Transsexual, Transgendered and Transvestite

[La Lioness Priyanka]

http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/?article=activity&refid=035

here is a link that explains how these terms are used within the GLBT community.

It seems from the last few threads i have read that a lot of people wish this was a GL community or even a GLB community, but it isn't.

For this board its a GLBT community, which means when you insult the T or the B, you should be just as unwelcome here as a regular old homophobe.

hope this helps anyone's confusion about the use of the words within OUR community.

priyanka

[Taverner]

1. Agreed

Great link by the way.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. thanks tav, i do what i can

:)

[maddiejoan]

3. K&R

Seems there are quite a few here at DU that need this post.

many thanks to ya!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. always welcome.

and thanks

[Warpy]

5. Gee, I got 'em all right, where's my prize?

Oh, right, it's the lack of pitying looks I'd get from GLBT friends if I mixed them up.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. lol

i think some people spitefully use the wrong words to degrade other people. if its a genuine mistake, i am SURE no one really minds. :)

[Zuiderelle]

12. Some people definitely use the wrong words to degrade others.

I'm shocked that it's accepted here at all.

[DarkTirade]

7. I don't think it's a lot of people... I think it's just one or two bigots.

At least from what I've seen.

[Toasterlad]

8. Agreed. Just a Few Vocal Assholes Who Are Being Deliberately Obtuse.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. that is true

[terrya]

9. Well, let me recommend this.

This is a public service. Considering some of the serious misinformation in this forum.

Thanks!

:thumbsup:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. thanks

[Maven]

13. Thank you for posting this

K/R

[ThomCat]

14. Very cool.

I think we sometimes make the mistake of thinking that "we don't need to do education and outreach in our own group. We are the good people. We already know and agree about this stuff." I know I'm guilty of overestimating the knowledge, empathy and openness of other people.

I assume that we're trying to get full equality for everyone regardless of how they express their sexuality on their own or with other consenting adults. If other people have more limited goals, that's something we need to talk about.

[mitchtv]

15. There's just a few, I believe

And they deliberately mistake the terms. K&R

[La Lioness Priyanka]

18. true~

[Chulanowa]

16. Thank you for the clarification

I don't have anything against anyone in the listed groups - I just have a terrible memory and can't keep the proper terms in order ><

[JackBeck]

17. Very useful link.

I recommend those of us in the life and our straight allies bookmark that link in order to educate any future posters (or, more topically, current posters) that have a problem with grasping the concept or even nuance surrounding this issue.

A relatively new workshop that we've been presenting is a half-day training on domestic violence in the LGBT community. My responsibilities don't yet include covering this curriculum, but it will be in the very near future. The co-workers that currently present this workshop can't wait until I co-facilitate with them because of the lack of education that the participants have when it comes to the very basic concepts of what actually defines "L-G-B-T".

For example, a recurring theme seems to be that even in NYC, participants think you start out as straight, turn bisexual, then gay, and end the journey as transgendered.

[TechBear_Seattle]

19. A bit of historical context might help too

Until the advent of modern gender reassignment surgery in the 50s and 60s, there was no such thing as transsexual, and the distinction between transgender and transvestite was effectively non-existent. In the eyes of Western, Christian society, a man who saw and presented himself as a woman and a man who had sex with other men were one and the same: a sexual "sinner" who was deemed a "disease" to society. So for nearly two thousand years, the oppression of GLB people and T people has been identical because to many, we are identical.

Even today, with sociological and psychological definitions for different groups and with medical procedures to help match up inner and outer gender identity, we all still have common cause. There are many people who still see us as the same group and we have to deal with almost the same discrimination issues. We don't have enough allies to alienate and exclude those who are in the same boat as we are.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

20. excellent post. i wish i could recommend this.

[DarkTirade]

25. Heh, that's funny. Even without knowing the history there that's always how I've seen it.

The common thread between G, L, B, T and any various other sexual/gender orientations is that we defy the expectations of gender in society in some way or another. Whether it's that we present ourselves as a different gender than we're 'equipped' to be at birth, or that we are attracted to people who our gender 'isn't supposed' to be attracted to according to societal norms, ect. ect.

[helas girl]

31. History of transsexuals

Actually while the terminology is relatively new, There are examples of both transsexuals and transvestites going through history. For example the Gallae of ancient Europe didn't just dress as women, they actually altered there bodies. They would often do this at an age young enough that they would not appear male but often closer to female. This even led the Romans to passing a law that said that anyone who removed there "man hood" was no longer a citizen of the republic. Neither medical science nor modern culture created transsexuals there a naturally occurring phenomenon. Medical science has only changed how much of the body can be changed.

[tjwmason]

21. Thanks for posting this

It's very unfortunate that it's needed - but it should be helpful in combatting the on-going transphobia which is all too present.

[racaulk]

22. Quick, somebody PM a link to this thread to damkira!

Someone who doesn't have her on Ignore, that is.

Thank you lioness, excellent post. Very happy to recommend this one. :hi:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

23. is she a she? it says undeclared.

[racaulk]

24. I thought her profile said "Female" at one time.

I could be wrong though...

[Moloch]

30. I'm a gay male..

who believed Damkira was another name for the chief Babylonian god Bel Marduk.. later I found out that Damkira was supposedly his mother.

Yes, I'm aware of the irony. :)

[roughsatori]

26. A recommend.

Earlier today I turned off the PC after reading unlocked, undeleted bigotry aimed at GLBT people. Thanks for posting. I logged in just to recommend your OP.

[undergroundpanther]

27. Were does Genderqueer fit in with that definition?

Some genderqueers cross dress, others get surgery, or go on hormones,some dress more androgynous or dress male one day female the next or do none of these things or all of them..I have had top surgery and my inner female parts out,yet I will put on eyeliner and shadow and sometimes with a fake egyptian style beard,skullcap and I'll wear a shenti(egyptian kilt thing).(It's scary how much I look like the image of Ptah when I do the makeup,beard and cap.) So does that makeup wearing make me not a transgender now? Am I a cross-cross dresser? So,does genderqueerness nullify inclusion into those three categories or not? Just thinking..

[DarkTirade]

28. GLBT is just a general grouping, no one has to fit into any one category 100%.

In fact, I'd say genderqueer is something that crosses all those boundaries. Boys liking other boys goes against the gender 'norm' just as much as boys dressing like girls or male-bodied people living as (and often getting surgery to embody) female.

And I don't think any one of those four 'categories' can completely rule out another either. Someone can be bi with gay tendancies, someone born in a male body who likes women can be transgender, and therefore lesbian, ect.

Just because you're transgender and you are a different gender than your chromosomes and body may suggest doesn't mean that you're not allowed to blur the gender lines a bit when you feel like it. :)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

29. i think transgender is genderqueer. genderqueer is a great term by it self too.

if you look at the definition of transgender, it is all inclusive