Transgender

Transgender means self-identification as a different gender than that with which an individual has been biologically identified and/or socially labeled.The term overlaps with but differs from  Transsexual , which refers specifically to persons who identify as the opposite sex, who often take sex hormones and have sex reassignment surgery. Fear or loathing of transgendered persons leading to mistreatment and discrimination is common in many societies and is often termed transphobia. Other societies, however, have or have had traditional roles for transgendered persons.

Some states, including Iran, have legal recognition for transexual persons, which may include permitting their birth certificates and other documents to be changed; Iran, however, denies legal acceptance to homosexuals and transgendered persons.  Canada legally extends human rights protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual persons, but not necessarily to transgendered persons.

The cause of transgendered persons is often joined with the related liberation movements of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual persons, and sometimes Feminism The Centre for Women and Trans People at the University of Toronto, and is often studied in universities in the relatively new field sometimes called Queer Studies.  One of the major spokespersons on behalf of transgendered persons’ rights as well as their inclusion in the women’s movement is Leslie Feinberg, author of the novels Stone Butch Blues and Drag King Dreams, and the nonfiction books Transgender Warriors: Making History From Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink and Blue, and Trans Gender Liberation: A Movement Whose Time Has Come.

 

References

• Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, So What Is It Like to Be Transgender? (n.p., n.d.) online guide (accessed 22 Jan 2009)
• Website of Leslie Feinberg (accessed 22 Jan 2009)
• Transgender/Transsexual Policy Group, “Information and Resources on Transgender Issues, (accessed 22 Jan 2009)
• Mangez, Caroline. Iran’s Transsexual Revolution in The Independent (UK), Sunday 13 November 2005
• An introduction to GENDER, TRANSGENDER AND TRANSPHOBIA, by: Sandra Laframboise RPN and
  Beth Long, Law Student. Booklet published by: High Risk Project Society (n.d.) (accessed 22 Jan 2009)
• B.C. on Gender: The Berdache Tradition, (accessed 22 Jan 2009)
• Wikipedia, Transgender.
• Beemyn, Brett, and Mickey Eliason, Queer Studies: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Anthology (NY: New York University Press, 1996)
• Pablo, Carlito, “Transgender Rights Still Unenshrined,” in The Georgia Straight, Vancouver BC, 31 July 2008.