More Light on Transgender
Becoming acquainted with the TG individual
Primer of gender transition
Individuals desiring medical treatment to effect changes in physical gender expression (most often transsexual or transgender individuals, but others as well) are often treated under standard medical guidelines. The most prevalent of these are the Standards of Care of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association.
Medical guidelines usually prescribe psychotherapy and/or some period of diagnostic cross living prior to administration of medical treatment, especially if that treatment is invasive or irreversible.
Both the transgender individual and her/his family are under great stress during and immediately after gender transition and often seek professional help.
Etiquette of transgender
Transgender individuals are going to great trouble and often risk public scorn and private rejection to express themselves authentically. Always address and treat individuals in the manner in which they are expressing themselves. Use names and pronouns appropriate to the expressed (rather than the genetic or legal) gender. Give the same respect that you would expect for yourself.
It always works best if use of congruent gender references is practiced at all times, including when out of earshot of the TG individual (i.e., don’t use different pronouns outside of his/her presence).
Rest rooms are a particular obstacle for TG individuals. Where possible provide single-use restrooms or the option to use a single use rest room.
The individual's need to use the restroom in public may lead to a situation where you would find yourself in the restroom with a transgendered individual. Should this be too disturbing to you please use the restroom at a later time, use a different restroom when available, or (as a last resort) quietly and respectfully ask the transgendered individual to use the restroom at a later time. Remember that the person is attempting to fulfill medical requirements for treatment.
Who's Who? .. in the world of transgender.
Transsexuals are individuals who have a gender identity (the sense of being a man or a woman) different from their anatomical sex. They often seek medical treatment to change their physical attributes to correspond with their gender identity. This treatment may include hormone therapy, electrolysis, and surgery. Psychotherapy and real life experience in the new gender role is required for most medical treatment.
Cross dressers wear clothing usually associated with the gender "opposite" to their anatomical sex. Cross-dressing may be part-time in the privacy of the person's own home, public, and even full-time. The difference is that cross dressers' gender identity remains the same as their anatomical sex. They usually do not seek medical treatment. Erotic pleasure is sometimes the motivation for cross-dressing, especially in younger people. Cross dressers can be attracted to either same-sex or opposite-sex partners, or both.
Intersexed (hermaphroditic) individuals are born with genitals that show characteristics of both sexes or are opposite to their genetic sex. Many are surgically "corrected" in infancy, and some grow up to feel like they have had an essential part of themselves taken away without their consent. Even worse, many surgeries in infancy remove or diminish later sexual sensation and enjoyment.
Transgenderists live as members of the other sex, but without the extreme need or desire to alter their bodies that transsexuals experience. Some live permanently as members of the other sex, while others assume gender identities outside of the male-female two-gender model (Third Gender). Transgenderists often take hormones, some have other treatments (electrolysis), but few undergo surgical transformation.
Androgynes, Gender Benders, and Gender Blenders merge the characteristics of men and women in various ways, which are sometimes subtle and sometimes shocking.
Drag Kings and Drag Queens present larger than life images of men and women, exaggerating gender stereotypes for entertainment, attention, or self-gratification.
Transpeople/Transgendered People are group nouns, which are often used to describe all transgendered and transsexual people (all the above).
The Transgender Community is the term used for the organized community of transgendered people.
Names and Pronoun Usage
In general, the appropriate pronoun is the one which best describes the way the individual is living his or her life. A cross-living male to female transsexual or transgenderist, for instance, should be referred to with feminine pronouns (she, her, hers) regardless of surgical status; masculine pronouns should likewise be used for female to male transsexuals or transgenderists.
Cross dressers and drag queens/kings should be referred to with pronouns appropriate to the way they are dressed.
When writing about transgendered people quotation marks should never be used around names or pronouns.
Sexual Orientation is different than gender identity. It is the difference between who I am (gender identity) and who I am attracted to (sexual orientation). Transgendered people can be heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual.
For more information
Contact the More Light Presbyterians Liaison for Transgender Concerns:
Erin K. Swenson
(404) 627-1522
erinswen@aol.com