Transgenderism 101

Nancy R. Nangeroni, for the International Foundation of Gender Education, defines Transgender person as "someone whose gender display, at least sometimes, runs contrary to what other people in the same culture would normally expect." Transgender people come in several flavors:

• MtF (male to female) : born male but see themselves as partly to fully feminine.

• FtM (female to male): born female but see themselves as partly to fully masculine.

• Intersexed: born with a combination of male and female phsysiology (similar to hermaphrodite).

Sexual Orientation vs. Gender Identity vs. Sexual Indentity

Sexual orientation, gender identity, and sexual identity are independent of each other. A person may express any variation of each of these in any combination. To discourage the free expression of identity and orientation by an individual to impose a damaging burden of conformity. Sexual orientation is which sex you find erotically attractive: opposite (hetero), same (homo), or both (bi). Sexual identity is how you see yourself physically: male, female, or in between. If someone is born male, but wishes to see their body as a female in all respects, their sexual identity is female. Gender identity is how you see yourself socially: man, woman, or a combination of both. One may have a penis but prefer to relate socially as a woman, or one may gave a vagina but prefer to relate as a man. One might prefer to be fluid, relating sometimes as a man and sometimes as a woman. Or one might not identify either as one, relating androgynously.

Definition of Terms

People tend to categorize themselves. This identification can be helpful in finding like-minded others with whom to make friends, but it can be hurtful if impose on an individual on others, well-intentioned or not. In relating to transgender people, it is best to avoid pushing an individual to choose a category for themselves. Some folks prefer to explore the fringes of category, and such push for identification works against personal exploration and fulfillment. Transgender people have self-identified as:



Drag Queen. Female-emulating male, usually campy, often (not always) gay.

Butch. Masculine-appearing person.

Femme. Feminine-appearing person.

Drag King. Male-emulating woman.

Intersex. Person born with mixed sexual physiology. Often 'assigned' at birth, such practice is coming under well-founded attack as a hurtful violation of a person's wellbeing.

Transvestite. Person who enjoys wearing clothes identified with the opposing gender, often but not always straight.

Crossdresser. Polite term for transvestites.

Transgenderist. Person who lives as gender opposite to anatomical sex, i.e. person with penis living as a woman. Sexual orientation varies. Androgyne. Person appearing and identifying as neither man nor woman, presenting a gender either mixed or neutral.

Transsexual. Person whose sexual identity is opposite to their assignment at birth. Not all TS folk undergo 'sex reassignment surgery' (SRS), for various reasons, including personal preference. Sexual orientation varies.

Transgender Community. A loose association pf people whose transgress gender norms in a wide variety of ways.

(courtesy of Gender Talk at www.gendertalk.com)