In 1994, gender theorist Susan Stryker defined transgender as encompassing "all identities or practices that cross over, cut across, move between, or otherwise queer socially constructed sex/gender boundaries", including, but not limited to, "transsexuality, heterosexual transvestism, gay drag, butch lesbianism, and such non-European identities as the Native American berdache or the Indian Hijra". Leslie Feinberg's pamphlet, "Transgender Liberation: A Movement Whose Time has Come", circulated in 1992, identified transgender as a term to unify all forms of gender nonconformity in this way transgender has become synonymous with queer. By 1992, the International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy defined transgender as an expansive umbrella term including "transsexuals, transgenderists, cross dressers", and anyone transitioning. In 1985, Richard Elkins established the "Trans-Gender Archive" at the University of Ulster. īy 1984, the concept of a "transgender community" had developed, in which transgender was used as an umbrella term. By 1976, transgenderist was abbreviated as TG in educational materials. By the mid-1970s both trans-gender and trans people were in use as umbrella terms, while transgenderist and transgenderal were used to refer to people who wanted to live cross-gender without sex reassignment surgery (SRS).
Oliven of Columbia University coined the term transgender in his 1965 reference work Sexual Hygiene and Pathology, writing that the term which had previously been used, transsexualism, "is misleading actually, 'transgenderism' is meant, because sexuality is not a major factor in primary transvestism." The term transgender was then popularized with varying definitions by various transgender, transsexual, and transvestite people, including Virginia Prince, who used it in the December 1969 issue of Transvestia, a national magazine for cross-dressers she founded. Oliven ) has been increasingly preferred over transsexual. Imported from the German and ultimately modelled after German Transsexualismus (coined in 1923), the English term transsexual has enjoyed international acceptability, though transgender (1965, by J. 15.1 International Transgender Day of Visibilityīefore the mid-20th century various terms were used within and beyond Western medical and psychological sciences to identify persons and identities labeled transsexual, and later transgender from mid-century onward.12.3.3 Native American and First Nations.11 Scientific studies of transsexuality.5.1 Sexual orientation of transgender people.In many places, they are not legally protected from discrimination. Many transgender people face discrimination in the workplace and in accessing public accommodations and healthcare. Not all transgender people desire these treatments, and some cannot undergo them for financial or medical reasons. Many transgender people experience gender dysphoria, and some seek medical treatments such as hormone replacement therapy, sex reassignment surgery, or psychotherapy. The degree to which individuals feel genuine, authentic, and comfortable within their external appearance and accept their genuine identity has been called transgender congruence. Transgender occurrence is generally found in less than 1% of the worldwide population, with figures ranging from <0.1% to 0.6%. Some countries, such as Canada, collect census data on transgender people. Accurate statistics on the number of transgender people vary widely, in part due to different definitions of what constitutes being transgender. The opposite of transgender is cisgender, which describes persons whose gender identity matches their assigned sex. Transgender people may identify as heterosexual (straight), homosexual (gay or lesbian), bisexual, asexual, or otherwise, or may decline to label their sexual orientation. īeing transgender is distinct from sexual orientation.
The term transgender does not have a universally accepted definition, including among researchers. The term transgender may be defined very broadly to include cross-dressers. Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, or else conceptualize transgender people as a third gender. Transgender, often shortened as trans, is also an umbrella term in addition to including people whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex ( trans men and trans women), it may also include people who are non-binary or genderqueer.
Some transgender people who desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another identify as transsexual. Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth.