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Transgender, from (Latin) derivatives [trans <L, combination form meaning across, beyond, through] and [gender <ME <MF gendre, genre <L gener- meaning kind or sort]) is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society.

Transgender is the state of one's "gender identity" (self-identification as woman, man, or neither) not matching one's "assigned sex" (identification by others as male or female based on physical/genetic sex). "Transgender" does not imply any specific form of sexual orientation; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, or asexual. The precise definition for transgender remains in flux, but includes:


A transgender individual may have characteristics that are normally associated with a particular gender, identify elsewhere on the traditional gender continuum, or exist outside of it as "other," "agender," "intergender," or "third gender". Transgender people may also identify as bigender, or along several places on either the traditional transgender continuum, or the more encompassing continuums which have been developed in response to the significantly more detailed studies done in recent years.[4]


Evolution of the term transgender

The term transgender (TG) was popularised in the 1970s[5] (but implied in the 1960s[6][7]) describing people who wanted to live cross-gender without sex reassignment surgery.[8] In the 1980s the term was expanded to an umbrella term[9] and became popular as a means of uniting all those whose gender identity did not mesh with their gender assigned at birth.[10] In the 1990s the term took on a political dimension[11][12] as an alliance covering all who have at some point not conformed to gender norms, and the term became used to question the validity of those norms[13] or pursue equal rights and anti-discrimination legislation,[14][15] leading to its widespread usage in the media, academic world and law.[16] The term continues to evolve.

Transgender identities



The term trans man refers to female-to-male (FtM or F2M) transgender people, and trans woman refers to male-to-female (MtF or M2F) transgender people, although some transgender people identify only slightly with the gender not assigned at birth. In the past, it was assumed that there were far more trans women than trans men, but a Swedish study estimated a ratio of 1.4:1 in favour of trans women for those requesting sex reassignment surgery and a ratio of 1:1 for those who proceeded.[19] There is a school of thought that says terms such as "FtM" and "MtF" are subjugating language that reinforces the binary gender stereotype.[20]

The term cisgender has been coined as an antonym referring to non-transgender people; i.e. those who identify with their gender assigned at birth.[21]


Main article: Transsexual

Transsexual people identify as, or desire to live and be accepted as, a member of the sex opposite to that assigned at birth.[22][23]

Many transsexual people have a wish to alter their bodies. These physical changes are collectively known as sex reassignment therapy and often include hormone replacement therapy and sex reassignment surgery. References to "pre-operative", "post-operative" and "non-operative" transsexual people indicate whether they have had, or are planning to have sex reassignment surgery. People who have transitioned, who do not necessarily identify as transgender or transsexual any longer; they identify as simply a man or a woman. Those that continue identifying as transsexual don't want to ignore their pre-transition life and may continue strong ties with other trans people and raising social consciousness.[24]


The term 'cross-dresser' is not exactly defined in the relevant literature. Michael A. Gilbert,[25] professor at the Department of Philosophy, York University, Toronto, offers this definition: "[A cross-dresser] is a person who has an apparent gender identification with one sex, and who has and certainly has been birth-designated as belonging to one sex, but who wears the clothing of the opposite sex because it is the clothing of the opposite sex." This excludes people "who wear opposite sex clothing for other reasons". Also, the group doesn't include "those female impersonators who look upon dressing as solely connected to their livelihood, actors undertaking roles, individual males and females enjoying a masquerade, and so on. These individuals are cross dressing but are not cross dressers."[26] Cross-dressers may not identify with, or want to be the opposite gender, nor adopt the behaviors or practices of the opposite gender, and generally do not want to change their bodies medically. The majority of cross-dressers identify as heterosexual.[27]


A transvestite is somebody who cross-dresses.[28][29] The term "transvestite" is used as a synonym for the term "cross-dresser",[30][31] although it has been stated that "cross-dresser" is the preferred term.[31][32] The term "transvestite" and the associated term "transvestism" are conceptually different from the term "fetishistic transvestism" (a.k.a. "transvestic fetishism"), as "transvestic fetishist" describes those who intermittently use clothing of the opposite gender for fetishistic purposes,[33][34] and "transvestite" does not. In medical terms, transvestic fetishism is differentiated from cross-dressing by use of the separate codes 302.3[34] in the DSM and F65.1[33] in the ICD.

Drag kings and queens

Drag is a term applied to clothing and make-up worn on special occasions for performing or entertaining as a hostess, stage artist or at an event (e.g. Lypsinka). This is in contrast to those who cross-dress for other reasons or are otherwise transgender. Drag can be theatrical, comedic, or grotesque, and female-identified drag has been considered a caricature of women by second-wave feminism. Within the genre of drag are gender illusionists who do try to pass as another gender. Drag artists explore gender issues and have a long tradition in LGBT culture. Drag has been regarded as an area where transgender people can find more acceptance and financial support than mainstream work environments. Generally the terms drag queen covers men doing female drag, drag king covers women doing male drag, and faux queen covers women doing female drag.


Genderqueer is a recent attempt to signify gendered experiences that do not fit into binary concepts, and refers to a combination of gender identities and sexual orientations. One example could be a person whose gendered presentation is sometimes perceived as male, sometimes female, but whose gender identity is female, gendered expression is butch, and sexual orientation is lesbian. It suggests nonconformity or mixing of gendered stereotypes, conjoining both gender and gayness,[35] and challenges existing constructions and identities.[36] Genderqueerness is unintelligible and abjected in the binary sex/gender system.[37]

People who live cross-gender

People who live cross-gender live always or mostly as the gender other than that assigned at birth. If they want to be or identify as their gender assigned at birth, then the term "crossdresser"[38] may be used. If they want to be or identify as the gender they always or mostly live in, then the term "transsexual" may be used.[22] The term "transgender"[39][40][41] or "transgenderist"[42] has been applied to people who live cross-gender without sex reassignment surgery.


An androgyne is a person who does not fit cleanly into the typical gender roles of their society. Androgynes may identify as beyond gender, between genders, moving across genders, entirely genderless, or any or all of these. Androgyne identities include pangender, bigender, ambigender, non-gendered, agender, gender fluid or intergender. Androgyny can be either physical or psychological; it does not depend on birth sex and is not limited to intersex people. Occasionally, people who do not define themselves as androgynes adapt their physical appearance to look androgynous. This outward androgyny has been used in fashion, and the milder forms of it (women wearing men's pants or men wearing two earrings, for example) are not seen as transgender behavior.

The term androgyne is also sometimes used as a medical synonym for an intersex individual.[43]

Transgender in contrast with sexual orientation and transsexuality

Transgender vs. Sexual Orientation

Gender identity and transgender identity are fundamentally different concepts to that of sexual orientation. Transgender people have more or less the same variety of sexual orientations as cisgender people.[44] In the past, the terms homosexual and heterosexual were used for transgender folks based on their birth sex.[45] Professional literature now uses terms such as attracted to men (androsexual), attracted to women (gynosexual), attracted to both or attracted to neither to describe a person's sexual orientation without reference to their gender identity.[46] Therapists are coming to understand the necessity of choosing terms with respect to their clients' gender identities and preferences.[47][48]

Despite this distinction, throughout history the gay, lesbian, and bisexual subculture was often the only place where gender-variant people were socially accepted in the gender role they felt they belonged to; especially during the time when legal or medical transitioning was almost impossible. This acceptance has had a complex history - like the wider world, the gay community in Western societies did not generally distinguish between sex and gender identity until the 1970s, and generally perceived gender variant people more as homosexuals who behaved in a gender-variant way than as gender-variant people in their own right.

In the years following the sexual revolution of the 1960s, transgender sexuality has often been accepted into the fold of the burgeoning LGBT movement. The nature and degree of this acceptance has not been without controversy, however, and has drawn criticism from LGB and transgender people alike.

Transgender vs. Transsexual

Transsexual is a more precisely defined term than transgender in that researchers and clinicians use the term to describe people who undergo or want to undergo sex reassignment. Those engaging with the medical community organized around the term frequently passing through a series of understandings of themselves in relation to the term "transsexual": (1) unaware of the term, (2) wondering if it applies to them, (3) seeing how their medical needs mean it does, and (4) later identifying themselves as "having been" transsexual while engaged with the medical process but simply being men or women [1]. The term "transsexual" thus retains a stable meaning relative to treatments that would be impossible without scientific knowledge regarding things like sex hormones and surgical techniques.

Some individuals who are technically "transsexual" initially feel squeamish around the term simply because it contains the term "sex" within it, and it mentally primes for imagery around genitals and the act of sex. In most cases they chose to personally identify as "transgender" for a period of time without realizing any of the history or socio-political structures that have developed around the term. Thus, depending on the speech community the difference between transgender and transsexual is purely one of semantics (that is, some speakers say "transgender" and intend to denote basically the same thing as clinicians denote with "transsexual"). And because the incidence of transsexuality is so low, it is difficult for transsexual people to find each other and affiliate. Socially speaking the "transsexual community" is more of an archipelago than a continent.

Some transsexuals also take issue with the term because Charles "Virginia" Prince, the founder of the cross dressing organization Tri-Ess and coiner of the term "transgender"[2], did so because she wished to distinguish herself from transsexual people. In "Men Who Choose to Be Women" Prince wrote "I, at least, know the difference between sex and gender and have simply elected to change the latter and not the former"[3]. There is a substantial academic literature on the difference between sex and gender, but it is possibly worth noting that pragmatic English this academic distinction is ignored and "gender" is used mostly to describe the categorical male/female difference while "sex" is used mostly to describe the physical act[4].

This serves as an example of a broader set of issues with "transgender" as an umbrella term for "gender variant people." There are three major factors at play:

  1. Trans women are a small but highly visible group of people who serve as a prototype for both the category transsexual and transgender. They are deployed as lurid or tragic characters in television and film. They are written about by a variety of cisgender authors who use them as extreme examples to make theoretical points (EG Janice Raymond and Michael Bailey). Also, they are frequently used (especially when they're young and attractive) as vivid examples of women unfairly mistreated by social and political and economic systems - hence they can be deployed as "a worthy liberal cause".
  2. Most transgender people are not trans women. Trans men are also uncommon but draw less attention. And transsexual men and women are outnumbered by cross dressing males such as Helen Boyd's husband (described in "My Husband Betty"). The term can also be extended to drag kings and drag queens, and for that matter (to the degree that "transgender" is seen as a term encompassing all people who deviate from ideals of straight masculinity or straight femininity) to gays, lesbians, metrosexuals, infertile men and women, tomboys, men with lisps, and so on (whether or not these groups see themselves as transgender or not). The transgender political cause (in its broadest form ) advocates for the elimination of all social and political sanctions for deviating from social expectations around gender. In this sense it is consistent with some forms of feminism. One might be tempted to say that "transgender" functions as a replacement for "queer" except (1) gay men are decentered from prototype status in favor of transsexual women and (2) cross dressing heterosexual males don't object to being called "transgender".
  3. When a person deviates from the script handed to them by they culture when they were born, they are likely to face stigma. If they are unwilling or unable to follow the script they must rethink a substantial amount of their identity, explaining to themselves and others the illegitimacy of their stigma. Their justification is pointless unless it permits the person retain their dignity while doing what they deem necessary for survival and/or happiness, but smaller claims will be more likely to be broadly accepted. An "umbrella justification" is necessarily radical (and unlikely to succeed politically, for example) while particular justifications are likely to both conflict and be inadequate for all groups. Moreover, the issue is likely to arouse controversy because it substantially involves matters of self esteem.

These factors help explain tensions and divisiveness within the communities falling under the "transgender" political umbrella. For example, transsexual men and women who can pay for medical treatments (or who have institutional coverage for their treatment) are likely to be concerned with medical privacy and establishing a durable legal status as men and women later in life. Extending insurance coverage for medical care is a coherent issue in the intersection of transsexuality and economic class. Most of these issues can appeal even to conservatives if framed in terms of an unusual sort of "maintenance" of traditional notions of gender for rare people who feel the need for medical treatments. Some trans people might express this by saying "I don't challenge the gender binary, I just started out on the wrong side of it."[5]

This "conservative friendly" framing is actively threatened (and made less politically viable) by fuzzier notions of "transgender" issues where it is precisely the maintenance or support of identity boundaries based on gender that is considered unjust. Sometimes the more radical "transgender" cause is characterized as an effort to "tear down the gender binary," a key element of Third-wave feminism.

When the term "transgender" frames a policy debate the issue is more likely to revolve around issues of "men in women's bathrooms"[6], violence targeting gender variant people, and employment (see ENDA). Some transsexuals (especially as their medical treatment fades into their history) object to being used as a central example of a political category when the issues advanced under that category are far from their primary concerns. An extreme example of this can be found in the text of "Harry Benjamin Syndrome" (HBS) activist Charlotte T. Goiar who advocates the abandonment of not just the term "transgender" but also the term "transsexual" and writes[7]:

My own opinion is that all others in this umbrella category are using the arguments for HBS to undergird their arguments in favour of their specific psychopathology. In effect, they attempt to ride upon the backs of those with HBS to gain sympathy for their cause. In terms of numbers, people with HBS are perhaps only 1% of this group. We are silent in comparison with the often loud and strident "transgender activists". Therefore, one can see that much of the misconception in the public perception of HBS comes from those who do not have the condition in the first place. All people with HBS should distance themselves from transgenderists completely and totally.

At the same time the incidence of transsexualism is so low that if active lobbying is to be done on behalf of transsexuals, it appears pragmatically to require their forming a coalition with more numerous and homogeneous communities like gays, lesbians, cross dressers, and/or feminists (all of these alliances requiring the broader/inclusive "transgender" framing which can be seen as hostile to the less culturally radical transsexual framing to the degree that two political frames are difficult to sustain around a small group of women who serve as the underlying prototypes for the term "transgender" and "transsexual"). For example, Lambda Legal filed a brief in support of the validity of a marriage in Texas between a cissexual man and a trans woman who had been post-op for many years, but while doing so the lawyer, Jennifer Middleton, used the press coverage to simultaneously argue for same sex marriage even though the presumed point of her legal argument was that the marriage was actually between a man and a woman [8].

The "conservative" framing of transsexuality is thus in a sort of political limbo. The transsexual men and women who welcome it are vastly outnumbered by their potential allies, all of whom offer help in the service of a larger progressive agenda to dismantle hierarchies around gender that can fall apart [9] when conservative notions of "boundary maintenance" are not respected.

The term "trans" is an emerging term with many of the same underlying issues as "transgender". In some support communities it is used as a term that synonymous with "transsexual" but better because it lacks the embedded "sex" and accompanying mental associations.

In more publicly visible communities focused on education and activism, "trans" is being used as an synonym for the umbrella term "transgender" that has not yet been polluted by interfactional controversy. For example, Leslie Feinberg has called for the replacement of transgender as an umbrella term with the term trans ([10] see page xi). This terminological effort focuses on issues of identity formation and attempts to privilege no group in the transgender communities. It has successfully served as a bridging term in places like the Survivor Project [11]. Also, Remembering Our Dead [12] memorializes while refraining from labeling those memorialized as transgender - or indeed as any sex or gender category - unless it was documented as used by the person memorialized.

It is unlikely that those who commit hate crimes against gender variant people care to grapple with the specifics of their victims' identities.

Transgender and healthcare

Mental healthcare

Beginning therapy is recommended for all people who are frustrated by their gender, especially if they desire to transition. People who experience discord between their gender and the expectations of others or whose gender identity conflicts with their body benefit by talking through their feelings in depth with someone who will listen indefinitely. However, gender identity is new to psychology and research is still in its infancy.[49]

Transgender people may be eligible for diagnosis of gender identity disorder (GID) "only if [being transgender] causes distress or disability."[50] This distress is referred to as gender dysphoria and may manifest as depression or inability to work and form healthy relationships with others. This diagnosis is often over-simplified to mean that simply being transgender means a person suffers from GID which is not true. This has caused much confusion to transgender people and those who strongly seek to either criticize or affirm them. Transgender people who are comfortable with their gender, whose gender does not directly cause inner frustration or impair their functioning, do not have GID and are not applicable for a related mental disorder. Further, GID is not permanent and is usually resolved through therapy and transitioning, especially its social aspects. GID does not refer to people who feel oppressed by the negative attitudes and behaviors or others including legal entities in the same way that racist institutions do not create a "race disorder." Neither does GID imply an opinion of immorality - the psychological establishment holds the position that people with any kind of mental or emotional problem should not receive stigma. The solution for GID is whatever will alleviate suffering and restore functionality; this often, but not always, consists of undergoing a gender transition.[49]

The terms "transsexualism", "dual-role transvestism", "gender identity disorder in adolescents or adults" and "gender identity disorder not otherwise specified" are listed as such in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD) or the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) under codes F64.0, F64.1, 302.85 and 302.6 respectively.[51]

Transgender issues are both new in the scientific field and affect relatively few people, so understandably many mental healthcare providers know little about transgender issues. People seeking help from these professionals often end up educating the professional rather than receiving help.[49] Among those therapists who profess to know about transgender issues, many believe that transitioning from one sex to another the standard transsexual model is the best or only solution. This usually works well for those who are transsexual, but is not the solution for other transgender people, particularly genderqueer people who do not identify as exclusively male or female.

Physical healthcare

Medical and surgical procedures exist for transsexual and some transgender people. (Most categories of transgender people as described above are not known for seeking the following treatments.) Hormone replacement therapy for trans men induces beard growth and masculinises skin, hair, voice and fat distribution. Hormone replacement therapy for trans women feminises fat distribution and breasts. Laser hair removal or electrolysis removes excess hair for trans women. Surgical procedures for trans women feminise the voice, skin, face, adam's apple, breasts, waist, buttocks and genitals. Surgical procedures for trans men masculinise the chest and genitals and remove the womb and ovaries and fallopian tubes. The acronyms "GRS" and "SRS" refer to genital surgery. The term "sex reassignment therapy" (SRT) is used as an umbrella term for physical procedures required for transition. Use of the term "sex change" has been debated.[52] Availability of these procedures depends on degree of gender dysphoria, presence or absence of gender identity disorder,[53] and Standards of Care in the relevant jurisdiction.

Transgender and the law

Legal procedures exist in some jurisdictions allowing an individual to change their legal gender, or their name, to reflect their gender identity. Requirements for these procedures vary from an explicit formal diagnosis of transsexualism, to a diagnosis of gender identity disorder, to a letter from a physician attesting to the individual's gender transition, or the fact that one has established a different gender role.[54]

Transgender people in non-Western cultures


In Thailand and Laos,[55] the term kathoey is used to refer to male-to-female transgender people[56] and effeminate gay men.[57] The cultures of the Indian subcontinent include a third gender, referred to as hijra[58] in Hindi. Transgender people also have been documented in Iran,[59] Japan,[60] Nepal,[61] Indonesia,[62] Vietnam,[63] South Korea,[64] Singapore,[65] and the greater Chinese region, including Hong Kong,[66][67] Taiwan,[68] and the People's Republic of China.[69][70][71]

North America

In what is now the United States and Canada, many Native American and Canadian First Nations peoples recognised[72] the existence of more than two genders, such as the Zuñi male-bodied Ła'mana,[73] the Lakota male-bodied winkte[74] and the Mohave male-bodied alyhaa and female-bodied hwamee.[75] Such people were previously[76] referred to as berdache but are now referred to as Two-spirit,[77] and their spouses would not necessarily have been regarded as gender-different.[75] In Mexico, the Zapotec culture includes a third gender in the form of the Muxe.[78]


In early Medina, gender-variant[79] male-to-female Islamic people were acknowledged[80] in the form of the Mukhannathun. In Ancient Rome, the Gallae were castrated[81] followers of the Phrygian goddess Cybele and can be regarded as transgender in today's terms.[82][83]

Among the ancient Middle Eastern Akkadian people, a salzikrum was a person who appeared biologically female but had distinct male traits. Salzikrum is a compound word meaning male daughter. According to the Code of Hammurabi, salzikrūm had inheritance rights like that of priestesses; they inherited from their fathers, unlike regular daughters. A salzikrum's father could also stipulate that she inherit a certain amount.[84]


Transgender issues are controversial in both the public and scientific spheres. Critics believe that trans people are unhealthy varying from an innocent confusion to a mental disorder to an immoral perversion. They believe that trans people who embrace their feelings by transitioning either socially, surgically, or both are especially harmful to themselves emotionally and physically. Trans-affirming people may call these criticisms "transphobia" or "trans-bashing", considering them personal attacks based on hatred and/or fear.

Gender tied to sex

The conservative view is that sex determines gender, and that there is no practical difference between the two. In this view, genitalia or "birth sex" or chromosomes or something (positions vary) deeply and permanently determines one's essential identity as a woman or man. Trying to violate this divide is both impossible, unnatural, and unhealthy. It is often pointed out that chromosomes are immutable and that a male will always look like a male, not a female, even after sex reassignment surgery and hormones. Surgery and hormone therapy have medical risks which typically include infertility. While trans people may claim to feel like a certain gender, only a biological female can genuinely feel what it is to occupy a woman's body, including having experiences such as childbirth.[85]

In the words of Jerry Leach (who formerly identified as a transvestite then very briefly as a transsexual[13] and now is the director of Reality Resources):

"Rather than cutting tissue by invasive surgery and starting a new life, which for the most part doesn't work, people need to find help psychiatrically."[86]

These arguments are examples of biological determinism. They do not generally address people who are infertile, or both intersex and trans identifying, or passing transsexuals (all of whom actually exist).

Religious criticism

While religions have a variety of attitudes about transgender people, the traditions of Abrahamic religions look upon crossdressing as wrong. They see the Adam and Eve narrative as showcasing that God created the pattern of humanity as only female and only male.[citation needed]

As a mental disorder

The wording of the condition's name, gender identity disorder (GID), (and even being just listed in DSM-IV and ICD-10) can imply to some that it is simply a psychological disorder, entirely in one's imagination, or a matter of being "crazy". The stigma of mental disorder isn't necessarily well founded but exists nonetheless. People who dismiss transgender people on this basis tend to believe that birth sex is final, gender issues are mostly confusion, and psychiatric treatment should be aimed at ameliorating the confusion rather than supporting gender reassignment.[citation needed] This method has been proven very ineffective, whereas transitioning socially and medically (to various parts of the spectrum) has proven extremely effective.[citation needed]

As driven by libido

The controversial[87] Blanchard, Bailey, and Lawrence theory characterizes trans women as having one or another sexual motivations for transition.[88][89][90] For example, Anne Lawrence, an openly autogynephilic transsexual[14], has hypothesized that the desire by persons with autogynephilia, including some cross dressers and some transsexuals, to alter their body can be compared with apotemnophilia (alternately body integrity identity disorder if framed as an identity issue rather than a fetish).[91] Characterizations related to libido like these have been criticized by many in the medical and transgender communities alike as being potentially unscientific[92] and transphobic.[93]

The issues around psychological classifications and associated stigma (whether based in paraphilia or not) of cross dressers, transsexual men and women (and for that matter lesbian and gay children who may be difficult to tell apart from trans children early in life) have recently become more complex since it was announced that CAMH colleagues Kenneth Zucker and Ray Blanchard would serve of the DSM-V's Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group[15]. Within the trans community this has mostly produced shock and outrage, including a petition against the appointments[16] and attempts to organize other responses[17].

See also


  1. Author unknown, (2004) "...Transgender, adj. Of, relating to, or designating a person whose identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender, but combines or moves between these..." Definition of transgender from the Oxford English Dictionary, draft version March 2004. Retrieved on 2007-04-07.
  2. "USI LGBT Campaign - Transgender Campaign". Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  3. Stroud District Council "Gender Equality SCHEME AND ACTION PLAN 2007"
  4. "Layton, Lynne. In Defense of Gender Ambiguity: Jessica Benjamin. Gender & Psychoanalysis. I, 1996. Pp. 27-43". Retrieved 2007-03-06
  5. Kotula, D (2002), "...The term transgender was popularized...in the 1970s..." in A Conversation with Dr. Milton Diamond from "in the Realm of the "Phallus Palace": the female to male transsexual". Pages 35-56, Alyson Books, Los Angeles. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
  6. Ekins, R., King, D. (2004) "...As far as we can see, Virginia first used the term 'transgenderal' in print in 1969..." Rethinking 'Who put the "Trans" in Transgender?' GENDYS 2004, The Eighth International Gender Dysphoria Conference, Manchester England. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
  7. Prince, V. (1969), Men Who Choose to be Women, Sexology, February, pp. 441-444. Use of the term "transgenderal".
  8. Stryker, S. (2004), "...lived full-time in a social role not typically associated with their natal sex, but who did not resort to genital surgery as a means of supporting their gender presentation..." in Transgender from the GLBTQ: an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
  9. Ekins R., King D. (1997), "...When one of us (Ekins) founded the Transgender Archive in 1986, that title was chosen to reflect the wide base of the archive and that it was not confined to material relating to medical conditions..." in Blending Genders: Contributions to the Emerging Field of Transgender Studies from the International Journal of Transgenderism 1,1. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
  10. Ekins, R., King, D. (2004), "...The mid-1980s, in the United Kingdom, for instance, saw the establishing of groups that welcomed both transvestites and transsexuals and their partners...Rather than advocate one particular view on transgender, the aim was to embrace all views in a spirit of acceptance and mutual support..." Rethinking 'Who put the "Trans" in Transgender?' GENDYS 2004, The Eighth International Gender Dysphoria Conference, Manchester England. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
  11. Feinberg, L. (1992) Transgender Liberation: A Movement Whose Time Has Come, published by World View Forum, New York, ISBN-10: 0895671050, ISBN-13: 978-0895671059.
  12. Feinberg, L. (1997) Transgender Warriors : Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, published by Beacon Press ISBN-10: 0807079413, ISBN-10: 0807079413.
  13. Boswell, H. (1991) "...The transgenderist, whether crossing over part-time or full even while masking their genital incongruity gives honest expression to a reality that defies cultural norms..." The Transgender Alternative, Chrysalis Quarterly, 1 (2): 29-31.
  14. NCTE, (2003) Mission Statement "...The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people. By empowering transgender people and our allies to educate and influence policymakers and others, NCTE facilitates a strong and clear voice for transgender equality in our nation's capital and around the country..." National Center for Transgender Equality. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
  15. PFC, (1995) Mission Statement 1995 "...Press for Change is a political lobbying and educational organisation, which campaigns to achieve equal civil rights and liberties for all transsexual and transgender people in the U.K. through legislation and social change..." Press For Change. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
  16. Valentine, D. (2000) 'I know what I am': The Category 'Transgender' in the Construction of Contemporary U. S. American Conceptions of Gender and Sexuality." Ph. D. Dissertation, Anthropology Department, New York University, 2000.
  17. Ryan, Caitlin C., Futterman, Donna (1998), Lesbian and Gay Youth: Care and Counseling, published by Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231111916, p. 49.
  18. Interview with RuPaul, David Shankbone, Wikinews, October 6, 2007.
  19. Landén, M., Wålinder, J., Lundstrom, B. (1996) "...Results: During the 20-year period of the study, 233 requests for sex reassignment were processed, and the incidence data were calculated on the basis of this group. This means that the average annual frequency was 11.6 cases. The number of inhabitants in Sweden over 15 years of age increased during the study period from 6.5 million to 7.1 million, i.e. there was a mean population of 6.8 million (12), which gives an annual incidence of request for sex reassignment of 0.17 per 100 000 inhabitants. The sex ratio (male:female) is 1.4 :1. To resolve the question of whether transsexualism increases or decreases, we divided the group into two 10-year periods. As can be seen from Table 1, not only do our results agree with the Swedish incidence data published in the 1970s, but also they remain remarkably stable over time. Separating from all applications the group with primary transsexualism yielded 188 cases, i.e. 9.4 cases annually. As is shown in Table 2, this corresponds to an incidence of primary transsexualism of 0.14 per 100000 inhabitants over 15 years of age. It should also be noted that primary transsexualism is equally common in women and men..." in Incidence and sex ratio of transsexualism in Sweden from Acta Psychiatrica Scandanavica, Volume 93, pages 261-263. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
  20. Cromwell, Jason (1999):28 Transmen & FtMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders & Sexualities (Urbana and Chicago:University of Illinois Press).
  21. Crethar, H. C. & Vargas, L. A. (2007). Multicultural intricacies in professional counseling. In J. Gregoire & C. Jungers (Eds.), The counselor’s companion: What every beginning counselor needs to know. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 0805856846. p.61.
  22. 22.0 22.1 APA task force (1994) "...There must be evidence of a strong and persistent cross-gender identification, which is the desire to be, or the insistence that one is of the other sex..." in DSM-IV: Sections 302.6 and 302.85 published by the American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved via Mental Health Matters on 2007-04-08.
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  24. Author and date unknown. "...For some, maintaining a link to their transness or their otherly-gendered-past is highly significant, while for others, they view themselves as no longer trans, but now fully as a man or woman..." Post transition identification as a man or ftm or other from FORGE (For Ourselves: Reworking Gender Expression), an American education, advocacy and support umbrella organization supporting FTMs and others. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
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  29. various (2006) "trans·ves·tite...(plural trans·ves·tites), noun. Definition: somebody who dresses like opposite sex:" in Definition of the word "transvestite" from the Encarta® World English Dictionary (North American Edition). Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
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  31. 31.0 31.1 Hall, B. et al. (2007) "...Many say this term (crossdresser) is preferable to transvestite, which means the same thing..." and "...transvestite (TV) - same as cross-dresser. Most feel cross-dresser is the preferred term..." in Discussion Paper: Toward a Commission Policy on Gender Identity from the Ontario Human Rights Commission Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
  32. Green, E., Peterson, E.N. (2006) "...The preferred term is 'cross-dresser', but the term 'transvestite' is still used in a positive sense in England..." in LGBTTSQI Terminology from Trans-Academics.org Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
  33. 33.0 33.1 World Health Organisation (1992) "...Fetishistic transvestism is distinguished from transsexual transvestism by its clear association with sexual arousal and the strong desire to remove the clothing once orgasm occurs and sexual arousal declines...." in ICD-10, Gender Identity Disorder, category F65.1 published by the World Health Organisation. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
  34. 34.0 34.1 APA task force (1994) "...The paraphiliac focus of Transvestic Fetishism involves cross-dressing. Usually the male with Transvestic Fetishism keeps a collection of female clothes that he intermittently uses to cross-dress. While cross dressed, he usually masturbates..." in DSM-IV: Sections 302.3 published by the American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
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  38. Blumenfeld, W.J. (date unknown) "...full-time cross-dressers..., people who live and work in the other (of their physical anatomical) sex..." in A Glossary of Transgender Terms from OutProud, an American National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Youth. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
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