Trans FAQs

Crossdressers are the largest group of transgender persons. Although most crossdressers are heterosexual men, there are also gay and bisexual men, as well as lesbians, bisexual and straight women, who crossdress. Most male crossdressers are married and many have children. The vast majority live in secrecy about their transgender status. Unlike transsexuals, they do not wish to change their physical sex. There are those who dress for erotic reasons, thoses that like the feel of the clothes, and those who wish to go out dressed as a woman just like one of the girls. In almost all cases they are not usually gay and do not desire men as partners. They are men when they are not dressing and do not desire to be a woman all the time. It is merely an expression of the feminine side of themselves. Most crossdressers purge their cloths when threatened , but almost always return to it. In most cases no treatment is needed as it is not considered an illness. In most cases crossdressers stay in their marriages.

People who perform gender for an audience, on a stage. Drag queens are biologically male and perform femininity on a stage, and drag kings are biologically female and perform masculinity on a stage.

The gender binary holds that the only genders possible are man and woman. Non-binary genders combine, exist between, or are outside of this binary. While there is nothing problematic as identifying as a man or a woman, the lack of allowance for gender identities other than men or women to exist is a problem within a binary system. A continuum of genders allows for there to be men, women, and everything in between, outside of, or none of the above. Even viewing men on one side and women on the other of such a continuum is problematic, as it implies that these genders are somehow “opposites”. Visualizing gender variation as a spectrum may be more helpful and accurate.

People who simply identify as non-gender normative, neither male nor female, masculine nor feminine. People who transgress gender. Other people who reject the gender binary may identify themselves as androgynous, bi-gendered, gender-bender or gender-blender.

People who identify as transgender or transsexual are usually people who are born with typical male or female anatomies but feel as though they’ve been born into the “wrong body.” For example, a person who identifies as transgender or transsexual may have typical female anatomy but feel like a male and seek to become male by taking hormones or electing to have sex reassignment surgeries. People who have intersex conditions have anatomy that is not considered typically male or female. Most people with intersex conditions come to medical attention because doctors or parents notice something unusual about their bodies. In contrast, people who are transgendered have an internal experience of gender identity that is different from most people. Many people confuse transgender and transsexual people with people with intersex conditions because they see two groups of people who would like to choose their own gender identity and sometimes those choices require hormonal treatments and/or surgery. These are similarities. It’s also true, albeit rare, that some people who have intersex conditions also decide to change genders at some point in their life, so some people with intersex conditions might also identify themselves as transgender or transsexual.

No. Transsexualism is about a person's core sense of their gender. This is a separate issue from the gender of the people they are attracted to. Just like any other individual, a transsexual person may identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual. For example, a person raised as a man who transitions to living as a woman may identify as heterosexual, in which case she would seek or continue relationships with men, or lesbian, in which case she would seek or continue relationships with other women. Or she may not feel that it is necessary or meaningful to label herself with regard to sexual orientation at all.

With origins in Native American cultures, "two spirit" referred to people who exhibited both masculine and feminine qualities. Two spirit people were traditionally revered and respected in Native American societies, and recently this term has been adopted by the queer community as a term for anyone in the sexual and gender minority communities. Sometimes it refers specifically to transgender people, and other times it refers generally to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and other queer people.

Though each individual has their own level of comfort in being open and discussing their gender identity, it is generally not considered acceptable to ask someone if they are transgender. If someone would like to discuss their gender identity with you, allow them to approach you first.

SRS is the permanent surgical refashioning of sexual anatomy to resemble that of the appropriate sex. For MTF transsexuals, SRS involves the conversion of penile and scrotal tissue into female genitalia. For FTM transsexuals, it may be limited to just top surgery (breast removal) and sometimes hysterectomy. While many transmen become satisfied with their new male anatomy, most opt out of genital surgeries for a variety of reasons, including the expense and dissatisfaction with the results. Many MTF trans people also undergo additional cosmetic procedures, including electrolysis to remove facial and body hair, breast augmentation, Adam's Apple reduction, hair transplantation, liposuction and many types of facial surgeries.

The Standards of Care are a set of guidelines formulated and recently revised by the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA) under which many transsexual persons obtain hormonal and surgical sex reassignment. While the Standards of Care minimize the chance of someone making a mistake, they have been criticized as a “gatekeeper” system. In general, a complete gender transition includes a period of psychotherapy to confirm one’s true gender, the beginning of lifelong hormonal therapy, the Real Life Test, and finally, if desired, sex reassignment surgery.

For transsexual persons seeking Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), the Real Life Test (also called the Real-Life Experience) is a one‑year minimum period during which they must be able to demonstrate to their psychotherapists their ability to live and work full‑time successfully in their congruent gender. The Real Life Test is a prerequisite for sex reassignment surgery under the Standards of Care.

Gender transition is the period during which transsexual persons begin changing their appearances and bodies to match their internal gender identity. Because gender is so visible, transsexuals in transition MUST "out" themselves to their employers, their families, and their friends – literally everyone in their lives. While in transition, they are very vulnerable to discrimination and in dire need of support from family and friends. Hormonal therapy can take several months to many years to effect the physical changes in secondary sexual characteristics that will produce a passable appearance, and some may never pass completely.

Gender dysphoria is the overall psychological term used to describe the feelings of pain, anguish, and anxiety that arise from the mismatch between a trans person's physical sex and gender identity, and from parental and societal pressure to conform to gender norms. Almost all transgender people suffer from gender dysphoria in varying degrees. Some transsexual persons discover at an early age that they are unable to live in the gender of their birth sex, but the majority struggle to conform, in spite of intense suffering, until their adult years. To seek relief, transsexual persons enter gender transition.

No one really knows, but there are many theories. It may be caused by the bathing of a fetus by opposite birth sex hormones while in utero, or perhaps by some spontaneous genetic mutation, which is also one of the theories of the origin of homosexuality. Transsexual persons include female-to-male (FTM) transmen as well as the more familiar male-to female (MTF) transwomen. Due to the intensity of their gender dysphoria, they come to feel they can no longer continue living in the gender associated with their physical (birth) sex.

Trans people include pre-operative, post-operative and non-operative transsexuals, who generally feel that they were born into the wrong physical sex; crossdressers (formerly called transvestites), who wear the clothing of the opposite sex in order to fully express an inner, cross-gender identity; intersexed persons, (formerly called hermaphrodites); and many other identities too numerous to list here. It's important to note that the term 'transgender' describes several distinct but related groups of people who use a variety of other terms to self-identify. For example, many transsexuals see themselves as a separate group, and do not want to be included under the umbrella term 'transgender.’ Many post-operative transsexuals no longer consider themselves to be transsexual. Some non-operative transsexuals identify themselves as transgenderists. Despite this variation in terminology, most trans people will agree that their self-identification is an important personal right, which we strongly support.

Transgender people are those whose gender identity or gender expressions differ from conventional expectations for their physical sex. Gender Identity is one's internal sense of being male or female, which is commonly communicated to others by one's Gender Expression (clothes, hair style, mannerisms, etc.) Although transgender people have been part of every culture and society in recorded human history, they have only recently become the focus of medical science. Many medical researchers now believe that transgenderism is rooted in complex biological factors that are fixed at birth, and thus it is not a choice but a personal dilemma.

Intersex people are born with chromosomal anomalies or ambiguous genitalia. Those with unusual genitalia are often subjected to surgical "normalization" procedures from infancy to adolescence, which usually results in loss of sexual response in adulthood. The Intersexed Society of North America (ISNA) has labeled this practice Infant Genital Mutilation. Some intersexed infants have even been sexually reassigned – without their consent – and later in life develop gender identity issues strikingly similar to those of transsexual people.

SOFFA stands for Significant Other, Friends, Family and Allies.

Accept them. They are the same person you have always known. Respect the identity they claim. Try to use the same pronoun and name they use to identify themselves. Educate yourselves and others. Do not rely solely on information created by non-transgender people. Advocate for them and be an ally!