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Posts tagged ‘bias and stigma’

Dec 21

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The differences between the Transgender and the Gay/Lesbian experience.

While transgendered individuals are now often lumped in with gay folk under the “LGBT” umbrella (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender), there are certain differences in experience that are important to understand. Historically the G&L community was accepting of trans folk, and over the years became more inclusive of them, but there are important differences.

  • Transgendered Individuals (and I’m speaking of mostly, but not exclusively of transsexuals here) experience gender dysphoria, whereas gays and lesbians do not.
  • Transgendered Individuals have to jump through many “hoops” in order to transition, whereas gay folk just “come out”. Coming out is also part of the T. experience, but there are many more steps involved to transition. Transgendered Individuals deal with body dysphoria, as well as social acceptance isues.
  • Transgendered Individuals use medical services much more. Trans folk need hormones, surgeries, voice, facial hair, therapy, etc..
  • The sexuality of a Transgendered Individual might be “straight”. If a transman is attracted to women, then he’s straight, if a transwoman is attracted to men, then she’s straight.
  • Gay and Lesbian are variants of sexuality, whereas transgendered individuals have variants of gender.
  • Society has become a little more accepting of Gays and Lesbians, and the acceptance of transsexuals lags behind.
  • Gays and Lesbians don’t have problems using bathrooms, whereas Transgendered Individuals can have problems. When one is in transition or has transitioned, but elected not to have SRS (sex reassignment surgery), it can be very uncomfortable (and possibly dangerous) to use a bathroom that does not offer sufficient privacy.
  • Family members of a Transgendered Individual do a little more “coming-out” than with a Gay or Lesbian family member. Example, someone who discovers they have a gay son, can decide to share or not share that information when asked about their son, but someone with a son who has transitioned to a woman, now has a different decision to make when someone asks them about their “son”.
  • The Transgendered Individual has to deal with name changes, legal documents, titles, etc for example explaining historical anomalies, such as why one’s degree was granted under a different name.

Well, what does one do with all this information? It’s just good to be aware of it. There’s a benefit to joining forces for political purposes, but there’s also the danger of minimizing or equating the Transgender experience with that of Gays and Lesbians

 (For a more basic discussion of the Difference between Gay and Transgender see this post.)

Find out about Psychotherapy when dealing with Gender variance in yourself or someone close to you.


Dec 13

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‘As Nature Made Him: The boy who was raised as a Girl’ by John Colapinto

As Nature Made Him: The boy who was raised as a Girl.
HarperCollins Publishers, 2006, ISBN-10: 0061120561, ISBN-13: 978-0061120565)

A quick summary:

The book is the true account of a Canadian boy born in 1967 who lost his penis due to a terribly botched circumcision. The parents, under the advice of controversial Johns Hopkins Gender expert John Money (who believed that gender was learned rather than innate) decided to raise the boy as a girl. Brenda, (who was known in Money’s published accounts as “Joan”) grew up angry, depressed, confused and extremely uncomfortable as a girl. She did not know her true gender until her parents revealed it to her at 14 when her life was spiraling out of control. She then transitioned back to male (David) as a teenager, married and although much more comfortable as a man later committed suicide.

Money, for 30 years reported the case as a success despite Brenda’s clear uncomfortable and troubled adaption to the female gender and severe problems with school and friends. This in turn skewed the belief in academic circles about the nature vs. nurture debate.   Money was supposedly presenting hard evidence that gender could be learned from one’s environment and ignoring the results of his “experiment”. Hundreds of similar cases, of boys born with small or no penises, or intersexed conditions had their gender “decided” based on Money’s research.


Importance for those interested in transgender issues:

I think the importance of this book for those interested in transgendered conditions is that it allows the reader to really get a feel for the intensely uncomfortable feeling of living in the wrong gender.   People with little knowledge of gender issues can relate and identify with the boy who was forced to be raised as a girl.  The reader can feel the pain and outrage inherent in the situation.    As such, this might be an important book for transgendered individuals to recommend to friends and family when they are “coming out” as transgendered. It many be harder for family to understand “I feel like I’m in the wrong body” or “I think I should have been a woman” than the story presented in this book that says – here’s a child raised in the wrong gender– see how it doesn’t work?  It just seems easier for many people to grasp.

In addition it’s very well written and highlights other important issues as well, such as the issue of Money, a known and respected professional having gotten away with publishing false reports and engaging in reprehensible research methods with children. (Brenda at one point threatened to commit suicide if she were made to go back for more “follow-ups” with Money).

Find out about Psychotherapy when dealing with Gender variance in yourself or someone close to you.

 

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