Most people never even think about changing their gender. But there are also those who are not happy with what Mother Nature gave them. If previously such people carefully hid themselves, today they increasingly show others their real “I”. They are called transgenders and what this concept means, we will explain below.

Who are transgender people in simple terms?

If you are a man (woman) and think of yourself as a man (woman), this is called gender identity. Every person has a gender identity - an innate sense and perception of oneself as a male or female person.

Let's look at what this word means and how it is translated. “Gender” is “genus,” and “trans” is going beyond the usual boundaries and boundaries. They can be both men and women.

Most people's gender identity corresponds to their anatomy (body structure). But for transgender people the opposite is true, and they feel that they should have a different body than the one that nature gave them.

When does it become clear that a person is transgender? This happens to everyone at different ages; some came to this conclusion in childhood or as a teenager. Others, influenced by social norms, realized this only in adulthood.

Do such people need to undergo gender reassignment surgery? The decision is made only by this person; he can decide to undergo sex reassignment surgery or not change his genitals, but only change his image. In most cases, transgender people take hormonal medications that help suppress the expression of sexual characteristics.

Most often, such individuals opt for a change in image - they dress like members of the opposite sex, do the appropriate hairstyle and change their behavior style. Some decide to change their name, for example - Lera instead of Andrey, etc.

IN Everyday life transgender people face many problems - how to find a suitable partner, how to fill out documents correctly, which toilet to go to (women's or men's).

How do they look?

They are often difficult to recognize as they skillfully hide their gender under clothing and makeup. But nevertheless, if you look closely, there are still differences - voice, gait, presence or absence of hair on the body or face. And those people who have the opportunity to use the services of surgeons are as close as possible in appearance to representatives of the opposite sex.

Are they gay?

No, in fact there is no connection. Transgender people have gender identity issues and are unhappy with their bodies. But people with non-traditional orientation feel comfortable in their body and their difference lies in the fact that they like representatives of the same sex.

What makes people be transgender?

This is difficult to explain and this moment Doctors do not have a clear answer to the question. A person does not make such a choice himself, he is born this way and nature made him this way. In any case, even people with such disabilities want to feel happy and wanted. Unfortunately, society has a hard time accepting them and they are often subjected to physical violence and insults.

Who are transgender people: photo

Below we will present photos of representatives of this direction. As you can see, for the most part they are no different from ordinary people.

People who identify as transgender deserve equality and acceptance in society. Their rights must be protected at the state level and such a phenomenon can happen. For example, Australia has already passed a law to protect this category of minorities.

Transgenderism - what is it?

Transgender is a discrepancy between the internal sense of personality and the sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people compare themselves to the opposite gender, and some to cross-gender species.

Such an internal discrepancy between physical gender and internal self-perception gives rise to insurmountable psychological discomfort in the individual, called gender dysphoria. Such a discrepancy is often accompanied by deep depression, and periodically, absolute apathy. According to statistics, about 10% comes down to the desire for suicide.
Over the past ten years, numerous studies have presented scientific findings that internal organization The brain of transgender people is different from the structure of “standard” girls and boys. A number of scientists suggest that the phenomenon of transgenderism is inextricably linked with this factor.

The important fact is that transsexuality has nothing to do with sexual orientation: just like an ordinary person, a transsexual without any phenomenal deviations can be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.

Transsexual children. Problems of children and adolescents

According to statistical data, full awareness of transgenderism comes to a person around the age of 20, despite the fact that the primary signs of transsexuality can appear already in childhood. At a very young age, elders often point out that boys are transgender, thinking to themselves “why wasn’t he born a girl?” Girls who have a similar phenomenon seem hyperactive, restless, playful and mischievous. In many cases, parents are in no hurry to correct this behavior, giving the child complete freedom. Because of this, transsexual girls feel much freer than boys who find it difficult to tolerate their inconsistency with their biological sex.

Parents may mistake the hypersensitivity and excessive “femininity” of boys for a clear manifestation of homosexuality. This is followed by a series of wrong decisions in attempts to “save” their child. Having discovered certain signs of hermaphroditism in their child, as well as “feminine” behavior that is unusual for boys, relatives begin to put pressure on the child’s psyche, literally forcibly instilling the concepts of “right” and “wrong”, not paying attention to the internal, and sometimes external expression of the child’s resistance .
Literature and science know cases where such children were even subjected to violence, mutilation, and trauma. Parents could not accept such moments as the boy’s desire to wear women's clothing and others like them, although with his behavior the boy only copies his girls - girlfriends. Pressure on the child at such a moment, rejection and unwillingness to understand becomes a disaster for the child’s mental balance, an obstacle to the development of his personality, inner “I”

Such children always strive for contact with their school friends or neighbors kindergarten, most often of the opposite sex, since their gender identity is similar to our child. Contact with peers of the same biological sex causes difficulties, different interests, ideas, and worldviews.
Many transgender children become “black sheep” in the society of their peers with evil, categorical and unacceptable deviations from the truth. They continue to grow up in constant ridicule and condemnation from others and family.

By the time of puberty, adolescents face another stress factor, the fight against it becomes one of the goals in life - the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics. The culmination of the separation of soul and body for a person. Inferiority complex and other related psychological problems further aggravate the teenager's problem. Sexopathological problems also arise due to psychological impotence; the realization of sexual desire becomes impossible.

Having fully realized their gender identity, transgender teenagers try to show themselves as a representative of the opposite sex, for example, by wearing different clothes. Some of them are sometimes even perceived as a person of a different gender, and this leads to some kind of platonic relationship. But still, a significant part of transsexual teenagers become lonely, feel withdrawn and outcasts from this society, they develop hatred of their own body and a desire to meet generally accepted standards. Hiding your terrible secret, your mental pain grows and becomes more and more unbearable.

The problem of transitioning to the desired gender

The problem of transition has many aspects: disclosure of one’s status, gender correction, change of documents and approval in social environment as a new person. In addition to a long period of time, he will have to face a series of medical, legal and socio-psychological obstacles.

Firstly Qualified medical care in the field of hormone therapy is often absent within the regional framework and is possible only in regional centers. Individuals have repeatedly been identified who have attempted to take hormonal medications on their own, which affected their appearance and in the future caused problems at the bank, at the post office, and when traveling abroad.

Secondly any surgical intervention requires preconditions, namely recognition of gender identity at the legal level. Often people do not agree to undergo such operations due to a reluctance to be discovered, as well as a lack of financial resources to pay for such an expensive operation,

Third and perhaps most importantly, harassment and discrimination in the world around us, at work, school, places of recreation and entertainment, and even just on the street. Society rejects everything non-standard, builds negative stereotypes that lead to phobias and withdrawal.

IN modern world, when the ecology has changed so much, and science has reached unprecedented heights, phenomena become part of our lives, their number is growing, which means that one day such people may end up in our family or company. It is necessary to remember the principle of humanism and equality of people, to be more lenient and respectful of people who did not give up without a fight.

The story of 22-year-old Zhenya from Tyumen, who spoke about his transgender transition

Start

I first started thinking about gender and my own gender identity around the age of 15-16. In my case, these considerations began when I discovered my interest in girls. There was a strange feeling that something was wrong with me, but what exactly was not clear. There is a constant feeling that I am deceiving someone, pretending that I am not me, and this is not just a matter of sexual orientation.

In my search for information, I found a lot of crazy articles filled with myths. One of the most common myths is: “transgender people don’t live long after they transition.” In fact, there is no reliable data that the life expectancy of transgender people is shorter than the life expectancy of everyone else. In general, then I didn’t understand what was happening to me, I was worried about it, there was no one to talk to, so I acted on a whim: I changed the gender endings, gradually moved into men’s clothing. This was a common occurrence back then, so I'm sure many people didn't take me seriously.

“There was a strange feeling that something was wrong with me, but what exactly was not clear. There’s a constant feeling that I’m deceiving someone, pretending that I’m not me, and it’s not just about sexual orientation.”

Transition

Transition, also known as transition, is a process of gender correction that includes all stages: change of documents, hormonal therapy, surgery. Every transgender person has the right to independently determine for themselves the scope of required interventions. It is a pity that the current procedure does not always allow this. If you do not identify as transgender, then you are cisgender. Yes, this has a name too.

The general and most common order of stages looks like this: psychiatric commission - hormonal therapy - surgery - change of documents. However, there are many variations.

First, you need to get a psychiatric diagnosis, which indicates the absence of mental illness and a persistent desire to change gender. There are several such commissions in Russia, the closest to us is in Yekaterinburg. Many psychiatrists use outdated criteria to make decisions, such as heterosexuality regarding desired gender or awareness of being transgender in early childhood, which often complicates the procedure. Many transgender people have to change or suppress certain parts of their lives, adapting to the standard that psychiatrists want to hear.

Throughout the examination, I could not shake the feeling of constant external control, as if there had to be some correct way [of behavior]. I was very nervous waiting for the commission's conclusion. In my opinion, it is paradoxical that doctors expect from transgender people good level social adaptation in the desired gender. However, I have not yet heard anything about transgender psychiatrists who have any idea how real this is. Unfortunately, without this “permission” nothing can be done legally.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is what changes your appearance. In my case, this is a deepening of my voice (I love my current voice), increased hair growth, increased muscle mass, and roughening of facial features. Often, transgender people begin this activity on their own, without going through a commission or seeing an endocrinologist - a doctor competent in these matters still needs to be found to begin with. I understand the rush, but I encourage you to remember your health and take care of yourself.

Surgical operations also involve multi-stage procedures. In theory, everyone has the right to independently decide whether he/she needs operations, and if so, which ones.

“After all of the above, in the standard version the state allows you to change your documents. That is, you can easily go through a couple of years with a bearded face, but according to your passport you will remain Katya, for example.”

Documents change according to the following scheme: birth certificate (registry office) - passport (FMS) - everything else. The quest is not for the faint of heart, I must say. To change documents, the registry office requires a certificate of the established form, issued by a medical organization. The problem is that there is no sample. In some regions, the registry office immediately writes a refusal and sends it to court, in others they require a conclusion on a surgical operation, the results of which are irreversible. For some reason, it is not taken into account that operations can be hazardous to health. Yes and common sense tells me that if something happens it’s easier to change the paper than to sew the body parts back on.

Personally, I had to go to court for a little over six months to get required document, on the basis of which I change all the others. At the same time, the registry office employees acted in accordance with the instructions that they have. Everyone understood everything, but due to a legislative gap, legal proceedings were needed. With a positive response from the court, I went back to the registry office, and then they immediately gave me a new birth certificate.

The FMS was funny. When I entered the office, it was already the end of the working day, the employee spoke sternly and demanded something from me. I explained the essence of the request, said that the MFC did not understand me, and then she relaxed, became cheerful and said: “So you are our first copy in a year, of course, they don’t know what to do with you.”

Those requalified from “F” to “M” also need to register with the military. You won’t be drafted into the army, but you will have to go through a commission and all this. When I first presented my new passport at the military registration and enlistment office, their eyes bulged at me with the phrase: “What? Have you never been registered anywhere?!” As if I really owed them something. As a result, I was written off for military service due to a very real peptic ulcer.

“Many transgender people have to change or suppress parts of their lives, to adapt to the standard that psychiatrists want to hear.”

On the project website legal assistance transgender people have an F.A.Q. regarding the change of documents in the Russian Federation, additional specifics depend on the specific region and, moreover, on specific people. The lack of transparency of this entire procedure with changing documents causes a lot of trouble. I honestly don't understand why I had to go through all this just to have my name on my passport.

Transition experience

What's interesting is how my sense of self changed throughout this process. First, trying to somehow understand what was wrong with me. Then I decided on everything and realized that I was transgender. It was a difficult stage: the system in which we live does not provide for the existence of such elements. Have you ever found it difficult to choose between a gym locker room or a public restroom door? Many people probably don't realize how stressful this can be. I tried my best to avoid such places. Sometimes I simply could not go out into the street, go to college, because everything there again reminded me of how others saw me: not at all the way I saw myself. This is a feeling of constant anxiety and fear of being rejected.

In my own eyes, I was wrong, a mistake that could never be completely corrected. Experienced a lot of self-hatred for being wrong. A constant feeling of severe discomfort in one's own body. There were suicidal thoughts. Close people who accepted me and professional psychological help helped me cope with this. I am truly grateful to everyone who supported me. I think I could get out on my own, but I don’t know how or where. A very important point is to search for specific information and draw up a plan taking into account the necessary and available resources. This allowed me not to drown in my experiences, but to consistently act in accordance with the decision I made.

When I passed the psychiatric commission and received permission to proceed further, I found myself in a hole: it was not clear what next. My appearance was also changing quickly, my documents no longer corresponded to it, and I didn’t understand exactly how to correct this misunderstanding. I don't have the legal knowledge to do everything myself, given that the procedure is not very clear. Looking for information about friendly doctors and lawyers, I contacted a local LGBT organization. At that time I was very skeptical about activism; I thought that I would simply find out everything I needed to know and leave. Unexpectedly for myself, I found such communication there that allowed me to expand my ideas about gender, which were quite patriarchal and rigid at that time.

Until that moment, I was doing my best to be a man, and I was embarrassed by all “unmanly” manifestations, worried that someone would perceive me as unreal, unequal. Main question, which I wondered: what does it mean to feel like a “man”/“woman”? How does it feel? And then other questions followed about what a “man” and a “woman” are in principle, why the importance of being a “woman” and a “man” is constantly reminded: “don’t act like a girl”, “that you are like a man”, “Girls don’t behave like that” - and how to live with all this.

“In my own eyes, I was wrong, a mistake that could never be completely corrected.”

After much thought and searching, my schema with all its “real men and women” inevitably collapsed without hope of recovery. And it was amazing. It seems to me that only at this moment I could allow myself to be. Now I don’t want to integrate myself into all these gender models anymore, I don’t see a personal need for this. Gender is permanent role-playing game, which has completely non-game consequences, supporting the “strong - weak” dichotomy. Sometimes I feel embarrassed or even offended when people mistake me for cisgender. No, I don't want to play this.

People around

We have a difficult relationship with our parents: we are quite distant from each other, there is no open conflict either. We talked about this topic several times. To my first message that I was transgender, my parents’ reaction was along the lines of “you’ll come to your senses” and “you just didn’t have a normal man.” This is not their wording, but that’s how I perceived the message.

The next time I spoke about this was a year later, already indicating some specific intentions. At this point they reacted quite emotionally. After another year - “apparently, it’s better for you, but we won’t accept you as a son.” It's still difficult for them, but there is some progress. I appreciate the freedom of choice given to me.

For a while, I thought it was fun to tell people I was transgender and see the reactions. It should be noted that I look like an ordinary cisgender guy. And so, we were talking with one guy we didn’t know well, and somehow it happened that I told him: “You know, I’m transgender.” After a short silence, he asked: “Do you want to become a girl?”

It so happened that my girlfriends and friends accepted me without any questions. However, this is my personal business, what questions can there even be? The university also accepted me. I believe this happened, among other things, because of the specifics of the profession they received: psychologists, after all. In general, I was lucky in many ways. For example, I have not encountered physical violence or direct aggression towards me. Unfortunately, this is not true for all transgender people.

“Have you ever found it difficult to choose between a gym locker room or a public restroom door? Many people probably don't realize how stressful this can be."

The people I was in romantic relationships with were aware of my characteristics in advance and accepted them. This was once a hindrance, but it was due to my attitude towards these features, everything I said about the feeling of being wrong. Because of this, it was difficult for me to believe that anyone could like me. I'm fine now.

Close relationships are about the interaction of personalities first and foremost. For me, my transgender experience is very valuable. If for some reason the person I'm communicating with doesn't like him, we probably just won't get along, that's all.

Brief instructions on “How to communicate with a transgender person”

1. As with a person.
2. You are amazing!*
* In fact, you wouldn’t tell people that their name is completely different from what they just introduced themselves to you, or decide for them whether they are warm or cold.

Activism

About a year ago I started getting involved in activism. Tyumen Feminist Initiative " Gerbera"was created in August 2015 by two activists and with my participation. In the group's header on VKontakte you can read about its mission, goals and objectives. Spoiler: overcoming discrimination based on sex and gender, preventing violence through education, legal and psychological assistance to victims.

“When I first reported that I was transgender, my parents’ reaction was something along the lines of, ‘You’ll come to your senses’ and ‘You just didn’t have a normal man.’”

Creating a safe environment for women, those perceived as women, is a necessity. Often a woman does not even have anyone to turn to if she is in trouble. She may be laughed at and bullied. Unfortunately, feminism is still a joke, which is also indicative - if you notice that a problem exists, you have to do something about it, so it’s easier to devalue it all and send feminists to the kitchen. To all the guys who are reading this text - listen to your friends and girlfriends, to their experiences. Women are people. And transgender people are people. It seems like 2016 has already arrived here, but for some reason this idea is still not clear to everyone.

The LGBT acronym is also ambiguous. Firstly, there should be more letters there if we continue the list in the same logic. At least LGBTQIA, where KIA is queer, intersex, asexual. Secondly, these four letters often mean only gays. Well, or they assume that there are other people there, but they still talk about gays. This is a problem because the rest of the groups become invisible due to this. A striking illustration: when I walk into an LGBT space, many strangers automatically assume that I am gay. At first it amused me, but now it’s annoying, to be honest.

If we talk specifically about “T”, then for many it is generally a big mystery, among “LGB” people as well. For me, the problems of all these groups fall into one big area of ​​gender and sexuality. Within the T-community itself there are also quite a few different opinions about the phenomenon and what we need. People are different, so their needs also differ.

“Unfortunately, feminism is still a joke, which is also indicative - if you notice that a problem exists, you have to do something about it, so it’s easier to devalue it all and send feminists to the kitchen.”

During last year my main activity as an activist was education on gender and transgender issues, psychological support for transgender people. But now I have moved to St. Petersburg, there are already some plans and ideas for implementation here. I hope everything works out.

Privilege

What was unexpected to me about all this was how people's attitudes towards me changed on the basis that I simply looked like a “man”. My opinion became more important, I was interrupted less. It's easier for me to speak because the attitude towards me has become more respectful in general. There are fewer demands placed on my appearance [now]; I am not required to be constantly neat and diligent. Now I'm just allowed more. I can also walk down the street alone at night without fear of harassment. The world has become much safer for me. And this whole thing is called privileges. Those who have them, as a rule, are not aware of these benefits; they think that this is the norm. It is not surprising, because privileges are given from birth. In general, this is some kind of total injustice that has tragic consequences.

“Women are people. And transgender people are people. It seems like 2016 has already arrived here, but for some reason this idea is still not clear to everyone.”

A similar situation in which there are privileged and oppressed groups is relevant for many other parameters. For example, oppression can occur on the basis of transgenderism, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, and others. As a cisgender person, you are unlikely to fear that you will be denied boarding a train or plane due to a discrepancy between your appearance and passport details. And it is unlikely that anyone, having learned that you are cisgender, will immediately become interested in the contents of your underpants, not being your doctor or sexual partner. So, check your privilege.

Educational program

Floor- complex multi-level system, which includes genetic sex, chromosomal sex, gonadal sex, internal and external morphological sex, reproductive sex, etc. What is commonly called biological sex is actually obstetric sex, assigned at birth, and then referred to as passport sex. This is important for understanding how diverse human nature can be. Intersex people, whose sex at birth cannot be unambiguously determined as “female” or “male”, are often subjected to operations in early childhood: external sexual characteristics are corrected surgically, based on what is easier to do - “female” or “male” . Such mutilation operations have no indication other than the “gender anxiety” of doctors, but have many negative physical and psychological consequences for the operated people, who are built into this system, literally cut to fit the mold.

Gender is a sociocultural construct that contains ideas about feminine, masculine and ways of their interaction.

Gender identity is a multi-level system that is built on the basis of belonging to biological sex, personal psychological characteristics, which are traditionally described based on ideas about gender and a person’s sensory preferences. It is often defined more narrowly as a sense of belonging to a particular gender.

The term "transgender" is used to refer to all variations in gender identity that do not correspond to one's assigned sex.

It is important to understand that there are other ways of gender identification, not just “female” or “male”. Moreover, there are a huge number of names for these identities; people here are limited only by their imagination.

This terminology, like any other, is conventional; there are different opinions about its accuracy and correctness. But what is written above seems to be the most common option.

Materials on the topic

24.05.2016, 15:19

The world is developing - new and diverse phenomena appear in it, which are given different names. This creates a large amount of modern terminology, which can be difficult to understand.

Etymology of the word

As is often the case, you can understand what transgender is by looking at the meaning hidden within the word. The modern term was formed from the English language, but even before that the concept existed in Latin.

The word "genus" in Latin means "genus". Later in English language the word “gender” appeared with the same meaning. All that remains is to add the “trans” component to the term. IN Latin it was known as the word "transire", which translated as "to cross the boundaries."

Today the word “trance” is perceived as some psychological changes in consciousness. If you combine all these concepts together, you can roughly understand the essence of the term.

With the help of etymology, it became clear that the meaning of the word lies in psychological changes in terms of gender. Speaking in simple language, transgender people - these are people who believe that they belong to a different gender.

Attitude to similar question people have different things. However, although many believe that transgenderism, like homosexuality, are harmful elements of modernity, in fact, this has existed for quite a long time.

Of course, it is unlikely to be able to find clear scientific information that a woman considered herself a man, or vice versa, but much can be understood from ancient myths and legends. Situations often surfaced in them when a person acquired a different gender through “transformation,” and this was considered absolutely normal.

Most likely, transgender people have almost always existed, however, only modern standards allowed them to express themselves.

Who are transgender people?

Transgenderness is based on the moment when a person realizes that their gender does not suit them. Very often this happens in fairly early childhood, and therefore we can say that transgender people do not become, but are born. However, this kind of awareness can also occur in adulthood.

A person who is dissatisfied with his gender experiences serious psychological discomfort and often suffers from the fact that he has to hide his condition. Fortunately, in modern realities there are so-called “sex reassignment operations” (which are actually a long-term set of measures), and for many this becomes a real salvation.

It is unlikely to be possible to identify a transgender person based on external data, especially if this person hides his internal discomfort. As a rule, a man who wants to become a woman still does not walk down the street in a dress, and if he does this, then his male gender can be determined by appearance not so easy.

Facts about transgenderism

Now that it is roughly clear what transgender and transgenderism are, it is worth paying attention to some facts that need to be learned regarding this phenomenon.

• Transgender people are not sick, they cannot be treated. These people are not considered mentally ill.
• Transgenderism is not a modern phenomenon; it has existed almost always; only people’s attitudes to this fact have changed.
• Personal definition of one's own gender has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Often married couples in which one of the spouses has changed gender remain intact.
• Not every transgender person decides to undergo the long process of techniques and operations, popularly called “sex reassignment surgery.” For some, this is basically impossible for medical reasons.
• Transgender transition can happen at any age.
• After a “gender change,” a person has the right to change his documents, indicating a new name and gender. However, this could take years.

Transgender- discrepancy between a person’s gender identity and the sex registered at birth. Some transgender people identify with the opposite gender of their assigned gender, others have identities that fall outside the binary gender system [ ] .

Transgenderism itself is not a disease or disorder. At the same time, some transgender people experience, due to the discrepancy between their sense of self and the expectations of others, severe stress which can seriously affect their health and quality of life. This type of stress is called gender dysphoria. Often the optimal solution to this problem is a transgender transition, which may include medical procedures for gender reassignment and a change of documents. In many cases, the severe stress that transgender people experience is not directly related to their condition, but is caused by discrimination and rejection from others - transphobia.

Terms and language

Early transgender researchers used pronouns and personal names corresponding to their assigned sex at birth to describe transgender people, thereby denying the gender identity of those being studied. From the point of view of some modern researchers, the denial of gender identity is a manifestation of an ideology that asserts the inferiority or “unnaturalness” of transgender people. Human rights activists and researchers point out that denial of the gender identity of transgender people can directly lead to discrimination and violence against them. That's why they call non-transgender people cisgender.

Those modern stylistic guidelines for journalists who touch upon the topic of covering the lives of transgender people recommend always using in relation to them those self-designations, personal names and pronouns that these people have chosen for themselves, including in cases when we are talking about a person’s past. The same recommendations are addressed to psychologists and medical workers providing assistance to transgender people.

Transgender and sexual orientation

Transgender is not directly related to sexual orientation. Transgender people exhibit a full range of possible sexual orientations and preferences. results modern research indicate approximately equal statistical distribution transgender people on the spectrum of sexual orientation. Thus, according to some data, among transsexual women, 38% are bisexual, 35% are attracted to women, 27% are attracted to men. Among transsexual men, according to research, 47% are attracted to women, 18% to men, and 33% are bisexual.

Terminology of sexuality

Transgender identities

For some people, "transgender" is their identity, but at the same time the term is used as an umbrella concept that includes a number of overlapping categories, such as "transsexual" and "transsexual", "genderqueer", "bigender", " agender" and others.

Some transgender men also use the term FtM (female-to-male), and transgender women MtF (male-to-female). Others reject these concepts, believing that they overemphasize a person's "transition" and detract from their own sense of self.

Transgender identities are diverse and fluid, so it is impossible to create an exhaustive list of them or give them clear, stable definitions. Accordingly, the terms and descriptions presented below are intended as rough guidelines only.

Transsexual people

Transsexual people identify with the gender opposite to that assigned at birth, and strive to live and be perceived as such. Many transsexual people who make the transition stop identifying as transsexual after transition and hide their past, preferring to live as ordinary women or men. This strategy is also a way to protect yourself from discrimination and violence that often follows coming out.

Transvestites or crossdressers

Transvestites, or crossdressers, are people who dress in clothes of the opposite sex, that is, practicing crossdressing. Although some people use the term "transvestite" as a self-label, others consider it discriminatory and derogatory, preferring the word "crossdresser". Not all crossdressers are transgender: crossdressing is a form of gender expression that is not directly related to a person's gender identity. The main point is that crossdressers do not seek to change their physical gender through surgery and generally do not experience the same level of gender dysphoria as transsexual people.

Non-binary and queer identities

Many transgender people identify as neither male nor female. They may describe their sense of gender as belonging to both of these genders, as being “in between” them, or “outside” them. Some people use concepts such as genderqueer, androgyne, bigender, agender and others to designate their identities.

Like transgender people, some people with non-binary identities undergo surgery or take hormones to change their bodies and feel more comfortable. Others don't think it can help them or don't feel comfortable with their body image. Some have an androgynous appearance, while others look like ordinary men or women but may come out by being open about their identity. Many people don't come out to avoid rejection.

Nonbinary people often experience rejection and discrimination from both the cisgender majority and binary transgender people, both of whom do not take nonbinary people's gender identities seriously, viewing them as temporary or a desire to stand out. In reality, a nonbinary person's sense of gender is as authentic a part of their identity as that of any other cisgender or transgender person. Research shows that non-binary transgender people are at greater risk of discrimination and physical and sexual violence than transgender men and women.

Transgender and intersex

Intersex people are people born with sex characteristics that, as determined by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, do not fit the typical definition of a male or female body. Sexual characteristics that determine sex include chromosomes, gonads, reproductive organs, genitals and hormonal levels. Intersex variations can be noticeable immediately at birth, but most often appear only during puberty. In some cases, there may be no external manifestations at all.

Not all intersex people are transgender, as many identify with their assigned gender. However, the problems of transgender and intersex people often overlap, for example, in issues such as the procedure for changing the gender marker in documents or in issues related to medicine.

Transgender and health

Mental health

Transgenderism is not a mental disorder. In modern science, a psychological condition is considered a disorder if it causes severe stress or limitation. Many transgender people do not experience stress or dysfunction due to their gender, so identifying as transgender does not constitute a mental disorder. However, significant stress may include difficulty accessing resources to freely express one's gender identity (such as hormone therapy and other medical treatments), social rejection, discrimination, and assault. As experts note, it is precisely because of these circumstances that anxiety, depression and other mental problems are more common among transgender people than among cisgender people.

Some transgender people experience gender dysphoria, which is stress caused by the very fact that their gender identity does not match their assigned sex. Gender dysphoria can manifest itself through depression or difficulty forming healthy relationships with others, among other things. Overcoming dysphoria involves alleviating suffering and restoring functionality, so the solution to this problem is often, although not always, transition. The diagnosis of gender dysphoria, or gender identity disorder, is often misinterpreted to assume that all transgender people experience dysphoria. Transgender people who do not experience discomfort or internal frustration with their gender identity do not have gender dysphoria. The concept of “gender dysphoria” also does not imply a moral assessment, since, according to the principles modern psychology, the presence of a mental or emotional problem cannot be a basis for social stigma.

Mental health experts recommend that people experiencing internal conflict in connection with your gender identity or stress from a discrepancy between your sense of self and the expectations of others, seek psychotherapeutic help. However, clinical training does not include sufficient information necessary to provide adequate care to transgender clients. Many psychologists and psychotherapists are not sufficiently aware of transgenderism, and often transgender people who turn to such specialists do not receive the necessary help and are forced to educate them instead.

Transgender people can apply for psychological help for various reasons, and the mere fact of conversion does not mean that the problem is gender identity. For many transgender people, the main problem is the emotional stress caused by social stigma and encounters with transphobia. In the words of one transgender woman: “Transgender people come to therapy and most of their problems have nothing to do with being transgender, but only with the fact that they had to hide, lie, and they felt guilt and shame, and unfortunately, this is usually lasted for years." While coping with social stigma and rejection of being transgender, many people also seek mental health help for depression and anxiety, and many stress that having a therapist acknowledge their gender identity is necessary condition so that they can discuss other issues of their quality of life with him.

Physical health

There are a number of medical options for transgender people to align their bodies with how they feel about themselves. Hormone replacement therapy for transgender men causes beard growth, redistribution of adipose tissue, masculinization of the skin, hair, and voice changes. Hormone therapy for transgender women feminizes fat distribution and breast shape. Laser or electrolysis for transgender women removes excess hair. Surgeries for transgender women feminize the voice, skin, facial features, Adam's apple, breasts, waist, buttocks and genitals. Surgeries for transgender men masculinize the breasts and genitals and remove the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes.

The scope of medical procedures is determined by the individual needs of each person. Many transgender people are not interested in physically transitioning; others require some, but not all, procedures.

The feasibility and effectiveness of medical gender reassignment

Contemporary transgender health experts agree that both medical and non-medical (such as reassignment) elements of gender reassignment are helpful and effective for people diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Thus, according to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), gender reassignment medical procedures are not “cosmetic” or “elective”, but represent a medical necessity. They are also not experimental: many years of clinical experience and medical research show that they are critical to the well-being of transgender people. Research has shown that hormone replacement therapy and surgery improve the quality of life, overall health, social functioning, and mental health of transgender patients.

Studies conducted specifically to understand the effectiveness of gender reassignment medical procedures show that satisfaction with gender reassignment results and the social and emotional well-being of transgender people increases as the quality of care improves. Thus, studies of patients who received medical care in accordance with the Standard of Medical Care for Transsexual, Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People (developed since 1979 by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, whose experts regularly update and refine the Standard) showed that that none of the patients regretted the operations performed.

Discrimination

Transgender people around the world are subject to rejection, stigmatization, insults and physical violence. Millions of transgender people are unable to obtain personal documents that reflect their gender, obtain employment, receive basic government services, and face deep-rooted discrimination in health and education. These violations of the rights of transgender people are systematic but widely under-documented. According to the monitoring of transgender murders conducted by the human rights organization Transgender Europe, from 2008 to 2011 there were more than 800 murders of transgender people around the world. As experts note, the actual number of hate-motivated murders of transgender people is likely much higher, but obtaining information about them is difficult.

According to a 2011-2012 survey, in Russia approximately every fourth transgender person has experienced physical violence, with 23% from relatives. 59% were subjected to peer pressure at school, 28% were discriminated against at work, and 43% faced problems due to inconsistency in appearance and documents.

Transgender rights

Change of name and passport gender

Many countries have legal procedures that allow transgender people to change their legal sex and name to match their gender identity. However, most countries recognize only two legal genders: male and female, and exclude other gender identities and expressions. In a number of countries, the condition for changing documents is the performance of certain medical procedures for gender reassignment, in particular hormone replacement therapy and surgical operations. According to leading transgender health experts, such laws need to be changed because the scope of medical interventions required depends on the needs of the individual and cannot be imposed from the outside. At the same time, experts point out that changing documents plays a critical role for the social functioning of many transgender people, and the difficulty or impossibility of changing documents can have devastating consequences for their social integration and personal safety.

In Russia, changing the passport gender is regulated by the Federal Law on Acts of Civil Status. According to Article 70 of this law, in order to make changes to the birth certificate, the applicant must submit a medical document of the established form confirming the change of gender. However, a sample of such a document has not yet been developed, as a result of which the civil registry office often refuses to change documents for transgender people. In such cases, transgender people are forced to go to court. Although the law does not define the scope of medical interventions required to change documents, in practice, civil registry offices usually refuse to change documents for people who have not undergone any surgical interventions, even if the applicants themselves do not need such interventions.

see also

Notes

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4. Ansara, Y. G. Beyond Cisgenderism: Counseling people with non-assigned gender identities // Moon, L. (ed.) Counseling Ideologies: Queer Challenges to Heteronormativity. - Aldershot: Ashgate, 2010. - pp. 167-200.“In this chapter, I will use the term cisgenderism to describe the individual, social, and institutional attitudes, policies, and practices that assume people with non-assigned gender identities are inferior, "unnatural" or disordered and which construct people with non- assigned gender identities as "the effect to be explained."
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