Transsexualism
Encyclopedia
Transsexualism is an individual's identification
with a gender
inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. Simply put, it defines a person whose biological birth sex conflicts with their psychological gender. A medical diagnosis can be made if a person experiences discomfort as a result of a desire to be a member of the opposite sex, or if a person experiences impaired functioning or distress as a result of that gender identification. Transsexualism is stigmatized in many parts of the world but has become more widely known in Western culture in the mid to late 20th century, concurrently with the sexual revolution
and the development of sex reassignment surgery
(SRS). Discrimination and negative attitudes towards transsexualism often accompany certain religious beliefs or cultural values. There are cultures that have no difficulty integrating people who change gender roles, often holding them with high regard, such as the traditional role for 'two-spirit
' people found among certain native American tribes.
's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM, currently in its fourth edition) and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD, currently in its tenth edition
). The ICD-10 incorporates transsexualism, dual role transvestism and gender identity disorder of childhood into its gender identity disorder
category, and defines transsexualism as "[a] desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of, one's anatomic sex, and a wish to have surgery and hormonal treatment to make one's body as congruent as possible with one's preferred sex." The DSM does not distinguish between gender identity disorder and transsexualism, and defines transvestic fetishism
as a separate phenomenon which may co-occur with transsexualism. The DSM diagnosis requires four components:
for transsexual people who present themselves for psychological treatment is "gender identity disorder
" (leaving out those who have sexual identity disorders without gender concerns). The DSM changed its terminology in 1994 away from the diagnosis of "transsexualism". According to the Standards Of Care formulated by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, this diagnostic label is often necessary to obtain sex reassignment therapy with health insurance coverage, and states that the designation of gender identity disorders as mental disorders is not a license for stigmatization, or for the deprivation of gender patients' civil rights. However, some people diagnosed with gender identity disorder known as transgenders rather than transsexuals have no desire for sex reassignment therapy at all, particularly not genital reassignment surgery, and/or are not appropriate candidates for such treatment. While some feel that formal diagnosis helps to destigmatize transsexualism, others feel that it only adds stigma, essentially feeling that such a diagnosis is equivalent to saying something really is wrong with transsexual people. The diagnosis of "gender identity disorder" is seen as insulting and irrelevant to some transsexuals, and may be considered a causal factor in instances of harm occurring to, or death of, transsexual people as the result of prejudice and discrimination when deprived of their civil rights. (Brown 105)
Many transsexual people have asked the American Psychiatric Association
to remove Gender Identity Disorder from the DSM. Many of these people feel that at least some mental health professionals are being insensitive by labeling transsexualism as "a disease", rather than as an inborn trait.
or trans woman
respectively) desire to establish a permanent gender role
as a member of the gender
with which they identify, often pursuing medical interventions as part of the process. These physical alterations are collectively referred to as sex reassignment therapy
and may include female-to-male
or male-to-female
hormone replacement therapy, or various surgeries such as orchiectomy, facial feminization surgery
, sex reassignment surgery
, trachea shave and mastectomy
. The entire process of switching from one physical sex and social gender presentation to the other is often referred to as transition
, and usually takes several years.
As well as conforming to the heterosexual lifestyles and gender roles, transsexuals are now conforming and identifying according to a lesbian or a homosexual identity. Gender identity still takes precedent over morphological
sex.
Gender
was originally a linguistic term. In many languages, words can be considered masculine, feminine, or neutral, completely independently from the attributes of the things to which the word applies. Different languages manifest gender in various ways, recognizing two genders (female, male), three genders (female, male, neuter), or none at all. In some (e.g. the Romance languages
), variation by gender is indicated by relatively simple changes in nouns and adjectives, while others require more complex grammatical changes. In English, a transsexual person's first step in transition often includes the request to be referred to using pronouns for their target gender (she rather than he, her rather than him, and hers rather than his, or vice versa). Some English speakers who feel that they are best described as something in between or other than masculine or feminine prefer to use “ze” and “hir” (examples of gender neutral pronouns in English), or other invented neutral pronouns.
Norman Haire reported that in 1921, that Dora-R of Germany
under the care of Magnus Hirschfeld, began surgical transition from 1921, ending in 1930 with a successful genital reassignment surgery.
In 1930, Magnus Hirschfeld supervised the second genital reassignment surgery to be reported in detail in a peer-reviewed journal on Lili Elbe
of Denmark
. The German term “Transsexualismus” was introduced by Hirschfeld in 1923. The neo-Latin term “psychopathia transexualis” and English “transexual” were introduced by D. O. Cauldwell in 1949, who subsequently also used the term “trans-sexual” in 1950. Cauldwell appears to be the first to use the term in direct reference to those who desired a change of physiological sex. (In 1969, Benjamin claimed to have been the first to use the term “transsexual” in a public lecture, which he gave in December 1953.) This term continues to be used by the public and medical profession alike. It was included for the first time in the DSM-III in 1980 and again in the DSM-III-R in 1987, where it was located under Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence.
Christine Jorgensen
created an international sensation when in 1952 she was the first widely known person to have sex reassignment surgery
—in this case, male to female.
The word transsexual was used by Harry Benjamin
in his seminal 1966 book The Transsexual Phenomenon to describe transsexuals on a scale (later called the "Benjamin scale
") that recognizes three levels of intensity of transsexualism: "Transsexual (nonsurgical)", "Transsexual (moderate intensity)", and "Transsexual (high intensity)". in The Transsexual Phenomenon, Benjamin described "true" transsexualism in this way: "True transsexuals feel that they belong to the other sex, they want to be and function as members of the opposite sex, not only to appear as such. For them, their sex organs, the primary (testes) as well as the secondary (penis and others) are disgusting deformities that must be changed by the surgeon's knife." Benjamin suggested that moderate intensity male to female transsexuals may benefit from estrogen medication as a "substitute for or preliminary to operation." Some people have had SRS but do not meet the common definition of a transsexual (e.g., Gregory Hemingway). While other people do not desire SRS, they do not meet Dr. Benjamin's definition of a "true transsexual". Beyond Benjamin's work, which focused on male-to-female transsexuals, there is the case of the female to male transsexual for whom genital surgery may not be practical. Benjamin gives his MTF transsexual patients papers that will help with most legal problems. The certificates state 'Their anatomical sex, that is to say, the body, is male. Their psychological sex, that is to say, the mind, is female'. However, beyond 1967 Benjamin and his terminology of sexual identity are found to be mostly obsolete.
, which is generally considered an umbrella term for people who do not conform to typical accepted gender role
s, for example cross-dressers, drag queen
s, and people who identify as genderqueer
. Some transsexuals object to this inclusion.
Anthropologist David Valentine contextualizes the objection to including transsexuals in his book "Transgender, an Ethnography of a Category."
He writes that transgender is a term coined and used by activists to include many people who do not necessarily identify with the term. He observes that many current health clinics and services set up to serve gender variant communities employ the term, but that most of the service-seekers do not identify with the term. The rejection of this political category, first coined by self-identified activist Leslie Feinberg, illustrates the difference between a self-identifier and categories imposed by observers to understand other people.
Historically the reason that transsexuals rejected associations with the transgender or broader LGBT community is largely that the medical community in the 1950s through the late 1980s encouraged (and in many ways required) this rejection of such a grouping in order to be a 'good transsexual' who would thus be allowed to access medical and surgical care. The animosity that is present today is no longer fed by this same kind of pressure from the medical community.
However, where some of the beliefs of modern day transsexual people that they are not transgender, is reflective of this historical division (Denny 176), other transsexual people state that someone choosing to retain their former physical sex (no SRS) is very different from someone who needs to be of "the other sex", that the groups have different issues and concerns and are not doing the same things. The latter view is rather contested, with opponents pointing out that merely having or not having some medical procedures hardly can have such far-reaching consequences as to put those who have them and those who have not into such distinctive categories. Notably Harry Benjamin's original definition of transsexualism does not require that they need to have had SRS.
, but despite that assignment identifies as a man and is transitioning or has transitioned to a male gender role and has or will have a masculine body. Transsexual people are sometimes referred to with "assigned-to-target" sex terms such as "female-to-male" for a transsexual man or "male-to-female" for a transsexual woman. These terms may be abbreviated as "M2F", "F2M", "MTF", "F to M", etc.
in the USA. The most frequently quoted estimate of prevalence is from the Amsterdam Gender Dysphoria Clinic The data, spanning more than four decades in which the clinic has treated roughly 95% of Dutch transsexuals, gives figures of 1:10,000 assigned males and 1:30,000 assigned females. Though no direct studies on the prevalence of GID have been done, a variety of clinical papers published in the past 20 years provide estimates ranging from 1:7,400 to 1:42,000 in assigned males and 1:30,040 to 1:104,000 in assigned females.
Olyslager and Conway
presented a paper at the WPATH 20th International Symposium (2007) arguing that the data from their own and other studies actually imply much higher prevalence, with minimum lower bounds of 1:4,500 male-to-female transsexuals and 1:8,000 female-to-male transsexuals for a number of countries worldwide. They estimate the number of post-op women in the US to be 32,000 and obtain a figure of 1:2500 male-to-female transsexuals. They further compare the annual incidences of SRS and male birth in the U.S. to obtain a figure of 1:1000 MTF transsexuals and suggest a prevalence of 1:500 extrapolated from the rising rates of SRS in the U.S. and a "common sense" estimate of the number of undiagnosed transsexuals.
Olyslager and Conway also argued that the U.S. population of assigned males having already undergone reassignment surgery by the top three U.S. SRS surgeons alone is enough to account for the entire transsexual population implied by the 1:10,000 prevalence number. This excludes all other U.S. SRS surgeons, surgeons in countries such as Thailand, Canada, and others, and the high proportion of transsexuals who have not yet sought treatment, suggesting that a prevalance of 1:10,000 is too low.
A study in 2008 examined the number of New Zealand passport holders who changed the sex on their passport and estimated that 1:3,639 birth-assigned males and 1:22,714 birth-assigned females were transsexual.
A presentation at the LGBT Health Summit in Bristol, UK, based upon figures from a number of reputable European and UK sources, shows that this population is increasing rapidly (14% per year) and that the mean age of transition
is actually rising.
. Note stigma has a role to play in the development of and adherence to both viewpoints. See the transfeminism
article's section on GID for further discussion.
Harry Benjamin
wrote, "Summarizing my impression, I would like to repeat here what I said in my first lecture on the subject more than 10 years ago: Our genetic and endocrine equipment constitutes either an unresponsive [or] fertile soil on which the wrong conditional and a psychic trauma can grow and develop into such a basic conflict that subsequently a deviation like transsexualism can result."
A few studies based on small samples suggest that transsexualism might be associated with a difference in the human brain called the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTc). In one study, the BSTc of male-to-female transsexuals and cisgender women were similar. Those of heterosexual and homosexual men were similar to each other and different from those of women (cis- and transgender). Another study suggests that transsexuality may have a genetic component.
and intersexual people. Though SRT is sometimes called "gender reassignment", those who use the word "sex" to describe an individual's biology and "gender" to describe their personal identity and social role consider this usage to be misleading. The process of changing from one gender presentation to another is often called transition.
Individuals make different choices regarding sex reassignment therapy, which can include hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to modify secondary sex characteristic
s, sex reassignment surgery
to alter primary sex characteristics, facial feminization surgery
and permanent hair removal
for trans women. Transsexual people who transition usually change their social gender role
s, legal name
s and legal sex designation.
To obtain sex reassignment therapy, transsexual people are usually required to receive psychological therapy and a diagnosis of gender identity disorder in accordance with the Standards of Care (SOC) as issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. The SOC are intended as guidelines, not inflexible rules, meant to discourage people from transitioning based on unrealistic expectations.
The need for treatment is emphasized by the high rate of mental health
problems, including depression
, anxiety
, and various addictions
, as well as a higher suicide
rate among untreated transsexual people than in the general population. These problems may be alleviated by a change of gender role and/or physical characteristics.
Many transgender and transsexual activists, and many caregivers, note that these problems are not usually related to the gender identity issues themselves, but the social and cultural responses to gender-variant individuals. Some transsexual people reject the counseling that is recommended by the Standards of Care because they don’t consider their gender identity to be a psychological problem.
Brown and Rounsley noted that "[s]ome transsexual people acquiesce to legal and medical expectations in order to gain rights granted through the medical/psychological hierarchy." Legal needs such as a change of sex on legal documents, and medical needs, such as sex reassignment surgery
, are usually difficult to obtain without a doctor and/or therapist's approval. Because of this, some transsexual people feel coerced into affirming outdated concepts of gender to overcome simple legal and medical hurdles (Brown 107).
and women
may begin medical treatment starting with hormone replacement therapy or hormone blockers. People who change sex are usually required to live as members of their target sex for at least one year prior to genital surgery, so-called Real-Life Experience (RLE)
or Real-Life Test (RLT). Transsexual individuals may undergo some, all, or none of the medical procedures available, depending on personal feelings, health, income, and other considerations. Some people posit that transsexualism is a physical condition, not a psychological issue, and assert that sex reassignment therapy should be given on request. (Brown 103)
A Dutch study interviewed 10 transsexual people who a) regretted their transition (6/10 and 1 with doubts), b) stated they would not undergo the transition again if they were again in their previous situation (9/10), and/or c) did "not live any longer in the previously desired sex." The ten people voiced different reasons for these opinions and/or behavior. Five of them stated (now) that they were not transsexuals, including one who stated she had actually never wanted a sex change (but had felt "forced" by her partner); another woman, who reported she had undergone treatment and now led a "double-role on request of [her] wife and children," did not report doubts or regrets. The authors of the study reconsidered the study participants' original diagnosis of "transsexuality" (according to DSM-III-R) based on the information they had collected (mainly post-hoc self-reports); they concluded that while all ten had "severe identity conflicts" when they applied for SRS, eight did not suffer from extreme gender dysphoric feelings. They suggest faulty diagnosis may have resulted from late-life psychological factors as the cause of their dysphoria or from an inability to communicate openly with their clinicians.
, and sometimes, their legal gender, to reflect their gender identity
. Within the US, some states allow amendments or complete replacement of the original birth certificates. Some states seal earlier records against all but court orders in order to protect the transsexual's privacy.
In many places, it is not possible to change birth records or other legal designations of sex, although changes are occurring. Estelle Asmodelle
’s book documented her struggle to change the Australian birth certificate and passport laws, although there are other individuals who have been instrumental in changing laws and thus attaining more acceptance for transsexual people in general.
Medical treatment for transsexual and transgender people is available in most Western countries. However, transsexual and transgender people challenge the "normative" gender roles of many cultures and often face considerable hatred and prejudice. The film Boys Don't Cry
chronicles the case of Brandon Teena
, a transsexual man who was raped and murdered after his status was discovered. The project Remembering Our Dead, founded by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, archives numerous cases of transsexual and transgender people being murdered. In the United States, November 20 has been set aside as the "Day of Remembrance" for all murdered transgender people.
Some people who have switched their gender role enter into traditional social institutions such as marriage
and parenting
. They sometimes adopt
or provide foster care
for children, as complete sex reassignment therapy inevitably results in infertility
. Some transsexual people have children from before transition. Some of these children continue living with their transitioning/transitioned parent, or retain close contact with them, with no harm to these children in any way.
The style guides of many media outlets prescribe that a journalist who writes about a transsexual person should use the name and pronouns used by that person. Family members and friends, who are often confused about pronoun usage or the definitions of sex
, are frequently instructed in proper pronoun usage, either by the transsexual person or by professionals or other persons familiar with pronoun usage as it relates to transsexual people. Sometimes, transsexual people have to correct their friends and family members many times before they begin to use the proper pronouns consistently.
Neither "transsexualism" nor "gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments" are specifically covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act Section 12211.
Transsexuals can have difficulty maintaining employment. Most find it necessary to remain employed during transition in order to cover the costs of living and transition. However, employment discrimination
against transpeople is rampant and many of them are fired when they come out or are involuntarily outed
at work. Transsexual people must decide whether to transition on-the-job, or to find a new job when they make their social transition. Other stresses that transsexuals face in the workplace are being fearful of coworkers negativity responding to their transition, losing job experience under a previous name, and even deciding which bathroom is proper to use creates a challenging situation. Finding employment can be especially challenging for those in mid-transition.
Laws regarding name and gender changes in many countries make it difficult for transsexual people to conceal their trans status from their employers. Because the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care require a one year RLT prior to SRS, some feel this creates a Catch 22 situation which makes it difficult for transpeople to remain employed or obtain SRS.
In many countries, laws provide protection from workplace discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression, including masculine women and feminine men, whether gay or straight. An increasing number of companies are including "gender identity and expression" in their non-discrimination policies. Often these laws and policies do not cover all situations and are not strictly enforced. California
's anti-discrimination law
s protect transsexual persons in the workplace and specifically prohibit employers from terminating or refusing to hire a person based on their transsexuality. The European Union
provides employment protection as part of gender discrimination protections following the European Court of Justice
decisions in P v S and Cornwall County Council.
There are examples of people having been denied medical treatment upon discovery of their trans status, whether it was revealed by the patient or inadvertently discovered by the doctors. For example, Leslie Feinberg
was once turned away from a hospital emergency room where he had sought treatment for endocarditis
. Feinberg was presenting as a man but had female genital anatomy. He nearly died after being denied treatment. Feinberg's case demonstrates one of the many dangers of actually being discovered. Tyra Hunter
died after being denied care by paramedics and emergency room physicians after she was injured in an automobile accident.
, who led the American team to the 1936 Summer Olympics
in Berlin
, that a system be established to examine female athletes for "sex ambiguities"; two athletes changed sex after the Games.
Regardless of whether or not transsexual women have undergone SRS, the majority of transsexual women consider the word "shemale" to be offensive, and being referred to as a "shemale" to be highly insulting.
Films depicting transgender issues include: Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Transamerica
, The World According to Garp
, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
, and The Crying Game
. The film Different for Girls
is notable for its depiction of a transsexual woman who meets up with, and forms a romantic relationship with, her former best friend from her all-male boarding school. Ma Vie en Rose
portrays a six-year-old child who is gender variant
.
Two notable films depict transphobic violence based on true events: Soldier's Girl
(about the relationship between Barry Winchell
and Calpernia Addams
, and Winchell's subsequent murder) and Boys Don't Cry
(about Brandon Teena
's murder).
Before transsexual people were depicted in popular movies and television shows, Aleshia Brevard — an actual transsexual whose surgery took place in 1962 — was actively working as an actress and model in Hollywood and New York throughout the 1960s and '70s. Aleshia never portrayed a transsexual or transgender person, though she appeared in eight Hollywood produced films, on most of the popular variety shows of the day including The Dean Martin Show
, and was a regular on The Red Skelton Show
and One Life to Live
before returning to University to teach Drama and Acting.
Transsexual people have also been depicted in some popular television shows. In Just Shoot Me!
, David Spade
's character meets up with his childhood male friend, who has transitioned to living as a woman. After initially being frightened, he eventually forms sexual attraction to his friend, but is scorned, as he is 'not her type'. In an episode of Becker
Dr. Becker gets an out-of-town visit from an old friend who turns out to have undergone SRS, it plays out very similar to the situations in Just Shoot Me!
. This same thing happens in an episode of Two and a Half Men
. In a 1980s episode of The Love Boat
, McKenzie Phillips portrays a trans woman who is eventually accepted as a friend by her old high school classmate, series regular Fred Grandy
. In the 1970s on The Jeffersons
, George's Navy buddy Eddie shows up as Edie and is eventually accepted by George.
In part of the first season of the 1970s t.v. comedy series, Soap
, Billy Crystal plays Jodie Dallas
, a gay man who is about to undergo a sex change in order to legally marry his male lover, who breaks off the relationship just before the surgery.
In the television show, Ugly Betty
, the character Alexis Meade
(Rebecca Romijn
), formerly Alex Meade, is a post-op transsexual who, before transitioning, faked her own death so she could start her life over as a woman. When Alexis realizes that she can get back at her father (who said he would rather see her dead than as a woman) she comes out of stealth and takes over their business after she tips the authorities off that her father killed Fey Sommers, a character whose death immediately preceded the start of the first series. A serious car accident later leaves Alexis with amnesia
, and she forgets the entire previous two years – including her transition from male to female.
The series Law & Order
and Nip/Tuck
have had transsexual characters. However, in Nip/Tuck, the role was played by a non-transexual woman; in Law & Order, some were played by professional cross-dressers (although Katherine Moennig
played a male-to-female transexual in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(episode "Fallacy")). The series Without a Trace
featured an episode in which a transsexual woman went missing and is almost killed by her ex-wife's husband after visiting her family, which she abandoned before transitioning. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
had an episode dealing with a transsexual victim, "Ch-Ch-Changes". Many transsexual actresses and extras appeared on the episode, including Marci Bowers
and Calpernia Addams
. The trans woman victim, Wendy, was played by Sarah Buxton, a cisgender
woman. Addams has appeared in numerous movies and television shows, including the 2005 movie Transamerica
, in which Felicity Huffman
portrays a transsexual woman.
Candis Cayne
, a transsexual actress, appeared in CSI: NY
as a transsexual character. From 2007–2008 she also portrayed a transsexual character (this time recurring) in the ABC series Dirty Sexy Money
.
In fall 2005, the Sundance Channel aired a documentary series known as TransGeneration
. This series focused on four transsexual college students, including two trans women and two trans men, in various stages of transition. In February 2006, Logo
aired Beautiful Daughters, a documentary film about the first all-trans cast of The Vagina Monologues
, which included Addams, Lynn Conway
, Andrea James
, and Leslie Townsend.
Thomas Harris
' Silence of the Lambs
included a serial killer who considered himself a transsexual. After being turned down for sex reassignment surgery due to not meeting necessary psychological evaluations, he then harvested female bodies to make a feminine suit. In the novel it is noted that the character is not a transsexual; this distinction is made only briefly in the film. The film has been accused of cashing in on homophobia and transphobia Other film and TV shows portraying transsexual and transvestites as serial killers include Psycho, Dressed to Kill, The Dead Zone
, Deadly Blessing
, No way to treat a lady
, Deranged
, Homicidal
, Three on a meathook, and Relentless
.
The film Wild Zero
features Kwancharu Shitichai, a transsexual Thai actor. When the main character is conflicted about falling in love with a woman who is also a man Guitar Wolf
tells him "Love knows no race, nationality or gender!"
has been held in Las Vegas. The pageant accepts pre-operation and post-operation transwomen, but providing proof of their original gender is required. The winner of the 2004 pageant was a woman by the name of Mimi Marks
.
is one of three protests held in San Francisco, California
during "Pride Weekend" during the last weekend of June. Every year people from the transexual community gather in San Francisco, CA to protest social justice and equality for them. In addition, through the march they strive to inspire everyone from the transexual community to come out to an environment where power is shared and where one can feel safe and cared for.
The event also hosts comedians, music, and dancing at the park. After parties are often followed after the event.
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
with a gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. Simply put, it defines a person whose biological birth sex conflicts with their psychological gender. A medical diagnosis can be made if a person experiences discomfort as a result of a desire to be a member of the opposite sex, or if a person experiences impaired functioning or distress as a result of that gender identification. Transsexualism is stigmatized in many parts of the world but has become more widely known in Western culture in the mid to late 20th century, concurrently with the sexual revolution
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
and the development of sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
(SRS). Discrimination and negative attitudes towards transsexualism often accompany certain religious beliefs or cultural values. There are cultures that have no difficulty integrating people who change gender roles, often holding them with high regard, such as the traditional role for 'two-spirit
Two-Spirit
Two-Spirit People , is an English term that emerged in 1990 out of the third annual inter-tribal Native American/First Nations gay/lesbian American conference in Winnipeg. It describes Indigenous North Americans who fulfill one of many mixed gender roles found traditionally among many Native...
' people found among certain native American tribes.
Diagnosis
Transsexualism appears in the two major diagnostic manuals used by mental health professionals worldwide, the American Psychiatric AssociationAmerican Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders...
(DSM, currently in its fourth edition) and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD, currently in its tenth edition
ICD-10
The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision is a medical classification list for the coding of diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases, as maintained by the...
). The ICD-10 incorporates transsexualism, dual role transvestism and gender identity disorder of childhood into its gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...
category, and defines transsexualism as "[a] desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of, one's anatomic sex, and a wish to have surgery and hormonal treatment to make one's body as congruent as possible with one's preferred sex." The DSM does not distinguish between gender identity disorder and transsexualism, and defines transvestic fetishism
Transvestic fetishism
Transvestic fetishism is having a sexual or erotic interest in cross-dressing. It differs from cross-dressing for entertainment or other purposes that do not involve sexual arousal and is categorized as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association...
as a separate phenomenon which may co-occur with transsexualism. The DSM diagnosis requires four components:
- A desire or insistence that one is of the opposite biological sex (that is not due to a perceived advantage of being the other sex)
- Evidence of persistent discomfort with, and perceived inappropriateness of the individual's biological sex
- The individual is not intersex (although a diagnosis of GID Not Otherwise Specified is available, which enables intersex people who reject their sex-assignment to access transsexual treatments)
- Evidence of clinically significant distress or impairment in work or social life.
Process
The current diagnosisDiagnosis
Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of anything. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines with variations in the use of logics, analytics, and experience to determine the cause and effect relationships...
for transsexual people who present themselves for psychological treatment is "gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder
Gender identity disorder is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria . It describes the symptoms related to transsexualism, as well as less severe manifestations of gender dysphoria...
" (leaving out those who have sexual identity disorders without gender concerns). The DSM changed its terminology in 1994 away from the diagnosis of "transsexualism". According to the Standards Of Care formulated by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, this diagnostic label is often necessary to obtain sex reassignment therapy with health insurance coverage, and states that the designation of gender identity disorders as mental disorders is not a license for stigmatization, or for the deprivation of gender patients' civil rights. However, some people diagnosed with gender identity disorder known as transgenders rather than transsexuals have no desire for sex reassignment therapy at all, particularly not genital reassignment surgery, and/or are not appropriate candidates for such treatment. While some feel that formal diagnosis helps to destigmatize transsexualism, others feel that it only adds stigma, essentially feeling that such a diagnosis is equivalent to saying something really is wrong with transsexual people. The diagnosis of "gender identity disorder" is seen as insulting and irrelevant to some transsexuals, and may be considered a causal factor in instances of harm occurring to, or death of, transsexual people as the result of prejudice and discrimination when deprived of their civil rights. (Brown 105)
Many transsexual people have asked the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
to remove Gender Identity Disorder from the DSM. Many of these people feel that at least some mental health professionals are being insensitive by labeling transsexualism as "a disease", rather than as an inborn trait.
Relation to gender roles
Transsexual men and women (referred to as a trans manTrans man
A trans man, transman, trans guy, or FTM is a transgender or transsexual man: a person who was assigned female at birth, but who identifies as male....
or trans woman
Trans woman
A trans woman is a male-to-female transsexual or transgender person and the term trans woman is preferred by some individuals over various medical terms. Other non-medical terms include t-girl, tg-girl and ts-girl...
respectively) desire to establish a permanent gender role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
as a member of the gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
with which they identify, often pursuing medical interventions as part of the process. These physical alterations are collectively referred to as sex reassignment therapy
Sex reassignment therapy
Sex reassignment therapy is an umbrella term for all medical procedures regarding sex reassignment of both transgender and intersexual people...
and may include female-to-male
Hormone replacement therapy (female-to-male)
Hormone replacement therapy for transgender gender variant and transsexual introduces hormones associate with the gender that the patient identifies with...
or male-to-female
Hormone replacement therapy (male-to-female)
Hormone replacement therapy for transgender and transsexual people changes the balance of sex hormones in their bodies. Some intersex people also receive HRT, either starting in childhood to confirm the sex to which they were assigned, or later, if this assignment has proven to be incorrect...
hormone replacement therapy, or various surgeries such as orchiectomy, facial feminization surgery
Facial feminization surgery
Facial feminization surgery is a set of reconstructive surgical procedures that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features...
, sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
, trachea shave and mastectomy
Mastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...
. The entire process of switching from one physical sex and social gender presentation to the other is often referred to as transition
Transitioning (transgender)
Transitioning is the process of changing one's gender presentation to accord with one's internal sense of one's gender - the idea of what it means to be a man or woman...
, and usually takes several years.
As well as conforming to the heterosexual lifestyles and gender roles, transsexuals are now conforming and identifying according to a lesbian or a homosexual identity. Gender identity still takes precedent over morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
sex.
Origins
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
was originally a linguistic term. In many languages, words can be considered masculine, feminine, or neutral, completely independently from the attributes of the things to which the word applies. Different languages manifest gender in various ways, recognizing two genders (female, male), three genders (female, male, neuter), or none at all. In some (e.g. the Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
), variation by gender is indicated by relatively simple changes in nouns and adjectives, while others require more complex grammatical changes. In English, a transsexual person's first step in transition often includes the request to be referred to using pronouns for their target gender (she rather than he, her rather than him, and hers rather than his, or vice versa). Some English speakers who feel that they are best described as something in between or other than masculine or feminine prefer to use “ze” and “hir” (examples of gender neutral pronouns in English), or other invented neutral pronouns.
Norman Haire reported that in 1921, that Dora-R of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
under the care of Magnus Hirschfeld, began surgical transition from 1921, ending in 1930 with a successful genital reassignment surgery.
In 1930, Magnus Hirschfeld supervised the second genital reassignment surgery to be reported in detail in a peer-reviewed journal on Lili Elbe
Lili Elbe
Lili Elbe was an Intersex person and one of the first identifiable recipients of male to female sex reassignment surgery. Elbe was born as a male in Denmark. Born as Einar Mogens Wegener, she identified as male for most of her life and was a successful artist with that name...
of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. The German term “Transsexualismus” was introduced by Hirschfeld in 1923. The neo-Latin term “psychopathia transexualis” and English “transexual” were introduced by D. O. Cauldwell in 1949, who subsequently also used the term “trans-sexual” in 1950. Cauldwell appears to be the first to use the term in direct reference to those who desired a change of physiological sex. (In 1969, Benjamin claimed to have been the first to use the term “transsexual” in a public lecture, which he gave in December 1953.) This term continues to be used by the public and medical profession alike. It was included for the first time in the DSM-III in 1980 and again in the DSM-III-R in 1987, where it was located under Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence.
Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen
Christine Jorgensen was the first widely known person to have sex reassignment surgery—in this case, male to female.-Early life:...
created an international sensation when in 1952 she was the first widely known person to have sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
—in this case, male to female.
The word transsexual was used by Harry Benjamin
Harry Benjamin
Harry Benjamin was a German endocrinologist, widely known for his clinical work with transsexualism. He was raised in an observant Ashkenazy Jewish home.- Early life and career :...
in his seminal 1966 book The Transsexual Phenomenon to describe transsexuals on a scale (later called the "Benjamin scale
Benjamin scale
Harry Benjamin's Sex Orientation Scale was an attempt to classify and understand various forms and subtypes of transvestism and transsexualism in biological males...
") that recognizes three levels of intensity of transsexualism: "Transsexual (nonsurgical)", "Transsexual (moderate intensity)", and "Transsexual (high intensity)". in The Transsexual Phenomenon, Benjamin described "true" transsexualism in this way: "True transsexuals feel that they belong to the other sex, they want to be and function as members of the opposite sex, not only to appear as such. For them, their sex organs, the primary (testes) as well as the secondary (penis and others) are disgusting deformities that must be changed by the surgeon's knife." Benjamin suggested that moderate intensity male to female transsexuals may benefit from estrogen medication as a "substitute for or preliminary to operation." Some people have had SRS but do not meet the common definition of a transsexual (e.g., Gregory Hemingway). While other people do not desire SRS, they do not meet Dr. Benjamin's definition of a "true transsexual". Beyond Benjamin's work, which focused on male-to-female transsexuals, there is the case of the female to male transsexual for whom genital surgery may not be practical. Benjamin gives his MTF transsexual patients papers that will help with most legal problems. The certificates state 'Their anatomical sex, that is to say, the body, is male. Their psychological sex, that is to say, the mind, is female'. However, beyond 1967 Benjamin and his terminology of sexual identity are found to be mostly obsolete.
Relation to transgenderism
Transsexualism is often included within the broader term transgenderTransgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
, which is generally considered an umbrella term for people who do not conform to typical accepted gender role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
s, for example cross-dressers, drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
s, and people who identify as genderqueer
Genderqueer
Genderqueer is a catch-all term for gender identities other than man and woman, thus outside of the gender binary and heteronormativity...
. Some transsexuals object to this inclusion.
Anthropologist David Valentine contextualizes the objection to including transsexuals in his book "Transgender, an Ethnography of a Category."
He writes that transgender is a term coined and used by activists to include many people who do not necessarily identify with the term. He observes that many current health clinics and services set up to serve gender variant communities employ the term, but that most of the service-seekers do not identify with the term. The rejection of this political category, first coined by self-identified activist Leslie Feinberg, illustrates the difference between a self-identifier and categories imposed by observers to understand other people.
Historically the reason that transsexuals rejected associations with the transgender or broader LGBT community is largely that the medical community in the 1950s through the late 1980s encouraged (and in many ways required) this rejection of such a grouping in order to be a 'good transsexual' who would thus be allowed to access medical and surgical care. The animosity that is present today is no longer fed by this same kind of pressure from the medical community.
However, where some of the beliefs of modern day transsexual people that they are not transgender, is reflective of this historical division (Denny 176), other transsexual people state that someone choosing to retain their former physical sex (no SRS) is very different from someone who needs to be of "the other sex", that the groups have different issues and concerns and are not doing the same things. The latter view is rather contested, with opponents pointing out that merely having or not having some medical procedures hardly can have such far-reaching consequences as to put those who have them and those who have not into such distinctive categories. Notably Harry Benjamin's original definition of transsexualism does not require that they need to have had SRS.
Terminology
The word "transsexual" is most often used as an adjective rather than a noun – a "transsexual person" rather than simply "a transsexual". Transsexual people prefer to be referred to by the gender pronouns and terms associated with their target gender. For example, a transsexual man is a person who was assigned the female sex at birth on the basis of his genitalsSex organ
A sex organ, or primary sexual characteristic, as narrowly defined, is any of the anatomical parts of the body which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in a complex organism; flowers are the reproductive organs of flowering plants, cones are the reproductive...
, but despite that assignment identifies as a man and is transitioning or has transitioned to a male gender role and has or will have a masculine body. Transsexual people are sometimes referred to with "assigned-to-target" sex terms such as "female-to-male" for a transsexual man or "male-to-female" for a transsexual woman. These terms may be abbreviated as "M2F", "F2M", "MTF", "F to M", etc.
Alternative terminology
The term "gender dysphoria" and "gender identity disorder" were not used until the 1970s when Laub and Fisk published several works on transsexualism using these terms. "Transsexualism" was replaced in the DSM-IV by "gender identity disorder in adolescents and adults".Prevalence
The DSM-IV (1994) quotes a prevalence of roughly 1 in 30,000 assigned males and 1 in 100,000 assigned females seek sex reassignment surgerySex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
in the USA. The most frequently quoted estimate of prevalence is from the Amsterdam Gender Dysphoria Clinic The data, spanning more than four decades in which the clinic has treated roughly 95% of Dutch transsexuals, gives figures of 1:10,000 assigned males and 1:30,000 assigned females. Though no direct studies on the prevalence of GID have been done, a variety of clinical papers published in the past 20 years provide estimates ranging from 1:7,400 to 1:42,000 in assigned males and 1:30,040 to 1:104,000 in assigned females.
Olyslager and Conway
Lynn Conway
Lynn Conway is an American computer scientist, electrical engineer, inventor, trans woman, and activist for the transgender community....
presented a paper at the WPATH 20th International Symposium (2007) arguing that the data from their own and other studies actually imply much higher prevalence, with minimum lower bounds of 1:4,500 male-to-female transsexuals and 1:8,000 female-to-male transsexuals for a number of countries worldwide. They estimate the number of post-op women in the US to be 32,000 and obtain a figure of 1:2500 male-to-female transsexuals. They further compare the annual incidences of SRS and male birth in the U.S. to obtain a figure of 1:1000 MTF transsexuals and suggest a prevalence of 1:500 extrapolated from the rising rates of SRS in the U.S. and a "common sense" estimate of the number of undiagnosed transsexuals.
Olyslager and Conway also argued that the U.S. population of assigned males having already undergone reassignment surgery by the top three U.S. SRS surgeons alone is enough to account for the entire transsexual population implied by the 1:10,000 prevalence number. This excludes all other U.S. SRS surgeons, surgeons in countries such as Thailand, Canada, and others, and the high proportion of transsexuals who have not yet sought treatment, suggesting that a prevalance of 1:10,000 is too low.
A study in 2008 examined the number of New Zealand passport holders who changed the sex on their passport and estimated that 1:3,639 birth-assigned males and 1:22,714 birth-assigned females were transsexual.
A presentation at the LGBT Health Summit in Bristol, UK, based upon figures from a number of reputable European and UK sources, shows that this population is increasing rapidly (14% per year) and that the mean age of transition
Transitioning (transgender)
Transitioning is the process of changing one's gender presentation to accord with one's internal sense of one's gender - the idea of what it means to be a man or woman...
is actually rising.
Causes
Psychological and biological causes for transsexualism have been proposed, with evidence leaning toward prenatal and genetic causes. Some people consider research into the "causes" of transsexualism to be based on the assumption that it is a pathology, an assumption that is rejected by many transsexuals. Others think of the condition as a form of intersexuality, and support research into possible causes, believing that it will verify the theory of a biological origin and thereby reduce social stigma by demonstrating that it is not a delusion, a political statement, or a paraphiliaParaphilia
Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...
. Note stigma has a role to play in the development of and adherence to both viewpoints. See the transfeminism
Transfeminism
Robert Hill defines Transfeminism as "a category of feminism, most often known for the application of transgender discourses to feminist discourses, and of feminist beliefs to transgender discourse". Hill says that transfeminism also concerns its integration within mainstream feminism...
article's section on GID for further discussion.
Harry Benjamin
Harry Benjamin
Harry Benjamin was a German endocrinologist, widely known for his clinical work with transsexualism. He was raised in an observant Ashkenazy Jewish home.- Early life and career :...
wrote, "Summarizing my impression, I would like to repeat here what I said in my first lecture on the subject more than 10 years ago: Our genetic and endocrine equipment constitutes either an unresponsive [or] fertile soil on which the wrong conditional and a psychic trauma can grow and develop into such a basic conflict that subsequently a deviation like transsexualism can result."
A few studies based on small samples suggest that transsexualism might be associated with a difference in the human brain called the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTc). In one study, the BSTc of male-to-female transsexuals and cisgender women were similar. Those of heterosexual and homosexual men were similar to each other and different from those of women (cis- and transgender). Another study suggests that transsexuality may have a genetic component.
Sex reassignment therapy
Sex reassignment therapy (SRT) is an umbrella term for all medical procedures regarding sex reassignment of both transgenderTransgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
and intersexual people. Though SRT is sometimes called "gender reassignment", those who use the word "sex" to describe an individual's biology and "gender" to describe their personal identity and social role consider this usage to be misleading. The process of changing from one gender presentation to another is often called transition.
Individuals make different choices regarding sex reassignment therapy, which can include hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to modify secondary sex characteristic
Secondary sex characteristic
Secondary sex characteristics are features that distinguish the two sexes of a species, but that are not directly part of the reproductive system. They are believed to be the product of sexual selection for traits which give an individual an advantage over its rivals in courtship and aggressive...
s, sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
to alter primary sex characteristics, facial feminization surgery
Facial feminization surgery
Facial feminization surgery is a set of reconstructive surgical procedures that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features...
and permanent hair removal
EPilation
EPilation is the first full-length release from Brisbane musician Tara Simmons. Although a full-length, EPilation contains no new material and is a compilation of Tara's first two EPs Pendulum and All The Amendments...
for trans women. Transsexual people who transition usually change their social gender role
Gender role
Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
s, legal name
Legal name
Legal name is the name that an individual is given at birth and/or recognized by a government or other legal entity, or which appears on a birth certificate , marriage certificate , or other government issued document on which a legal name change is evidenced and...
s and legal sex designation.
To obtain sex reassignment therapy, transsexual people are usually required to receive psychological therapy and a diagnosis of gender identity disorder in accordance with the Standards of Care (SOC) as issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. The SOC are intended as guidelines, not inflexible rules, meant to discourage people from transitioning based on unrealistic expectations.
Psychological treatment
Psychological techniques that attempt to alter gender identity to one considered appropriate for the person's assigned sex are typically ineffective. The widely-recognized Standards of Care note that sometimes the only reasonable and effective course of treatment for transsexual people is to go through sex reassignment therapy.The need for treatment is emphasized by the high rate of mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
problems, including depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
, and various addictions
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
, as well as a higher suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
rate among untreated transsexual people than in the general population. These problems may be alleviated by a change of gender role and/or physical characteristics.
Many transgender and transsexual activists, and many caregivers, note that these problems are not usually related to the gender identity issues themselves, but the social and cultural responses to gender-variant individuals. Some transsexual people reject the counseling that is recommended by the Standards of Care because they don’t consider their gender identity to be a psychological problem.
Brown and Rounsley noted that "[s]ome transsexual people acquiesce to legal and medical expectations in order to gain rights granted through the medical/psychological hierarchy." Legal needs such as a change of sex on legal documents, and medical needs, such as sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
, are usually difficult to obtain without a doctor and/or therapist's approval. Because of this, some transsexual people feel coerced into affirming outdated concepts of gender to overcome simple legal and medical hurdles (Brown 107).
Medical aspects
After initial psychological counseling, menTrans man
A trans man, transman, trans guy, or FTM is a transgender or transsexual man: a person who was assigned female at birth, but who identifies as male....
and women
Trans woman
A trans woman is a male-to-female transsexual or transgender person and the term trans woman is preferred by some individuals over various medical terms. Other non-medical terms include t-girl, tg-girl and ts-girl...
may begin medical treatment starting with hormone replacement therapy or hormone blockers. People who change sex are usually required to live as members of their target sex for at least one year prior to genital surgery, so-called Real-Life Experience (RLE)
Real life experience
Real-life experience is a process where transsexual and transgender people live full-time in their preferred gender identity for a period of time, in order to demonstrate that they can function as a member of said gender...
or Real-Life Test (RLT). Transsexual individuals may undergo some, all, or none of the medical procedures available, depending on personal feelings, health, income, and other considerations. Some people posit that transsexualism is a physical condition, not a psychological issue, and assert that sex reassignment therapy should be given on request. (Brown 103)
Regrets and detransitions
People who undergo sex reassignment surgery can develop regret for the procedure later in life, largely due to lack of support from family or peers, with recent data suggesting a rate of 3.8%. The total rate of patients expressing feelings of doubt or regret is estimated to be as high as 8%. In a 2001 study of 232 MTF patients who underwent GRS with Dr. Toby Meltzer, none of the patients reported complete regret and only 6% reported partial or occasional regrets.A Dutch study interviewed 10 transsexual people who a) regretted their transition (6/10 and 1 with doubts), b) stated they would not undergo the transition again if they were again in their previous situation (9/10), and/or c) did "not live any longer in the previously desired sex." The ten people voiced different reasons for these opinions and/or behavior. Five of them stated (now) that they were not transsexuals, including one who stated she had actually never wanted a sex change (but had felt "forced" by her partner); another woman, who reported she had undergone treatment and now led a "double-role on request of [her] wife and children," did not report doubts or regrets. The authors of the study reconsidered the study participants' original diagnosis of "transsexuality" (according to DSM-III-R) based on the information they had collected (mainly post-hoc self-reports); they concluded that while all ten had "severe identity conflicts" when they applied for SRS, eight did not suffer from extreme gender dysphoric feelings. They suggest faulty diagnosis may have resulted from late-life psychological factors as the cause of their dysphoria or from an inability to communicate openly with their clinicians.
Legal and social aspects
Laws regarding changes to the legal status of transsexuals are different from country to country. Some jurisdictions allow an individual to change their nameName change
Name change generally refers to a legal act allowing a person to adopt a name different than their name at birth, marriage, or adoption. The procedures and ease of a name change depend on the jurisdiction. In general, common law jurisdictions have loose limitations on name changes while civil law...
, and sometimes, their legal gender, to reflect their gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
. Within the US, some states allow amendments or complete replacement of the original birth certificates. Some states seal earlier records against all but court orders in order to protect the transsexual's privacy.
In many places, it is not possible to change birth records or other legal designations of sex, although changes are occurring. Estelle Asmodelle
Estelle Asmodelle
Estelle Asmodelle , formerly known as Estelle Maria Croot, is an Australian model, belly dancer, writer, musician and actress...
’s book documented her struggle to change the Australian birth certificate and passport laws, although there are other individuals who have been instrumental in changing laws and thus attaining more acceptance for transsexual people in general.
Medical treatment for transsexual and transgender people is available in most Western countries. However, transsexual and transgender people challenge the "normative" gender roles of many cultures and often face considerable hatred and prejudice. The film Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't Cry (film)
Boys Don't Cry is a 1999 American independent romantic drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and co-written by Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man played by Hilary Swank, who pursues a relationship with a young woman, played by Chloë...
chronicles the case of Brandon Teena
Brandon Teena
Brandon Teena was an American trans man who was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska. His life and death were the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, which was based on the documentary film The Brandon Teena Story.-Life:Teena was born Teena Renae Brandon in Lincoln,...
, a transsexual man who was raped and murdered after his status was discovered. The project Remembering Our Dead, founded by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, archives numerous cases of transsexual and transgender people being murdered. In the United States, November 20 has been set aside as the "Day of Remembrance" for all murdered transgender people.
Some people who have switched their gender role enter into traditional social institutions such as marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
and parenting
Parenting
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
. They sometimes adopt
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
or provide foster care
Foster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....
for children, as complete sex reassignment therapy inevitably results in infertility
Infertility
Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term...
. Some transsexual people have children from before transition. Some of these children continue living with their transitioning/transitioned parent, or retain close contact with them, with no harm to these children in any way.
The style guides of many media outlets prescribe that a journalist who writes about a transsexual person should use the name and pronouns used by that person. Family members and friends, who are often confused about pronoun usage or the definitions of sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, are frequently instructed in proper pronoun usage, either by the transsexual person or by professionals or other persons familiar with pronoun usage as it relates to transsexual people. Sometimes, transsexual people have to correct their friends and family members many times before they begin to use the proper pronouns consistently.
Neither "transsexualism" nor "gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments" are specifically covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act Section 12211.
Employment issues
Employment discrimination
Employment discrimination is discrimination in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation. It includes various types of harassment....
against transpeople is rampant and many of them are fired when they come out or are involuntarily outed
Outing
Outing is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
at work. Transsexual people must decide whether to transition on-the-job, or to find a new job when they make their social transition. Other stresses that transsexuals face in the workplace are being fearful of coworkers negativity responding to their transition, losing job experience under a previous name, and even deciding which bathroom is proper to use creates a challenging situation. Finding employment can be especially challenging for those in mid-transition.
Laws regarding name and gender changes in many countries make it difficult for transsexual people to conceal their trans status from their employers. Because the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care require a one year RLT prior to SRS, some feel this creates a Catch 22 situation which makes it difficult for transpeople to remain employed or obtain SRS.
In many countries, laws provide protection from workplace discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression, including masculine women and feminine men, whether gay or straight. An increasing number of companies are including "gender identity and expression" in their non-discrimination policies. Often these laws and policies do not cover all situations and are not strictly enforced. California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's anti-discrimination law
Anti-discrimination law
Anti-discrimination law refers to the law on people's right to be treated equally. Some countries mandate that in employment, in consumer transactions and in political participation people may be dealt with on an equal basis regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality and sometimes...
s protect transsexual persons in the workplace and specifically prohibit employers from terminating or refusing to hire a person based on their transsexuality. The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
provides employment protection as part of gender discrimination protections following the European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
decisions in P v S and Cornwall County Council.
Stealth
Some transsexual men and women choose to live completely as members of their target gender without being public about their past. This approach is sometimes called stealth. Some people feel that they have an obligation to be open about their past in order to further the cause of civil rights for LGBT people.There are examples of people having been denied medical treatment upon discovery of their trans status, whether it was revealed by the patient or inadvertently discovered by the doctors. For example, Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg is a transgender queer and communist activist, speaker, and author. Feinberg's first novel Stone Butch Blues is widely considered a groundbreaking work about gender.- Career :...
was once turned away from a hospital emergency room where he had sought treatment for endocarditis
Endocarditis
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves . Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or even on intracardiac devices...
. Feinberg was presenting as a man but had female genital anatomy. He nearly died after being denied treatment. Feinberg's case demonstrates one of the many dangers of actually being discovered. Tyra Hunter
Tyra Hunter
Tyra Hunter was an African-American transsexual woman who died after being injured as a passenger in a car accident and refused medical care...
died after being denied care by paramedics and emergency room physicians after she was injured in an automobile accident.
In the media
Transsexualism was discussed in the mass media as long ago as the 1930s. The American magazine Time in 1936 devoted an article to what it called "hermaphrodites", treating the subject with sensitivity and not sensationalism. It described the call by Avery BrundageAvery Brundage
Avery Brundage was an American amateur athlete, sports official, art collector, and philanthropist. Brundage competed in the 1912 Olympics and was the US national all-around athlete in 1914, 1916 and 1918...
, who led the American team to the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, that a system be established to examine female athletes for "sex ambiguities"; two athletes changed sex after the Games.
Regardless of whether or not transsexual women have undergone SRS, the majority of transsexual women consider the word "shemale" to be offensive, and being referred to as a "shemale" to be highly insulting.
Films depicting transgender issues include: Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Transamerica
Transamerica (film)
Transamerica is a 2005 independent comedy-drama film produced by IFC Films and The Weinstein Company. The film tells the story of Bree, a transsexual woman , who goes on a road trip with her long-lost son Toby ....
, The World According to Garp
The World According to Garp
The World According to Garp is John Irving's fourth novel. Published in 1978, the book was a bestseller for several years.A movie adaptation of the novel starring Robin Williams was released in 1982, with a screenplay written by Steve Tesich....
, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot is based on the journey of three drag queens who travel across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus that they have named...
, and The Crying Game
The Crying Game
The Crying Game is a 1992 psychological thriller drama film written and directed by Neil Jordan. The film explores themes of race, gender, nationality, and sexuality against the backdrop of the Irish Troubles...
. The film Different for Girls
Different for Girls
Different for Girls is a 1996 British/French comedy film in which one of the protagonists is a transsexual woman. The film is directed by Richard Spence and written by Tony Marchant, starring Rupert Graves and Steven Mackintosh.-Plot:...
is notable for its depiction of a transsexual woman who meets up with, and forms a romantic relationship with, her former best friend from her all-male boarding school. Ma Vie en Rose
Ma vie en rose
Ma vie en rose is a 1997 Belgian film directed by Alain Berliner. It tells the story of Ludovic , a child who was born male but consistently insists that she is supposed to be a girl...
portrays a six-year-old child who is gender variant
Gender variance
Gender variance, or gender nonconformity, is behaviour or gender expression that does not conform to dominant gender norms of male and female...
.
Two notable films depict transphobic violence based on true events: Soldier's Girl
Soldier's Girl
Soldier's Girl is a 2003 drama film produced by Showtime. It is based on a true story: the relationship between Barry Winchell and Calpernia Addams and the events that led up to Barry's murder by fellow soldiers. It was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Frank R...
(about the relationship between Barry Winchell
Barry Winchell
Barry Winchell was an infantry soldier in the United States Army, whose murder by a fellow soldier, Calvin Glover, became a point of reference in the ongoing debate about the law known as "Don't ask, don't tell", which required the US military to discharge service members based on sexual...
and Calpernia Addams
Calpernia Addams
Calpernia Sarah Addams is an American author, actress, musician, and a spokesperson and activist for transgender rights and issues.-Biography:...
, and Winchell's subsequent murder) and Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't Cry (film)
Boys Don't Cry is a 1999 American independent romantic drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and co-written by Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man played by Hilary Swank, who pursues a relationship with a young woman, played by Chloë...
(about Brandon Teena
Brandon Teena
Brandon Teena was an American trans man who was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska. His life and death were the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, which was based on the documentary film The Brandon Teena Story.-Life:Teena was born Teena Renae Brandon in Lincoln,...
's murder).
Before transsexual people were depicted in popular movies and television shows, Aleshia Brevard — an actual transsexual whose surgery took place in 1962 — was actively working as an actress and model in Hollywood and New York throughout the 1960s and '70s. Aleshia never portrayed a transsexual or transgender person, though she appeared in eight Hollywood produced films, on most of the popular variety shows of the day including The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by crooner Dean Martin...
, and was a regular on The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. It was second to Gunsmoke and third to The Ed Sullivan Show in the ratings during that time. Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as...
and One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
before returning to University to teach Drama and Acting.
Transsexual people have also been depicted in some popular television shows. In Just Shoot Me!
Just Shoot Me!
Just Shoot Me! is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from March 4, 1997 to August 16, 2003, with 148 episodes produced. The show was created by Steven Levitan, the show's executive producer.-Description:...
, David Spade
David Spade
David Wayne Spade is an American actor, comedian and television personality who first became famous in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and from 1997 until 2003 when he starred as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!. He also starred as C.J...
's character meets up with his childhood male friend, who has transitioned to living as a woman. After initially being frightened, he eventually forms sexual attraction to his friend, but is scorned, as he is 'not her type'. In an episode of Becker
Becker (TV series)
Becker is an American television sitcom that ran from 1998 to 2004 on CBS. Set in the New York City borough of The Bronx, the show starred Ted Danson as John Becker, a misanthropic doctor who operates a small practice and is constantly annoyed by his patients, co-workers, friends, and practically...
Dr. Becker gets an out-of-town visit from an old friend who turns out to have undergone SRS, it plays out very similar to the situations in Just Shoot Me!
Just Shoot Me!
Just Shoot Me! is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from March 4, 1997 to August 16, 2003, with 148 episodes produced. The show was created by Steven Levitan, the show's executive producer.-Description:...
. This same thing happens in an episode of Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
. In a 1980s episode of The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
, McKenzie Phillips portrays a trans woman who is eventually accepted as a friend by her old high school classmate, series regular Fred Grandy
Fred Grandy
Fredrick Lawrence "Fred" Grandy is a former actor best known for his role as 'Gopher' on the sitcom The Love Boat and who later became a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Iowa...
. In the 1970s on The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
, George's Navy buddy Eddie shows up as Edie and is eventually accepted by George.
In part of the first season of the 1970s t.v. comedy series, Soap
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
, Billy Crystal plays Jodie Dallas
Jodie Dallas
Jodie Dallas is a fictional character from the 1977 American situation comedy Soap. He was played by Billy Crystal. The son of central character Mary Campbell, Jodie works as a television commercial director. Jodie was among the first gay characters on American television...
, a gay man who is about to undergo a sex change in order to legally marry his male lover, who breaks off the relationship just before the surgery.
In the television show, Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
, the character Alexis Meade
Alexis Meade
Alexis Meade is a fictional character from the ABC dramedy series Ugly Betty. She was initially played by Elizabeth Penn Payne for the first 12 episodes of her appearance and was played by Rebecca Romijn for the rest of the series.-Biography:Alex Meade was a background presence in the...
(Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.-Early life:...
), formerly Alex Meade, is a post-op transsexual who, before transitioning, faked her own death so she could start her life over as a woman. When Alexis realizes that she can get back at her father (who said he would rather see her dead than as a woman) she comes out of stealth and takes over their business after she tips the authorities off that her father killed Fey Sommers, a character whose death immediately preceded the start of the first series. A serious car accident later leaves Alexis with amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
, and she forgets the entire previous two years – including her transition from male to female.
The series Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
and Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
have had transsexual characters. However, in Nip/Tuck, the role was played by a non-transexual woman; in Law & Order, some were played by professional cross-dressers (although Katherine Moennig
Katherine Moennig
Katherine Sian Moennig is an American actress known for her role as Shane McCutcheon on The L Word, as well as Jake Pratt on Young Americans. In 2009, she starred as Dr. Miranda Foster on CBS Three Rivers.- Personal life :Moennig was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Broadway dancer Mary Zahn...
played a male-to-female transexual in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
(episode "Fallacy")). The series Without a Trace
Without a Trace
Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...
featured an episode in which a transsexual woman went missing and is almost killed by her ex-wife's husband after visiting her family, which she abandoned before transitioning. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
had an episode dealing with a transsexual victim, "Ch-Ch-Changes". Many transsexual actresses and extras appeared on the episode, including Marci Bowers
Marci Bowers
Marci L. Bowers is an American gynecologist who operated a surgical practice in Trinidad, Colorado. She has moved her practice to California in December 2010. Bowers is viewed as an innovator in the field of transgender surgery, as well as a pioneer, being the first transsexual woman to be...
and Calpernia Addams
Calpernia Addams
Calpernia Sarah Addams is an American author, actress, musician, and a spokesperson and activist for transgender rights and issues.-Biography:...
. The trans woman victim, Wendy, was played by Sarah Buxton, a cisgender
Cisgender
Cisgender is an adjective used in the context of gender issues and counselling to refer to a class of gender identities formed by a match between an individual's gender identity and the behavior or role considered appropriate for one's sex.Kristen Schilt and Laurel Westbrook defined "cisgender"...
woman. Addams has appeared in numerous movies and television shows, including the 2005 movie Transamerica
Transamerica (film)
Transamerica is a 2005 independent comedy-drama film produced by IFC Films and The Weinstein Company. The film tells the story of Bree, a transsexual woman , who goes on a road trip with her long-lost son Toby ....
, in which Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman
Felicity Kendall Huffman is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as executive producer Dana Whitaker on the ABC television show Sports Night , which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, and as hectic supermom Lynette Scavo on the ABC show Desperate...
portrays a transsexual woman.
Candis Cayne
Candis Cayne
Candis Cayne is an American actress and performance artist.Known in the New York City nightclub scene since the 1990s, Cayne came to national attention in 2007 for portraying transgender mistress Carmelita on ABC's prime time drama Dirty Sexy Money...
, a transsexual actress, appeared in CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
as a transsexual character. From 2007–2008 she also portrayed a transsexual character (this time recurring) in the ABC series Dirty Sexy Money
Dirty Sexy Money
Dirty Sexy Money is an American prime time drama series created by Craig Wright, which ran on the ABC from September 26, 2007 to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by ABC Studios, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Berlanti Television and Gross Entertainment...
.
In fall 2005, the Sundance Channel aired a documentary series known as TransGeneration
TransGeneration
TransGeneration is an eight episode documentary series depicting the lives of four transgender college students during the 2004/2005 school year as they attempt to balance college, their social lives, and their struggle to merge their internal and external selves while gender transitioning.Two of...
. This series focused on four transsexual college students, including two trans women and two trans men, in various stages of transition. In February 2006, Logo
Logo (TV channel)
Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
aired Beautiful Daughters, a documentary film about the first all-trans cast of The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...
, which included Addams, Lynn Conway
Lynn Conway
Lynn Conway is an American computer scientist, electrical engineer, inventor, trans woman, and activist for the transgender community....
, Andrea James
Andrea James
Andrea Jean James is an American film consultant, actress, LGBT rights activist, and transsexual woman.-Career:In 2003, James co-founded Deep Stealth Productions with her business partner Calpernia Addams, to create educational materials for transsexual women, to raise awareness about the epidemic...
, and Leslie Townsend.
Thomas Harris
Thomas Harris
Thomas Harris is an American author and screenwriter, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter...
' Silence of the Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs (novel)
The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris. First published in 1988, it is the sequel to Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. Both novels feature the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this time pitted against FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling.- Plot summary :The novel takes...
included a serial killer who considered himself a transsexual. After being turned down for sex reassignment surgery due to not meeting necessary psychological evaluations, he then harvested female bodies to make a feminine suit. In the novel it is noted that the character is not a transsexual; this distinction is made only briefly in the film. The film has been accused of cashing in on homophobia and transphobia Other film and TV shows portraying transsexual and transvestites as serial killers include Psycho, Dressed to Kill, The Dead Zone
The Dead Zone (TV series)
The Dead Zone, aka Stephen King's Dead Zone is an American-Canadian science fiction/suspense series starring Anthony Michael Hall as Johnny Smith, who discovers he has developed psychic abilities after a coma...
, Deadly Blessing
Deadly Blessing
Deadly Blessing is a horror movie directed by Wes Craven, released in the United States on August 14, 1981.-Synopsis:Martha and Tom Schmidt live in an isolated farm named 'Our Blessing', where most of it's population are of the Hittite religion. Jim used to be a Hittite himsef but left the...
, No way to treat a lady
No Way to Treat a Lady
No Way to Treat a Lady is a darkly comic thriller directed by Jack Smight, with a screenplay by John Gay adapted from William Goldman's novel of the same name. The film starred Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal and Eileen Heckart...
, Deranged
Deranged
Deranged is a Canadian/American horror film made in 1974 and directed by Alan Ormsby and Jeff Gillen. It is also known by the title Deranged: The Confessions of a Necrophile in the USA...
, Homicidal
Homicidal
Homicidal is a 1961 thriller film produced and directed by the self-proclaimed "King of Showmanship", William Castle. Written by Robb White, the film stars Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce, Richard Rust, and Joan Marshall...
, Three on a meathook, and Relentless
Relentless (1989 film)
Relentless is a 1989 American crime film directed by William Lustig and starring Judd Nelson, Robert Loggia and Leo Rossi. The film follows two LAPD officers on a hunt for an ex-cop turned serial killer....
.
The film Wild Zero
Wild Zero
Wild Zero is a 2000 Japanese "Jet rock 'n' roll" zombie horror comedy cult classic directed by Tetsuro Takeuchi, and starring the Japanese garage punk band Guitar Wolf...
features Kwancharu Shitichai, a transsexual Thai actor. When the main character is conflicted about falling in love with a woman who is also a man Guitar Wolf
Guitar Wolf
Guitar Wolf is a Japanese garage punk power trio founded in Nagasaki, Nagasaki in 1987. The band is known for songs with piercing vocals and an extremely loud style of noise-influenced punk which emphasizes heavy distortion and feedback...
tells him "Love knows no race, nationality or gender!"
Pageantry
Since 2004, with the goal of crowning the top transsexual of the world, a beauty pageant by the name of The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual ContestThe World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest
The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest is a beauty pageant that was held in Las Vegas in 2004 that selected the "most beautiful" transsexual in the world.Jahna Steele was the mistress of ceremonies for the pageant, in which 35 transwomen competed...
has been held in Las Vegas. The pageant accepts pre-operation and post-operation transwomen, but providing proof of their original gender is required. The winner of the 2004 pageant was a woman by the name of Mimi Marks
Mimi Marks
Mimi Marks is a transsexual entertainer. She performs at The Baton Show Lounge in Chicago, Ill..Mimi was born Mark in Waterloo, Iowa, but grew up in Oelwein, Iowa...
.
Transgender Day of Remembrance
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is held every year on November 20. This event is held in honor of Rita Hester (killed Nov. 28, 1998), a victim of an anti-transgender hate crime. TDOR serves a number of purposes:- memorializes all of those who have been victims of hate crimes and prejudice
- raises awareness about hate crimes towards the transgender community
- honor the lost ones and their relatives by expressing respect for each other
Trans March
The Trans MarchTrans March
Trans March is an annual gathering and protest march in San Francisco, California that takes place on the Friday night of Pride weekend, the last weekend of June. It is a mostly transgender/transsexual/intersex-led and inclusive event in the same spirit of the original gay pride parades and dyke...
is one of three protests held in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
during "Pride Weekend" during the last weekend of June. Every year people from the transexual community gather in San Francisco, CA to protest social justice and equality for them. In addition, through the march they strive to inspire everyone from the transexual community to come out to an environment where power is shared and where one can feel safe and cared for.
The event also hosts comedians, music, and dancing at the park. After parties are often followed after the event.
See also
- List of transgender-related topics
- List of transgender-rights organizations
- List of LGBT-related organizations
- List of transgender people
External links
- Asociación Española de Transexuales. AET Transexualia
- Basic TG/TS/IS Information – including Successful Transwomen and Successful Transmen
- FTM International – Female To Male International: practical and medical information
- FTM Australia – Comprehensive information for all men identified female at birth in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. - Hudson's FTM Resource Guide – Comprehensive information for female to male trans men and allies – USA-based
- Gender.org – The home of Gender Education & Advocacy, a nonprofit corporation using the web to provide education and advocacy for transsexual and transgender issues.
- Definition and Synopsis of the Etiology of Adult Gender Identity Disorder and Transsexualism – prepared by 24 internationally recognized experts, published by the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES)(See: http://www.gires.org.uk)
- The International Journal of Transgenderism – The Official Journal of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (formerly HBIGDA)
- TransParentcy – supports transgender parents and their advocates (lawyers, mental health professionals, friends, family) by providing information and resources.
- Transsexual Road Map – consumer information and advice for transsexual women.
- Lynn Conway's transsexual resources pages
- "Dr. Anne Lawrence On Transsexualism and Sexuality" - detailed information on medical aspects of transition
- The Gender Identity Research and Education Society