Short Stories?

Transgender: The Basics, History and Problems

This is my research paper. Have fun. I thought I should share this because Im pretty sure I've mentioned once or twice (or a ton) about who this paper is dedicated to

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Transgender is considered an illness, disease, mental disorder, and a sin. Many people aren't even aware of such a topic, especially those who new to the LGBT+ community. The basic definition of transgender is simply to identify as the opposite gender as you were born as. This topic is overshadowed by gay rights, though they are recently gaining more popularity and support. Today, there are about 1.4 million Americans who identify as transgender. These people and the term have a past that many don't know. Choosing to publicly come out as transgender has caused other people to act cruel towards them. Despite of all the struggles these people have faced, there are still happy endings with some transgender individuals. The term transgender has been heard of, but not many people know what the term means, or the history and struggles transgender people are dealing with.

The word "sex" and "gender" walk a thin line of similarities. Sex is referred to as "the biological features that physically identify a person as male or female at birth, such as chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy," while gender is an "internal sense and outward physical and behavioral expression of being male, female, or any combination thereof" (Transgender Rights 2017 1). This shows that sex is based on physical features on a person's body and genes, which makes society expect people to act a certain way based on their sex. Gender on the other hand, is more of a feeling and how a person wants to act whether it is the sex they are born with or not.

While the dictionary states that sex and gender are synonyms, gender is "not inherently nor solely connected to one's physical anatomy" (Gender Spectrum 1). This is different than the term sex, which when you fill a form, usually has two choices: male or female. Sex can also be referred to as "[b]iological [g]ender" and is really simple due to "physical attributes such as external genitalia, sex chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, and internal reproductive structures" (Gender Spectrum). In contrast, gender is "much more complicated" with a "complex interrelationship between an individual's sex and one's internal sense of as male, female, both or neither" (Gender Spectrum 1). This is the line between sex and gender. Sex is as simple as looking at someone's physical features and pointing them out. Whereas gender doesn't have to link to one's biological gender, like having to ask someone questions in an interview.

When one decides to dress and act differently than their sex, then that is called transgender. The term "refers to a person whose gender expression and identity do not match the biological sex they were assigned at birth" (Transgender Rights 2017 1). One may decide to behave the opposite as the role assigned by their sex because they believe they are born in the wrong body. Therefore, they dress and behave differently.

While transgender describes the identification of one's preferred gender, the term transgender should not be mistaken for transsexual. The two definitions are similar but have their differences. In contrast to transgender, transsexuals are " [who] choose to change their physical sex through surgical means" (Transgender Terminology 1). Even though being transgender and transsexual both revolve around being the opposite sex, people who are transgender do not have to change their reproductive organs to the opposite sex.

The two most common terms with transgender is transfemale and transmale. Transfemale is someone who is "born biologically male" but identifies as a female, and vice versa for transmale (Chandler 2). There are more than just identifying as " traditional masculine or feminine identities", some identify "as nonbinary or genderqueer" (Transgender Rights 2017 1). The word transgender contains a lot more terms within it, making the word an umbrella term.

Transgender people have gained a fair amount of popularity recently, but has a much deeper history that not many know about. Transgender people have been in America since the 1950's, and "[i]n 1952, Christine Jorgensen became the first American to have sexual reassignment surgery" and the first to fight publicly for transgender rights (Transgender Rights 2017 2). These people have been fighting for their rights and have been around America for decades, only gaining popularity now.