You’ve likely heard the term transgender, but what exactly does it mean? We’ll tell you. Read on to discover transgender’s meaning and more.
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Kevin
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January 6, 2022
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Common Questions
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According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, transgender is defined as relating to or being a person whose gender identity differs from the sex that the individual had or was identified as having at birth.
We know that’s a mouthful—in other words, a transgender person’s gender identity is not the same as the sex on their original birth certificate. By contrast, the term cisgender describes those whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Often used as an umbrella term to capture the spectrum of gender identity and gender-expression diversity, transgender encompasses many different experiences with distinct sets of characteristics.
Whether an individual subscribes to the label “transgender” is subject to self-definition. There is no correct way to be transgender, and “being transgender” can mean different things to different people.
That being said, people who are transgender may include:
- People who have a gender identity that differs from the sex assigned to them at birth.
- Individuals who express and identify their gender fluidly outside of the gender binary or categories of “male” or “female.”
- Those whose gender expression and behavior don’t follow stereotypical societal norms for the sex assigned to them at birth.
What Is Gender Identity?
When an infant is born, a physician usually assigns a gender based on biology: anatomy, chromosomes, and hormones. However, a person’s gender identity doesn’t always match their biology. Trans people commonly were assigned a sex at birth that isn’t true to who they are.
Gender identity refers to one’s innermost concept of self as a woman, a man, or a non-gender-conforming person. In simpler words, gender is how a person perceives themselves. An individual’s unique gender identity can be the same or different from the biological sex that they were assigned at birth.
For instance, a transgender woman is a woman who was thought to be male when born. Meanwhile, a transgender man is a man who was thought to be a female when he was born.
With that in mind, it’s important to note that gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation, which simply refers to an individual’s physical and emotional attraction to another person. Trans people may be straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or asexual, just as non-transgender people can be.
In other words, a person’s sexual orientation can’t be assumed based on gender identity or gender expression.
What Is Gender Expression?
Often an extension of gender identity, gender expression is how an individual publicly expresses or presents their gender. This can include behavior, clothing, body characteristics, voice, interests, pronouns, mannerisms, and more.
While many people express themselves in ways aligned with social stereotypes related to gender and sex, a transgender person may choose expressions that are different than what society may expect of their assigned sex at birth.
What Does Being Transgender Look Like?
Although the term transgender or trans only came into use in the late 20th century, human beings who fit this definition have existed in every culture throughout recorded history.
Transgender people come from every region of the U.S. and around the world — from every ethnic and racial background as well as from every religious community. Transgender people are your co-workers, classmates, neighbors, and friends.
With roughly 1.4 million transgender adults in the nation—and millions more around the globe—there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve met someone who is transgender, even if you don’t know it.
Some transgender people alter their appearance, name, body, or legal gender marker to convey and affirm their internal experience of gender. Others, however, don’t feel the need to make these changes to express and validate this aspect of who they are.
At the end of the day, everyone is different. How an individual expresses themselves, regardless of how they identify, is totally up to them—and that is perfectly OK.
What Is Gender Dysphoria?
Gender dysphoria is a term used to describe the distress or discomfort that a transgender person might feel about the mismatch between their body and gender identity. Gender dysphoria can affect one’s health, well-being, and everyday life.
Not everyone who is trans experiences gender dysphoria, but for those who do, relief is often found when they align with and express their true gender identity.
Physicians used to call this “gender identity disorder,” however, the mismatch between an individual’s body and gender identity isn’t in itself a mental health illness. The term was changed to reflect this reality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
What Does It Mean to Transition?
Transitioning occurs when a person changes the way they look and, in turn, how others see and treat them so that they can present as their true internal gender. It’s a unique and personal process that can include changing names, pronouns, clothes, and behaviors to fit a gender identity.
For adults and teenagers, this process may also include health care needs such as hormone therapy, puberty blockers, hair removal, voice training, or gender-affirming surgeries. Some trans people may also take legal steps to transition, such as changing names and gender markers on government-issued identity documents.
That being said, whether a trans person decides to transition or not, their gender identity is always valid.
Why Is Transgender Equality Important?
The transgender and the genderqueer communities face staggering levels of poverty, discrimination, harassment, and violence—particularly trans women of color.
In recent years, laws, policies, and attitudes around the nation have finally started to make the necessary changes to protect those who are trans; however, the fight for transgender equality is far from over. Stand up for those who are transgender; everyone deserves the right to feel safe and be happy in their skin.
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