient Greek
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
(interpreting the writing of
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
) discusses transgender individuals briefly. He describes the "disease of the
Scythians
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved f ...
" (regarding the
Enaree
The ''Enarei'', singular Enaree ( grc, Ἐνάρεες , , derived from the Iranian term , meaning "unmanly"), were Scythian androgynous/effeminate priests and shamanistic soothsayers who played an important role in the Scythian religion.
Relig ...
), which he attributes to impotency due to riding on a horse without stirrups. Hippocrates' reference was well discussed by medical writings of the 1500s1700s.
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 MtF and FtM individuals were cited in European insane asylums of the early 1800s. The most complete account of the time came from the life of the
Chevalier d'Éon
Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont or Charlotte-Geneviève-Louise-Augusta-Andréa-Timothéa d'Éon de Beaumont (5 October 172821 May 1810), usually known as the Chevalier d'Éon or the Chevalière d'Éon ( is t ...
(17281810). 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 1800's, cross-dressing and being transgender became viewed as an increasing societal danger.
William A. Hammond
William Alexander Hammond (28 August 1828 – 5 January 1900) was an American military physician and neurologist. During the American Civil War he was the eleventh Surgeon General of the United States Army (1862–1864) and the founder of the ...
wrote an 1882 account of transgender
Pueblo
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
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
The American Neurological Association (ANA) is a professional society of academic neurologists and neuroscientists devoted to advancing the goals of academic neurology; to training and educating neurologists and other physicians in the neurologic ...
) 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.
Critical studies first began to emerge in the late 1800s in Germany, with the works of
Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist.
Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Com ...
. 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
The was an early private sexology research institute in Germany from 1919 to 1933. The name is variously translated as ''Institute of Sex Research'', ''Institute of Sexology'', ''Institute for Sexology'' or ''Institute for the Science of Sexual ...
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. Transgender issues went largely out of the public eye until after World War II. Even when they re-emerged, they reflected a
forensic psychology
Forensic psychology is the development and application of scientific knowledge and methods to help answer legal questions arising in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes both research on various ...
approach, unlike the more
sexological
Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism.
Sexologists ap ...
that had been employed in the lost German research.
Sexual orientation
Gender, gender identity, and being transgender are distinct concepts from
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
.
[Answers to Your Questions About Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity](_blank)
report from the website of the American Psychological Association - "What is the relationship between transgender and sexual orientation?" Sexual orientation is an individual's enduring pattern of attraction to others (being
straight
Straight may refer to:
Slang
* Straight, slang for heterosexual
** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype
* Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture
Sport and games
* Str ...
,
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
,
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
,
asexual, etc.), whereas gender identity is a person's innate knowledge of their own gender (being a
man
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...
,
woman
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
,
non-binary
Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...
, etc.).
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
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
s, and trans men exclusively attracted to women would identify as straight.
Many trans people describe their sexual orientation as ''
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
,'' in addition to or instead of, other terms.
For much of the 20th century, transgender identity was conflated with
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
and
transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...
.
In earlier academic literature,
sexologist
Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism.
Sexologists app ...
s used the labels
''homosexual'' and ''heterosexual transsexual'' to categorize transgender individuals' sexual orientation based on their birth sex.
[Blanchard, R. (1989) The classification and labeling of nonhomosexual gender dysphorias from Archives of Sexual Behavior, Volume 18, Number 4, August 1989. Retrieved vi]
SpringerLink
on 2007-04-06. Critics consider these terms "
heterosexist
Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of female–male sexuality and relationships. According to Elizabeth Cramer, it can include the belief that all people are or should be heterosexual and that heterosexual ...
",
[Bagemihl B. Surrogate phonology and transsexual faggotry: A linguistic analogy for uncoupling sexual orientation from gender identity. In ''Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality''. Anna Livia, Kira Hall (eds.) pp. 380 ff. Oxford University Press ] "archaic",
[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. ] and demeaning.
[Leiblum SR, Rosen RC (2000). ''Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy'', Third Edition. ,Guilford Press of New York, c2000.] Newer literature often uses terms such as ''attracted to men'' (
androphilic
Androphilia and gynephilia are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to men or masculinity; g ...
), ''attracted to women'' (
gynephilic
Androphilia and gynephilia are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to men or masculinity; gyn ...
), ''attracted to both'' (bisexual), or ''attracted to neither'' (asexual) to describe a person's sexual orientation without reference to their gender identity.
[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..." i]
DSM-IV: Sections 302.6 and 302.85
published by the American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved vi
Mental Health Matters
on 2007-04-06. Therapists are coming to understand the necessity of using terms with respect to their clients' gender identities and preferences.
[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 vi]
SpringerLink
on 2007-04-06.
The 2015
U.S. Transgender Survey
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit social equality organization founded in 2003 by transgender activist Mara Keisling in Washington, D.C. The organization works primarily in the areas of policy advocacy ...
reported that of the 27,715 transgender and
non-binary
Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...
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''.
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
Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...
, and 9% as unsure or
questioning.
LGBT community
Despite the distinction between sexual orientation and gender, throughout history the
gay, lesbian, and bisexual subculture was often the only place where gender-variant people were socially accepted in the
gender role
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
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
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. did not generally distinguish between sex and gender identity until the 1970s, and often perceived gender-variant people more as homosexuals who behaved in a gender-variant way than as gender-variant people in their own right. In addition, the role of the transgender community in the history of LGBT rights is often overlooked.
Healthcare
Mental healthcare
Most mental health professionals recommend therapy for internal conflicts about gender identity or discomfort in an assigned gender role, especially if one desires to transition. 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; however, research on gender identity with regard to psychology, and scientific understanding of the phenomenon and its related issues, is relatively new.
[Brown, M.L. & Rounsley, C.A. (1996) ''True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism – For Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professionals'' Jossey-Bass: San Francisco ] The term ''gender incongruence'' is listed in the
International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD) by the
WHO
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book ''Horton Hear ...
. In the American
''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM), the term ''gender dysphoria'' is listed under code F64.9.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...
, Fifth Edition (2013)
France removed gender identity disorder as a diagnosis by decree in 2010, but according to French trans rights organizations, beyond the impact of the announcement itself, nothing changed. In 2017, the Danish parliament abolished the F64 Gender identity disorders. The ''
DSM-5
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5), is the 2013 update to the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatric ...
'' refers to the topic as ''
gender dysphoria
Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...
'' (GD) while reinforcing the idea that being transgender is not considered a mental illness.
Transgender people may meet the criteria for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria "only if
eing transgendercauses distress or disability."
[Answers to Your Questions About Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity](_blank)
report from the website of the American Psychological Association - "Is being transgender a mental disorder?" 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 behaviors 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.
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.
Many mental healthcare providers know little about transgender issues. Those who seek help from these professionals often educate the professional without receiving help.
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.
Acknowledgment of the lack of clinical training has increased; however, 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.
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.
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
Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...
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!"
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.
Others regret having undergone the procedure and wish to
detransition
Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or gender transition, whether by social, legal, or medical means. Some individuals detransition on a temporary basis.
Estimates of the rate at which detransitioning occurs ...
.
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
linicalprograms ... I don't think most
herapistsknow. Most therapistsMaster's degree, PhD levelthey'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."
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.
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.
In February 2010, France became the first country in the world to remove transgender identity from the list of mental diseases.
A 2014 study carried out by the
Williams Institute
The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, usually shortened to Williams Institute, is a public policy research institute based at the UCLA School of Law focused on sexual orientation and gender ident ...
(a
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
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. 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.
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.
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.
Laser hair removal
Laser hair removal is the process of hair removal by means of exposure to pulses of laser light that destroy the hair follicle. It had been performed experimentally for about twenty years before becoming commercially available in 1995 and 1996. O ...
or
electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...
removes excess hair for trans women. Surgical procedures for trans women feminize the
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
,
skin
Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation.
Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...
,
face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
,
Adam's apple
The Adam's apple or laryngeal prominence is the protrusion in the human neck formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx, typically visible in men, less frequently in women.
Structure
The topographic structure which is e ...
,
breasts
The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues.
In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...
,
waist
The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On people with slim bodies, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso.
''Waistline'' refers to the horizontal line where the waist is narrowest, or to the general appearan ...
,
buttocks
The buttocks (singular: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed ...
, and
genitals
A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...
. Surgical procedures for trans men masculinize the
chest
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...
and
genitals
A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...
and remove the
womb
The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The uter ...
,
ovaries, and fallopian tubes. The acronyms "
GRS" and "
SRS" refer to genital surgery. The term "
sex reassignment therapy
Sex reassignment therapy or medical transition is the medical aspect of gender transition, that is, modifying one's sex characteristics to better suit one's gender identity. It can consist of hormone therapy to alter secondary sex characteristi ...
" (SRT) is used as an umbrella term for physical procedures required for
transition. Use of the term "
sex change
Sex change is a natural or artificial process in which an individual's sex is changed.
Sex change may also refer to:
Biology and medicine
*Sex reassignment therapy
*Sex reassignment surgery
*Sequential hermaphroditism, a phenomenon whereby some ...
" has been criticized for its emphasis on surgery, and the term "transition" is preferred.
[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...." i]
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. Availability of these procedures depends on degree of gender dysphoria, presence or absence of gender identity disorder,
[APA task force (1994) "...preoccupation with getting rid of primary and secondary sex characteristics..." i]
published by the American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved vi
Mental Health Matters
on 2007-04-06. 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
Endometrial cancer is a cancer that arises from the endometrium (the lining of the uterus or womb). It is the result of the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. The first sign is most o ...
because
androstenedione
Androstenedione, or 4-androstenedione (abbreviated as A4 or Δ4-dione), also known as androst-4-ene-3,17-dione, is an endogenous weak androgen steroid hormone and intermediate in the biosynthesis of estrone and of testosterone from dehydroepia ...
, which is made from testosterone in the body, can be converted into
estrogen
Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal acti ...
, and external estrogen is a risk factor for endometrial cancer.
Detransition
Detransition refers to the cessation or reversal of a
sex reassignment surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
or
gender transition
Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity – the idea of what it means to be a man or a woman,Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) ''True ...
. Formal studies of detransition have been few in number, of disputed quality, and politically controversial. Estimates of the rate at which detransitioning occurs vary from less than 1% to as high as 13%. Those who undergo sex reassignment surgery have very low rates of detransition or regret.
[Detransition estimates:
* "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.
* "There were 15 (5 emale-to-maleand 10 ale-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." ]
The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey collected responses from 27,715 individuals who identified as "transgender, trans, genderqueer,
rnon-binary".
13.1% of respondents who had pursued gender affirmation said they had ever detransitioned, even temporarily. Detransition was associated with assigned male sex at birth, nonbinary gender identity, and bisexual orientation, among other cohorts.
Only 5% of detransitioners reporting doing so because gender transition was "not for them"; 82% cited external reason(s), including pressure from others, the difficulties of transition, and discrimination.
Law
![Camille Cabral pour les Trans](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Camille_Cabral_pour_les_Trans.JPG)
Legal procedures exist in some
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Jur ...
s 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
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...
, 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
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
.
In 1994, the DSM IV entry was changed from "Transsexual" to "Gender Identity Disorder". In many places, transgender people are not legally protected from discrimination in the workplace or in public accommodations.
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,
and over half had been harassed or turned away when attempting to access public services.
Members of the transgender community also encounter high levels of discrimination in health care.
Europe
36 countries in Europe require a mental health diagnosis for legal gender recognition and 20 countries require sterilisation. In April 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that requiring sterilisation for legal gender recognition violates human rights.
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.
Germany
In November 2017, the
Federal Constitutional Court
The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inc ...
ruled that the civil status law must allow a third gender option. Thus officially recognising "third sex" meaning that birth certificates will not have blank gender entries for
intersex
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...
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
Diver or divers may refer to:
*Diving (sport), the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water
*Practitioner of underwater diving, including:
**scuba diving,
**freediving,
**surface-supplied diving,
**saturation diving, a ...
''.
Canada
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
''An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code'' (french: Loi modifiant la Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne et le Code criminel) is a law passed by the Parliament of Canada. The law adds gender expression and ...
, having passed the legislative process in the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The House of Common ...
and the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
, became law upon receiving
Royal Assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
, which put it into immediate force.
The law updated the
Canadian Human Rights Act
The ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' (french: Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne) is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be vi ...
and the
Criminal Code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
to include "gender identity and gender expression" as protected grounds from discrimination, hate publications and advocating
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
. 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.
United States
In the United States, transgender people are protected from employment discrimination by Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
. Exceptions apply to certain types of employers, for example, employers with fewer than 15 employees and religious organizations.
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''.
Nicole Maines
Nicole Amber Maines is an American actress and transgender rights activist. Prior to her acting career, she was the anonymous plaintiff in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court case '' Doe v. Regional School Unit 26'', in which she argued her school ...
, 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, but Maines won her lawsuit against the Orono school district in January 2014 before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. On May 14, 2016, the
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
and
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
issued guidance directing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that match their gender identities.
On June 30, 2016, the
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
removed the ban that prohibited transgender people from openly serving in the US military.
On July 27, 2017, President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that transgender Americans would not be allowed to serve "in any capacity" in the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
.
Later that day, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman
Joseph Dunford
Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. (born December 23, 1955) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general, who served as the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2015, until September 30, 2019. He was the 36th commandant ...
announced, "there will be no modifications to the current policy until the president's direction has been received by the
Secretary of Defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
and the secretary has issued implementation guidance."
Joe Biden later reversed Trump's policy when he became president in 2021.
India
![Jogappas at Bangalore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Jogappas_at_Bangalore.jpg)
In April 2014, the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
declared transgender to be a 'third gender' in Indian law. The transgender community in India (made up of Hijras and others) has a long history in India and in
Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and reg ...
. 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:
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.
Religion
The
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
. The Vatican, however, holds that transgender people cannot become
godparent
In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...
s and compares transitioning to self-harm.
The
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
passed a motion at the 2017
General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion
The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly (Church of England), Church Assembly, is t ...
, which would ensure Anglican churches accepted transgender people, even suggesting on their website that transgender people could be gifted a
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
with their new name inscribed to support them.
Feminism
Feminist views on transgender women have changed over time, but have generally become more inclusive.
Second-wave feminism
Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains.
Wh ...
saw numerous clashes opposed to transgender women, since they were not seen as "true" women, and as invading women-only spaces.
Though second-wave feminism argued for the
sex and gender distinction
Though the terms ''sex'' and ''gender'' have been used interchangeably since at least the fourteenth century, in contemporary academic literature they usually have distinct meanings. ''Sex'' generally refers to an organism's biological sex, while ...
, 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. By the emergence of
third-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism is an iteration of the feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second wave, Gen X and early Gen Y generations third-wav ...
(around 1990), opinions had shifted to being more inclusive of both trans and gay identities.
Fourth-wave feminism
Fourth-wave feminism is a feminist movement that began around 2012 and is characterized by a focus on the empowerment of women, the use of internet tools, and intersectionality. The fourth wave seeks greater gender equality by focusing on gende ...
(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.
Feminists who do not accept that trans women are women have been labeled "trans-exclusionary radical feminists" (
TERF
TERF () is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008, the term was originally used to distinguish trans-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists who reject the assertion that trans women are wome ...
s) or gender-critical feminists.
Discrimination
Employment discrimination
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.
Support
Studies in several cultures have found that cisgender women are more likely to be accepting of trans people than cisgender men.
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.
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 now equal the number of trans women seeking this treatment.
An observational study revealed that transgender people receiving hormone therapy from the
Amsterdam University
The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...
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.
Population figures and prevalence
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.
According to a recent systematic review, an estimated 9.2 out of every 100,000 people have received or requested
gender affirmation surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
or
transgender hormone therapy
Transgender hormone therapy, also called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT), is a form of hormone therapy in which sex hormones and other hormonal medications are administered to transgender or gender nonc ...
; 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.
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.
Common terminology across studies does not yet exist, so population numbers may be inconsistent, depending on how they are being counted.
Asia
In
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
and
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
[Doussantousse, S. (2005) "...The Lao Kathoey's characteristics appear to be similar to other transgenders in the region..." i]
Male Sexual Health: Kathoeys in the Lao PDR, South East Asia – Exploring a gender minority
from th
Transgender ASIA Research Centre
. Retrieved 2007-07-22. the term
kathoey
''Kathoey'' or ''katoey'' ( th, กะเทย; ) is an identity used by some people in Thailand, whose identities in English may be best described as transgender women in some cases, or effeminate gay men in other cases. Transgender wom ...
is used to refer to male-to-female transgender people
[Jackson, P. (2003]
Performative Genders, Perverse Desires: A Bio-History of Thailand's Same-Sex and Transgender Cultures
in Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, Issue 9, August 2003. and
effeminate
Effeminacy is the embodiment of traits and/or expressions in those who are not of the female sex (e.g. boys and men) that are often associated with what is generally perceived to be feminine behaviours, mannerisms, styles, or gender roles, rather ...
gay men.
[Winter, S. and Udomsak, N. (2002]
Male, Female and Transgender: Stereotypes and Self in Thailand
in the International Journal of Transgender, Volume 6, Number 1, January – March 2002. Transgender people have also been documented in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
[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..." i]
Iran's sex-change operations
, from th
BBC
. Retrieved 2007-07-22. Japan,
[ "...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..."] Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
,
[Haviland, C. (2005) "...The Gurung people of western Nepal have a tradition of men called maarunis, who dance in female clothes..." i]
Crossing sexual boundaries in Nepal
, from th
BBC
. Retrieved 2007-07-22. Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
[Graham, S. (2002) "...Among the Bugis of South Sulawesi, possibly four genders are acknowledged plus a fifth para-gender identity. In addition to male-men (oroane) and female-women (makunrai)..., there are calalai (masculine females), calabai (feminine males), and bissu..." i]
Priests and gender in South Sulawesi, Indonesia
from th
Transgender ASIA Research Centre
. Retrieved 2007-07-22. Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
,
[Walters, I. (2006) "...In Vietnam, male to female (MtF) transgender people are categorised as lai cai, bong cai, bong lai cai, dong co, or be-de..." i]
Vietnam Some notes by Ian Walters
from th
Transgender ASIA Research Centre
. Retrieved 2007-07-22. South Korea,
[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..." i]
from th
. Retrieved 2007-07-22. Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
[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...." i]
Where queens ruled! - a history of gay venues in Singapore
from IndigNation
IndigNation was Singapore's annual, month-long lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer pride season, first held in August 2005 to coincide with the republic's 40th National Day.
Background
IndigNation begun as a series of LGBT-themed events meant to f ...
. Retrieved 2007-07-22. and the
greater Chinese region, including Hong Kong,
[ "...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..."][Hung, L. (2007) "...there are many archetypal flamboyant embodiments of female-to-male transgender physicality living and displaying their unrestrained, dashing iconic presence..." i]
Trans-Boy Fashion, or How to Tailor-Make a King
from th
Gender Studies programme of The Chinese University of Hong Kong
. Retrieved 2007-07-22. Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
,
[ "...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..."] and the People's Republic of China.
[Hahn, L. (2005) "...Aware that he often felt more like a woman than a man, Jin Xing underwent a sex change in 1995; a daring move in a conservative Chinese society..." i]
Jin Xing TalkAsia Interview Transcript – June 13, 2005
fro
CNN
. Retrieved 2007-07-22.[Goldkorn, J. (2006) "...At one point in 2003, there was so much media coverage of transsexuals in China that Danwei started a special section for it..." i]
Transsexuals in the Chinese media again
fro
Danwei
. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
The cultures of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
include a
third gender
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...
, referred to as
hijra
Hijra, Hijrah, Hegira, Hejira, Hijrat or Hijri may refer to:
Islam
* Hijrah (often written as ''Hejira'' in older texts), the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE
* Migration to Abyssinia or First Hegira, of Muhammad's followers ...
in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
. In
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
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." In
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
,
Shabnam Mausi
Shabnam "Mausi" Bano (शबनम मौसी) (''"Mausi" noun. Hindi - "Aunty"'') is the first transgender Indian to be elected to public office (MLA). She was an elected member of the Madhya Pradesh State Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 20 ...
became the first transgender person to be elected in India, in the central Indian state of
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
.
Europe
European Union
According to
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, 1.5 million transgender people live in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, making up 0.3% of the population.
UK
A 2011 survey conducted by the
Equality and Human Rights Commission
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...
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).
North America
Canada
The
2021 Canadian census
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...
released by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
found that 59,460 Canadians (0.19% of the population) identified as transgender.
According to the ''Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces'' by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
in 2018, 0.24% of the Canadian population identified as transgender men, women or non-binary individuals.
United States
The Social Security Administration, since 1936, has tracked the sex of citizens.
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.
Prevalence in the States varied, from 1.4 to 10.6 per 100,000.
While most people legally changed both name and sex, about a quarter of people changed name, and then five years later changed sex.
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.
One effort to quantify the population in 2011 gave a "rough estimate" that 0.3% of adults in the
US are transgender. 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 ().
A survey by the
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
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."
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."
Native American and First Nations
In what is now the United States and Canada, some
Native American and
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
cultures traditionally recognize the existence of more than two genders,
such as the
Zuni male-bodied ''
lhamana
''Lhamana'', in traditional Zuni culture, are biologically male people who take on the social and ceremonial roles usually performed by women in their culture, at least some of the time. Page 269 They wear a mixture of women's and men's clothing ...
'',
the
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
*Lakota, Iowa
*Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
*Lakota ...
male-bodied ''
winkte
' (also spelled ') is the contraction of an old Lakota word, ', meaning 'wants to be like a woman'. Historically, the ' have in some cases been considered a social category of male-bodied individuals who adopt the clothing, work, and mannerisms tha ...
'',
[Medicine, B. (2002]
Directions in Gender Research in American Indian Societies: Two Spirits and Other Categories
, taken from Online Readings in Psychology and Culture Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Unit 3, Chapter 2, Western Washington University. and the
Mohave male-bodied ''alyhaa'' and female-bodied ''hwamee''.
These traditional people, along with those from other
North American Indigenous cultures, are sometimes part of the contemporary, pan-Indian
Two-Spirit
Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...
community.
Historically, in most cultures who have alternate gender roles, if the spouse of a third gender person is not otherwise
gender variant
Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...
, they have not generally been regarded as other-gendered themselves, simply for being in a same-sex relationship.
In Mexico, the
Zapotec culture includes a third gender in the form of the
Muxe
In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca (southern Mexico), a muxe (also spelled muxhe; ) is a person assigned male at birth who dresses and behaves in ways otherwise associated with women; they may be seen as a third gender.
Etymology
The Zapotec word ...
.
Mahu is a traditional third gender in Hawai'i and Tahiti. Mahu are valued as teachers, caretakers of culture, and healers, such as
Kapaemahu
Kapaemahu refers to four stones on Waikiki Beach that were placed there as tribute to four legendary mahu (third-gender individuals) who brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaiʻi centuries ago. It is also the name of the leader of the hea ...
. Diné (Navajo) have
Nádleehi
''Nádleehi'' is a social and, at times, ceremonial role in Diné (Navajo) culture – an "effeminate male" or "male-bodied person with a feminine nature". However, the ''nádleehi'' gender role is also fluid and cannot be simply described in term ...
.
Latin America
In Latin American cultures, a
travesti
Travesti may refer to:
* Travesti (gender identity), a transgender identity in South America
* Travesti (theatre), a performance while wearing clothes of the opposite sex
* "Travesti", a section of Arca's 2020 single "@@@@@"
See also
* Tr ...
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.
Other transgender identities are becoming more widely known, as a result of contact with other cultures of the Western world.
These newer identities, sometimes known under the umbrella use of the term "genderqueer",
along with the older ''travesti'' term, are known as non-binary and go along with binary transgender identities (those traditionally diagnosed under the now 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.
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".
Ancient cultures
Among the ancient Middle Eastern
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
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
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...
, ''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. In
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
, the
Gallae were
castrated
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceut ...
followers of the
Phrygia
In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...
n goddess
Cybele
Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...
and can be regarded as transgender in today's terms.
[Endres, N]
Galli: Ancient Roman Priests
from the GLBTQ: an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture.[Brown, K]
In early
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
, gender-variant
[Partial Translation of the Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 41, Number 4910](_blank)
USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts, University of Southern California, translated by Prof. Ahmad Hasan. male-to-female
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic people were acknowledged
in the form of the
Mukhannathun
Mukhannath (; plural ''mukhannathun'' (); "effeminate ones", "ones who resemble women") was a term used in Classical Arabic to refer to effeminate men who appeared feminine and functioned sexually or socially in roles typically carried out by wome ...
. Also, in
Fa'asamoa traditions, the Samoan culture allows a specific role for male to female transgender individuals as
Fa'afafine.
Coming out
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 and violence (transgender people are 28% more likely to be victims of violence) 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. 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.
The internet can play a significant role in the coming out process for transgender people. Some come out in an
online identity
Internet identity (IID), also online identity or internet persona, is a social identity that an Internet user establishes in online communities and websites. It may also be an actively constructed presentation of oneself. Although some people cho ...
first, providing an opportunity to go through experiences virtually and safely before risking social sanctions in the real world.
Media representation
![Laverne Cox by Sachyn Mital](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Laverne_Cox_by_Sachyn_Mital.jpg)
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
The term culture industry (german: Kulturindustrie) was coined by the critical theorists Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), and was presented as critical vocabulary in the chapter "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment ...
, 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, which essentially conveys that those that are shown are the only interpretations and ideas society has of them.
However, in 2014, the United States reached a "transgender tipping point", according to
''Time''. 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. Research has found that viewing multiple transgender TV characters and stories improves viewers' attitudes toward transgender people and related policies.
Events
International Transgender Day of Visibility
International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual holiday occurring on March 31 dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide. The holiday was founded by Michigan-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall in 2009.
Transgender Awareness Week
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.
Transgender Day of Remembrance
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
A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
. TDOR serves a number of purposes:
* it memorializes all of those who have been victims of hate crimes and prejudice,
* it raises awareness about hate crimes towards the transgender community,
* and it honors the dead and their relatives
Trans March
![Existrans 2017 (37146607344)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Existrans_2017_%2837146607344%29.jpg)
Annual marches, protests or gatherings take place around the world for transgender issues, often taking place during the time of local
Pride parade
A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...
s for LGBT people. These events are frequently organised by trans communities to build community, address
human rights struggles, and create visibility.
Pride symbols
A common symbol for the transgender community is the
Transgender Pride Flag
The first transgender flag is a pride flag having five horizontal stripes of three colors—light blue, pink and white. It was designed by American trans woman Monica Helms in 1999 to represent the transgender community, organizations, and indi ...
, which was designed by the American transgender woman Monica Helms in 1999, and was first shown at a pride parade in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
, 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:
Other transgender symbols include the
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
(symbolizing transformation or
metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
), and a pink/light blue
yin and yang
Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the c ...
symbol. Several
gender symbol
A gender symbol is a pictogram or glyph used to represent sex and gender, for example in biology and medicine, in genealogy, or in the sociological fields of gender politics, LGBT, LGBT subculture and identity politics.
In his books (1767) and ...
s have been used to represent transgender people, including
⚥
A gender symbol is a pictogram or glyph used to represent sexual differentiation, sex and gender, for example in biology and medicine, in genealogy, or in the sociological fields of gender politics, LGBT, LGBT subculture and identity politics.
In ...
and
⚧
Over the course of its history, the LGBT community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both with ...
.
See also
*
List of transgender and transsexual fictional characters
This is a list of trans characters in fiction, i.e. characters that either self-identify as trans or have been identified by outside parties to be trans. Listed characters are either recurring characters, cameos, guest stars, or one-off charac ...
*
List of transgender people
This list consists of many notable people who are transgender. The individual listings note the subject's nationality and main occupation.
In some non-Western, ancient or medieval societies, transgender people may be seen as a different gend ...
*
List of transgender publications
This list of transgender publications includes books, magazines, and academic journals about transgender people, culture, and thought.
Books
Some publishers of transgender-related books include Trans-Genre Press, Topside Press, and Transgress Pr ...
*
List of transgender-related topics
The following outline offers an overview and guide to transgender topics.
The term "transgender" is multi-faceted and complex, especially where consensual and precise definitions have not yet been reached. While often the best way to find out ho ...
*
List of transgender-rights organizations
Transgender organizations seek to promote understanding and acceptance, both legally and socially, of transgender persons.
International
* International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE)
* GATE
* World Professional Association for Transgen ...
*
List of people killed for being transgender
This is a worldwide list of people who were killed for being transgender. The list does not include suicides, accidental deaths, or premature deaths. Some of the perpetrators in these cases cite the trans panic defense. Violence against tran ...
*
Transgender history
Transgender people (including non-binary and third gender individuals) have existed in cultures worldwide since ancient times. The modern terms and meanings of "transgender", "gender", "gender identity", and "gender role" only emerged in the 195 ...
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Authority control
LGBT studies