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{{Short description|People experiencing a gender identity inconsistent with their assigned sex}}
A '''transsexual''' (sometimes '''transexual''') person establishes a permanent identity with the opposite ] to their assigned (usually at birth) ]. Transsexual men and women make or desire to make a ''transition'' from their birth ] to that of the opposite sex, with some type of medical alteration (]) to their body. The stereotypical explanation is of a "woman trapped in a man's body" or ''vice versa'', although many in the transsexual community reject this formulation.
{{redirect-distinguish|Transsexuality|transgender sexuality}}
For the exact wording of formal ], see ].
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}


]" written on it at an outdoor demonstration.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Darmanin |first1=Jules |title=Les retrouvailles très émouvantes entre Chelsea Manning et une femme qui l'a inspirée |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/fr/julesdarmanin/retrouvailles-tres-emouvantes-entre-chelsea-manning-et-une |access-date=27 November 2020 |work=] |date=12 July 2017 |quote=Dans un entretien par téléphone avec BuzzFeed News, elle développe: «Ça se passait dans un contexte particulier, juste après une chirurgie de réassignation que j'ai été faire en Thaïlande. Il se trouve que j'avais déjà été interviewée par des médias, et que j'avais une image qui passait plutôt bien.» À travers les lettres XY marquées sur sa main, July voulait «clairement expliciter situation en tant que transsexuelle. |language=fr}}</ref>]]
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{{Transgender sidebar}}


A '''transsexual''' person is someone who experiences a ] that is inconsistent with their ], and desires to permanently ] to the ] or ] with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including ], such as ] and ]) to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.
==Definitions==
The minimum requirements for a person to be considered transsexual are debated. Some feel that ] changes, without surgical changes, are sufficient to qualify for the label ''transsexual''. Others, especially ]s, believe there is a certain set of procedures that must always be completed. The general public often defines "a transsexual" as someone who had or plans to have a "]" surgery. The current term in widest use for modification of ] is ] (SRS), a term which reflects the belief that transsexual people do not consider themselves to be changing their sex, but to be correcting their bodies. However, it is also often accepted (and is also evident in the ]) that to express ''desire'' to be of the opposite sex, or to assert that one is of the sex opposite to the one with which they were identified at birth, constitutes being transsexual. (This does not include delusions about ones current sex.) In contrast, some ] people often do not identify as being of or wanting to be ''the opposite sex'', but as being of or wanting to be ''another gender''.


The term ''transsexual'' is a subset of '']'',<ref name="Bevan">{{cite book |last=Bevan |first=Thomas E. |title=The psychobiology of transsexualism and transgenderism : a new view based on scientific evidence |publication-place=Santa Barbara, California |date=2015 | isbn=978-1-4408-3126-3 | oclc=881721443 | page=42 |quote=The term transsexual was introduced by Cauldwell (1949) and popularized by Harry Benjamin (1966) ... . The term transgender was coined by John Oliven (1965) and popularized by various transgender people who pioneered the concept and practice of transgenderism. It is sometimes said that Virginia Prince (1976) popularized the term, but history shows that many transgender people advocated the use of this term much more than Prince. The adjective ''transgendered'' should not be used ... . Transsexuals constitute a subset of transgender people.}}</ref><ref name="Alegria">{{cite journal |last=Alegria |first=Christine Aramburu |title=Transgender identity and health care: Implications for psychosocial and physical evaluation |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners |publisher=Wiley |volume=23 |issue=4 |date=22 March 2011 |issn=1041-2972 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-7599.2010.00595.x |pages=175–182 |pmid=21489011 |s2cid=205909330 |quote=Transgender, Umbrella term for persons who do not conform to gender norms in their identity and/or behavior (Meyerowitz, 2002). Transsexual, Subset of transgenderism; persons who feel discordance between natal sex and identity (Meyerowitz, 2002).}}</ref> but some transsexual people reject the label of ''transgender''.<ref name="Stryker">{{cite book |last1=Stryker |first1=Susan |title=The Transgender Studies Reader |last2=Whittle |first2=Stephen |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-94708-1 |publication-place=New York |pages=1–17 |oclc=62782200 |author-link1=Susan Stryker |author-link2=Stephen Whittle}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Winters |first1=Kelley |title=Gender Madness in American Psychiatry: Essays From the Struggle for Dignity |last2=Karasic |first2=Dan |date=2008 |publisher=GID Reform Advocates |isbn=978-1-4392-2388-8 |publication-place=Dillon, CO |page=198 |oclc=367582287 |quote=Some Transsexual individuals also identify with the broader transgender community; others do not.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=March 2014 |title=Transsexualism |url=http://www.gendercentre.org.au/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090430/http://www.gendercentre.org.au/resources/fact-sheets/transsexualism.htm |archive-date=2016-03-04 |access-date=2016-07-05 |website=Gender Centre |quote=Transsexualism is often included within the broader term 'transgender', which is generally considered an umbrella term for people who do not conform to typically accepted gender roles for the sex they were assigned at birth. The term 'transgender' is a word employed by activists to encompass as many groups of gender diverse people as possible. However, many of these groups individually don't identify with the term. Many health clinics and services set up to serve gender variant communities employ the term, however most of the people using these services again don't identify with this term. The rejection of this political category by those that it is designed to cover clearly illustrates the difference between self-identification and categories that are imposed by observers to understand other people.}}</ref><ref name="Valentine">{{cite book |last=Valentine |first=David |title=Imagining Transgender |publisher=Duke University Press |date=30 August 2007 |isbn=978-0-8223-9021-3 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv125jv36}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=8, 34, 120–121}} A medical diagnosis of ] can be made if a person experiences marked and persistent incongruence between their gender identity and their assigned sex.<ref name=":2b" />
Transsexuality (also known as transsexualism) is one of a number of behaviours or states collectively referred to as '']'', which is generally considered an umbrella term for people who do not conform to typical ]s. However, many in the transsexual community do not identify as transgendered. Some see transgender as subsuming and erasing their identity, rejecting the term for themselves because to them it implies a breaking down of gender roles, when in fact they see themselves as fitting a gender role -- just not the one they were assigned at birth.


Understanding of transsexual people has rapidly evolved in the 21st century; many 20th century medical beliefs and practices around transsexual people are now considered outdated. Transsexual people were once classified as mentally ill and subject to extensive gatekeeping by the medical establishment, and remain so in many parts of the world.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />{{failed verification|date=May 2024}}<ref name="WPATH web" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gatekeeping |url=https://www.transhub.org.au/gatekeeping |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=TransHub |language=en-AU}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2024}}<!--these sources don't mention this article topic, transSEXUAL; they are explicitly about a different topic we have a separate article about: transGENDER-->{{toc limit|3}}
Transsexual people are often construed as belonging to the ] or the ] community, and many identify with the community; others do not, or prefer not to use the term. It should be noted that transsexuality is not associated with or dependent on ]. Transsexual men and women exhibit a range of sexual orientations just as non-transsexuals (]s) do. They almost always use terms for their sexual orientation that relate to their target gender. For example, someone assigned to the male gender at birth but who identifies as a woman, and who is attracted solely to men, will identify as ], not ]; and someone who was assigned female sex at birth and prefers male partners will identify as gay, not heterosexual.


== Terminology ==
(As stated above, older medical texts often described sexual orientation in relation to the person's assigned sex, not their gender of identity; in other words, referring to a male-to-female transsexual who is attracted to men as a "] male transsexual." Again, this dwindling usage is considered scientifically inaccurate and clinically insensitive today, and such a person would now be called and most likely identify herself as a heterosexual transwoman.)
{{see also|Transgender#Terminology}}Transsexual has had different meanings throughout time. In modern usage, it refers to "a person who desires to or who has modified their body to transition from one gender or sex to another through the use of medical technologies such as hormones or surgeries". Within the transgender community, the term is a subject of debate, and it is sometimes considered an antiquated or pejorative term. The more widely preferred terms are '']'' or the abbreviated form ''trans.'' However, due to its historical usage, continued usage in the medical community, and continued self-identification with the term by some people, transsexual remains in the modern vernacular.<ref name=":3ency">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M94aEAAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Sex and Sexuality: Understanding Biology, Psychology, and Culture |date=2021 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |others=Heather L. Armstrong |isbn=978-1-61069-875-7 |location=Santa Barbara, California |oclc=1161996063}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=742–744}}


In understanding the subject, it is noted that there is a difference between ] and ]. Gender is defined as a "set of social, cultural, and linguistic norms that can be attributed to someone's identity, expression, or role as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or nonbinary". Sex is defined as being "assigned at birth by medical professionals based on the appearance of genitalia, and related assumptions about chromosomal makeup, gender identity, expressions, and roles emerge over the life span, sometimes changing over time".<ref name=":3ency" />{{Rp|pages=277–278}}
Transsexuality should not be confused with ] or the behaviour of ]s, who can be described as transgender, but usually not transsexual. Also, ]ism has usually little, if anything, to do with transsexuality.


== Terminology == === Origins ===
] reported that in 1921 ] of ] began a surgical transition, under the care of ], which ended in 1930 with a successful ] (GRS).<ref>{{cite web |last=Haire |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Haire |year=1934 |title=Encyclopaedia of Sexual Knowledge |url=http://www.transgenderzone.com/features/sex_change.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120005734/http://www.transgenderzone.com/features/sex_change.htm |archive-date=November 20, 2007 |via=Transgenderzone.com}}</ref> In 1930, Hirschfeld supervised the second genital reassignment surgery to be reported in detail in a peer-reviewed journal, that of ] of ]. In 1923, Hirschfeld introduced the (German) term "Transsexualismus",<ref>Hirschfeld, Magnus; "Die intersexuelle Konstitution" in '']'' 1923.</ref> after which ] introduced "transsexualism" and "transsexual" to English in 1949 and 1950.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cauldwell, David Oliver |author-link=D. O. Cauldwell |year=1949 |title=Psychopathia Transexualis |url=http://www.wpath.org/journal/www.iiav.nl/ezines/web/IJT/97-03/numbers/symposion/cauldwell_02.htm |url-status=dead |journal=Sexology: Sex Science Magazine |volume=16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930040613/http://www.wpath.org/journal/www.iiav.nl/ezines/web/IJT/97-03/numbers/symposion/cauldwell_02.htm |archive-date=2011-09-30}}. See also the neo-Latin term "psychopathia transexualis".</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Cauldwell |first=David O. |author-link1=David Oliver Cauldwell |title=Questions and answers on the sex life and sexual problems of trans-sexuals: trans-sexuals are individuals who are physically of one sex and apparently psychologically of the opposite sex : trans-sexuals include heterosexuals, homosexuals, bisexuals and others : a large element of transvestites have trans-sexual leanings |publisher=Haldeman-Julius Publications |series=Big blue book |year=1950 |url=http://www.wpath.org/journal/www.iiav.nl/ezines/web/IJT/97-03/numbers/symposion/cauldwell_04.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619084919/http://www.wpath.org/journal/www.iiav.nl/ezines/web/IJT/97-03/numbers/symposion/cauldwell_04.htm |archive-date=19 June 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Gender terms used to describe transsexual people always relate to the target. For example, a transsexual man is someone who was identified as female at birth owing to his ], but identifies as a man and who is transitioning, or has transitioned, to a male social gender role and a male-identified body (an alternative term is ''female-to-male transsexual'' or ]; compare also ]).

Cauldwell appears to be the first to use the term to refer to those who desired a change of physiological sex.<ref name="Meyerowitz 2002">{{cite book |last1=Meyerowitz |first1=Joanne J. |author1-link=Joanne Meyerowitz |title=How sex changed : a history of transsexuality in the United States |date=2002 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-674-01379-7 |pages=43–44}}</ref> In 1969, ] claimed to have been the first to use the term "transsexual" in a public lecture, which he gave in December 1953.<ref>{{cite book |author=Benjamin, H. |title=Transsexualism and Sex Reassignment |publisher=Johns Hopkins |year=1969 |editor1=Green, R. |location=Baltimore |chapter=Introduction |editor2=Money, J.}}</ref> Benjamin went on to popularize the term in his 1966 book, '']'', in which he described transsexual people on a scale (later called the "]") of three levels of intensity: "Transsexual (nonsurgical)", "Transsexual (moderate intensity)", and "Transsexual (high intensity)".<ref name="benjaminscale">{{harvnb|Benjamin|1966|p=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |title=The non-surgical true Transsexual: a theoretical rationale |last1=Schaefer |first1=L.C. |last2=Wheeler |first2=C.C |year=1983 |conference=Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association VIII International Symposium |location=Bordeaux, France}}</ref><ref name="Ts-Si_Gaughan">{{cite web |last=Gaughan |first=Sharon |date=2006-08-19 |title=What About Non-op Transsexuals? A No-op Notion |url=http://ts-si.org/content/view/1409/995/ |access-date=September 30, 2008 |publisher=TS-SI |archive-date=2008-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220064044/http://ts-si.org/content/view/1409/995/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Relationship to ''transgender'' ===
The term ''transgender'' was coined by John Oliven in 1965.<ref name="Bevan"/> By the 1990s, ''transsexual'' had come to be considered a subset of the ] '']''.<ref name="TR2006">{{cite book |last1=Frye |first1=Phyllis Randolph |title=Transgender rights |last2=Currah |first2=Paisley |last3=Juang |first3=Richard M. |last4=Minter |first4=Shannon |date=2006 |isbn=0-8166-4311-3 |publication-place=Minneapolis |oclc=68221085 |author-link1=Phyllis Frye |author-link2=Paisley Currah |author-link3=Shannon Minter}}</ref><ref name="Bevan"/><ref name="Alegria"/> The term ''transgender'' is now more common, and many transgender people prefer the designation ''transgender'' and reject ''transsexual''.<ref name="Polly">{{cite journal |last1=Polly | first1=Ryan |last2=Nicole |first2=Julie |title=Understanding the Transsexual Patient |journal=] |publisher=Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) |volume=33 |issue=1 |year=2011 |issn=1931-4485 |doi=10.1097/tme.0b013e3182080ef4 |pages=55–64 | pmid=21317698 | s2cid=2481961 |quote=The use of terminology by transsexual individuals to self-identify varies. As aforementioned, many transsexual individuals prefer the term transgender, or simply trans, as it is more inclusive and carries fewer stigmas. There are some transsexual individuals however, who reject the term transgender; these individuals view transsexualism as a treatable congenital condition. Following medical and/or surgical transition, they live within the binary as either a man or a woman and may not disclose their transition history.}}</ref><ref name="Swanson">{{cite journal |last=Swenson |first=A |title=Medical Care of the Transgender Patient |journal=Family Medicine |year=2014 |quote=While some transsexual people still prefer to use the term to describe themselves, many transgender people prefer the term transgender to transsexual.}}</ref><ref name="GLAAD Media Reference Guide">{{cite web |date=n.d. |title=Glossary of Terms - Transgender |website=GLAAD Media Reference Guide |url=http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender |archive-date=2022-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223190612/https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some people who pursue medical assistance (for example, ]) to change their sexual characteristics to match their gender identity prefer the designation ''transsexual'' and reject ''transgender''.<ref name="Polly" /><ref name="Swanson" /><ref name="GLAAD Media Reference Guide" /> One perspective offered by transsexual people who reject a transgender label for that of ''transsexed'' is that, for people who have gone through sexual reassignment surgery, their anatomical sex has been altered, whilst their gender remains constant.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McGuinness |first1=S |last2=Alghrani |first2=A |date=2008 |title=Gender and parenthood: the case for realignment |url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/gender-and-parenthood(a58f6bfe-0d1a-45e5-99f8-b0c0ee37eaab).html |journal=Medical Law Review |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=261–83 |doi=10.1093/medlaw/fwn010 |pmid=18441087 |hdl=1983/a58f6bfe-0d1a-45e5-99f8-b0c0ee37eaab |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Whittle |first1=S |url=https://archive.org/details/respectequalityt00whit |title=Respect and Equality: Transsexual and Transgender Rights |date=2002 |publisher=Cavendish |location=London |page= |isbn=978-1-85941-743-0 |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Alex |date=2012 |title=Non-binary Gender Concepts and the Evolving Legal Treatment of UK Transsexed Individuals: A Practical Consideration of the Possibilities of Butler |url=http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol13/iss6/6 |journal=Journal of International Women's Studies |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=57–71 |access-date=2015-09-08 |archive-date=2015-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920052132/http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol13/iss6/6/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Historically, one reason some people preferred ''transsexual'' to ''transgender'' is that the medical community in the 1950s through the 1980s encouraged a distinction between the terms that would only allow the former access to medical treatment.<ref name="denny">{{cite book |last=Denny |first=Dallas |title=Transgender Rights |year=2006 |editor-last=Currah |editor-first=Paisley |chapter=Chapter 9: Transgender Communities of the United States in the Late Twentieth Century}}</ref> Other self-identified transsexual people state that those who do not seek gender affirming surgery are fundamentally different from those who do, and that the two have different concerns,<ref name="Ts-Si_Gaughan"/> but this view is controversial. Others argue that medical procedures do not have such far-reaching consequences as to put those who have had them and those who have not (e.g. because they cannot afford them) into such distinctive categories.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} Some have objected to the term ''transsexual'' on the basis that it describes a condition related to ] rather than ].<ref name="Fenway Health Glossary">{{cite web |date=January 2010 |publisher=Fenway Health |location=Boston, Mass. |title=Glossary of Gender and Transgender Terms |url=http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/DocServer/Handout_7-C_Glossary_of_Gender_and_Transgender_Terms__fi.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019120607/http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/DocServer/Handout_7-C_Glossary_of_Gender_and_Transgender_Terms__fi.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2013 |page=15}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=November 2020}} For example, ], the first person widely known in the United States for having had gender affirming surgery (in this case, ]), rejected ''transsexual'' and instead identified herself in newsprint as ''trans-gender'', on this basis.<ref>{{cite news |last=Parker |first=Jerry |date=October 18, 1979 |title=Christine Recalls Life as Boy from the Bronx |newspaper=Newsday/Winnipeg Free Press |url=http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2011/08/21/christine-jorgensen-transgender-woman/ |access-date=28 May 2012 |quote="If you understand trans-genders", she says, (the word she prefers to transsexuals), "then you understand that gender doesn't have to do with bed partners, it has to do with identity". |archive-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425161528/http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2011/08/21/christine-jorgensen-transgender-woman/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=May 11, 1982 |title=News From California: 'Transgender' |pages=A–10 |newspaper=Appeal-Democrat/Associate Press |url=http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2012/02/06/1982-transgenders-transsexuals-christine-jorgensen/ |access-date=28 May 2012 |quote=she describes people who have had such operations' "transgender" rather than transsexual. "Sexuality is who you sleep with, but gender is who you are", she explained |archive-date=12 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412004837/http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2012/02/06/1982-transgenders-transsexuals-christine-jorgensen/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

A common argument in opposition to the term transsexual is that it over-medicalizes the trans experience, and/or focuses too much on diagnosis.<ref name=":3ency" />{{Rp|pages=742–744}} The term transgender emerged in part in an attempt to break the "medical monopoly" on transitioning that transsexual implied.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1076752703 |title=Transgender identities: Towards a social analysis of gender diversity |date=March 2010 |publisher=Routledge |others=Sally Hines, Tam Sanger |isbn=978-0-415-99930-4 |location=New York |pages=43 |oclc=1076752703}}</ref>

]'s media reference guide offers the following distinction on the use of ''transsexual'':<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-22 |title=GLAAD Media Reference Guide - Transgender Terms |url=https://www.glaad.org/reference/trans-terms |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=GLAAD |language=en}}</ref><blockquote>An older term that originated in the medical and psychological communities. As the gay and lesbian community rejected homosexual and replaced it with gay and lesbian, the transgender community rejected transsexual and replaced it with transgender. Some people within the trans community may still call themselves transsexual. Do not use transsexual to describe a person unless it is a word they use to describe themself. If the subject of your news article uses the word transsexual to describe themself, use it as an adjective: transsexual woman or transsexual man.</blockquote>

=== Terminological variance ===
The word ''transsexual'' is most often used as an adjective rather than a noun&nbsp;– a "transsexual person" rather than simply "a transsexual".{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} {{As of|2018}}, use of the noun form (e.g. referring to people as ''transsexuals'') was often deprecated by those in the transsexual community.<ref name="OED">{{cite OED |term=transsexual, adj. and n. |id=205059 |edition=3rd |date=March 2018}}</ref> Like other trans people, transsexual people prefer to be referred to by the gender pronouns and terms associated with their gender identity. For example, a trans man is a person who was assigned the female sex at birth on the basis of his ], but despite that assignment, identifies as a man and is transitioning or has transitioned to a male gender role; in the case of a ''transsexual'' man, he furthermore has or will have a masculine body. Transsexual people are sometimes referred to with directional terms, such as "female-to-male" for a transsexual man, abbreviated to "F2M", "FTM", and "F to M", or "male-to-female" for a transsexual woman, abbreviated "M2F", "MTF" and "M to F".

Individuals who have undergone and completed gender affirming surgery are sometimes referred to as ''transsexed'' individuals;<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of International Women's Studies |title=Non-binary Gender Concepts and the Evolving Legal Treatment of UK Transsexed Individuals: A Practical Consideration of the Possibilities of Butler |volume=13 |issue=6 |last=Harris |first=Alex |url=http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=jiws |access-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-date=February 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225212923/http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=jiws |url-status=live}}</ref> however, the term ''transsexed'' is not to be confused with the term ''transsexual'', which can also refer to individuals who have not undergone SRS, and whose anatomical sex (still) does not match their psychological sense of personal gender identity.


A rarer, alternate spelling for ''transsexual'' has been ''transexual'', with a single S. This variation is British in origin. This spelling was used by ], an activist group, for example.<ref name=":3ency" />{{Rp|pages=738}} This spelling has been used by some activists in an attempt to remove "pathologizing implications" from their use of the word.<ref name="Valentine" />{{Rp|pages=25}} Another rare variation, a synonym for ''transsexual'', is ''{{Wikt-lang|en|transsex}}''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Currah |first1=Paisley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sS90DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT116 |title=Transgender Rights |last2=Juang |first2=Richard M. |last3=Minter |first3=Shannon Price |date=2006-08-18 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-4258-2 |language=en}}</ref>
One common abbreviation used to clarify involves versions of "assigned-to-target", i.e. female-to-male, or male-to-female. This helps avoid confusion caused by outdated medical terminology. These terms are abbreviated with several variants, so female-to-male might be expressed as F to M, FtM, F2M, F-M, F>M, etc.


The terms ''gender dysphoria'' and ''gender identity disorder'' were not used until the 1970s,<ref name="Pauly">{{cite journal |last=Pauly |first=Ira B. |date=28 May 1993 |title=Terminology and Classification of Gender Identity Disorders |url=http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?sid=DPRJKLWKVGB58LR50W0AD29WXCGU5XC7&ID=77620 |journal=Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1300/J056v05n04_01 |s2cid=142954603 |issn=0890-7064 |access-date=2007-02-26 |archive-date=2013-01-11 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111013033/http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?sid=DPRJKLWKVGB58LR50W0AD29WXCGU5XC7&ID=77620 |url-status=live}}</ref> when Laub and Fisk published several works on transsexualism using these terms.<ref name="Laub">{{Cite journal |last=Laub |first=D. R . |author2=N. Fisk |date=April 1974 |title=A rehabilitation program for gender dysphoria syndrome by surgical sex change |journal=] |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=388–403 |doi=10.1097/00006534-197404000-00003 |pmid=4592953 |s2cid=42739374}}</ref><ref name="Fisk">{{Cite journal |last=Fisk |first=N. |year=1974 |editor2=Gandy P. |title=Gender Dysphoria Syndrome |journal=Proceedings of the Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on Gender Dysphoria Syndrome |pages=7–14 |editor=Laub, D.}}</ref> "Transsexualism" was replaced in the ] by "gender identity disorder in adolescents and adults".
Those researching the topic should be aware that older medical texts often referred to the person's original sex; in other words, referring to a M2F transsexual as a "transsexual male." This usage is now sharply deprecated and little-used.


Male-to-female transsexualism has sometimes been called "Harry Benjamin's syndrome" after the endocrinologist who pioneered the study of dysphoria.<ref>{{cite book |last=Aggrawal |first=Anil |title=Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices |year=2008}}</ref> As the present-day medical study of gender variance is much broader than Benjamin's early description, there is greater understanding of its aspects,<ref name="ekins2006">{{cite book |last=Ekins |first=Richard |title=The Transgender Phenomenon |author2=King, Dave |publisher=SAGE |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7619-7164-1 |location=London}}</ref> and use of the term ''Harry Benjamin's syndrome'' has been criticized for delegitimizing gender-variant people with different experiences.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Labonté |first1=Richard |author-link1=Richard Labonté |last2=Schimel | first2=Lawrence |author-link2=Lawrence Schimel |title=Second Person Queer: Who You are (so Far) |publisher=Arsenal Pulp Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-55152-245-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7WASAQAAMAAJ}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2022}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bornstein |first1=Kate |author-link1=Kate Bornstein |last2=Bergman |first2=S. Bear |author-link2=S. Bear Bergman |url=https://archive.org/details/genderoutlawsnex00born_0 |title=Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation |year=2010 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-1-58005-308-2 |oclc=526069032 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2022}}
Among the transsexual community, the short form trans is more commonly used, e.g. ''trans guy'', ''trans dyke'', ''trans folk''. Some also use the somewhat more controversial term ], e.g. ''tranny boy''. Both abbreviated forms are also used by non-transsexual ]ed people, although "tranny" is often considered offensive if used by those outside the community.


=== Sexual orientation ===
Some people prefer to spell ''transexual'' with one ''s'', in an attempt to divorce the word from the realm of psychiatry and medicine and place it in the realm of identity, but this trend is most common in the ] and, for example, is almost never used in the ].
{{Main|Androphilia and gynephilia}}
{{See also|Transgender#Sexual orientation of transgender people}}


Since the middle of the 20th century, ''homosexual transsexual'' and related terms were used to label individuals' sexual orientation based on their birth sex.<ref name="classnongendysphoria">{{cite journal |last=Blanchard |first=Ray |author-link1=Ray Blanchard |title=The classification and labeling of nonhomosexual gender dysphorias |journal=] |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC |volume=18 |issue=4 |year=1989 |issn=0004-0002 |doi=10.1007/bf01541951 |pages=315–334|pmid=2673136 |s2cid=43151898 }}</ref> Many sources criticize this choice of wording as confusing, "]",<ref name="bagemihl">{{cite book |title=Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality |chapter=Surrogate Phonology and Transsexual Faggotry: A linguistic analogy for uncoupling sexual orientation from gender identity |last=Bagemihl |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Bagemihl |editor-last1=Livia |editor-first1=Anna |editor-last2=Hall |editor-first2=Kira |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=New York |date=1997 |isbn=978-0-19-535577-2 |oclc=252561680 |page=380}}</ref> "archaic",<ref name="wahng">Wahng SJ (2004). Double Cross: Transmasculinity Asian American Gendering in ''Trappings of Transhood''. in Aldama AJ (ed.) ''Violence and the Body: Race, Gender, and the State''. Indiana University Press. {{ISBN|0-253-34171-X}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2022|reason=This appears to be two citations bundled together. It is unclear what it is referring to.}} and demeaning because it labels people by sex assigned at birth instead of their ].<ref name="leiblum2000">{{cite book |last1=Leiblum |first1=Sandra Risa |last2=Rosen |first2=Raymond |title=Principles and practice of sex therapy |edition=3rd |publisher=Guilford Press |publication-place=New York |date=2000 |isbn=1-57230-574-6 |oclc=43845675}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2022}} Sexologist ] also recently expressed regret for having used this terminology, which was standard when he used it, to refer to transsexual women.<ref name="Bancroftcomment">{{Cite journal |last=Bancroft |first=John |year=2008 |title=Lust or Identity? |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=426–428 |doi=10.1007/s10508-008-9317-1 |pmid=18431640 |s2cid=33178427}}</ref> He says that he now tries to choose his words more sensitively.<ref name="Bancroftcomment" /> Sexologist ] is likewise critical of the terminology.<ref name="moser2010">{{Cite journal |last=Moser |first=Charles |date=July 2010 |title=Blanchard's Autogynephilia Theory: A Critique |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |edition=6 |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=790–809 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2010.486241 |pmid=20582803 |s2cid=8765340|doi-access=free }}</ref> Sociomedical scientist Rebecca Jordan-Young challenges researchers like ], ], and ], who she says "have completely failed to appreciate the implications of alternative ways of framing sexual orientation".<ref name="jordan-young">{{cite book |last=Jordan-Young |first=Rebecca M. |title=Brain storm : the flaws in the science of sex differences |publisher=Harvard University Press |publication-place=Cambridge, Mass. |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-674-05879-8 |oclc=680017826}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2022}}
Some people prefer the term ''transsexed'' over ''transsexual'', as they believe the term ''sexual'' found in ''transsexual'' is misleading. Another justification made for this preference is that they feel it is more in line with the term ], as more transsexual groups are welcoming them because they feel both groups have much in common. It is by some definitions also possible to be both intersexed and transsexed. Other attempts to avoid the misleading ''-sexual'' have been the increasing acceptance of transgender or trans* and in some areas, transidentity.


The terms ''androphilia'' and ''gynephilia'' to describe a person's sexual orientation without reference to their gender identity were proposed and popularized by psychologist ] in the 1980s.<ref name="langevin1983">{{cite book |last=Langevin |first=Ron |title=Sexual strands : understanding and treating sexual anomalies in men |publisher=L. Erlbaum Associates |publication-place=Hillsdale, N.J. |date=1983 |isbn=0-89859-205-4 |oclc=8113505}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2022}} The similar specifiers ''attracted to men'', ''attracted to women'', ''attracted to both'' or ''attracted to neither'' were used in the ].<ref name="dsmivtwo">{{cite book |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders |edition=4th |chapter=Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders |year=1994 |publisher=] |page=534 |quote=For sexually mature individuals, the following specifiers may be noted based on the individual's sexual orientation: Sexually Attracted to Males, Sexually Attracted to Females, Sexually Attracted to Both, and Sexually Attracted to Neither |isbn=0-89042-061-0 |oclc=29953039 |url=http://www.mental-health-today.com/gender/dsm.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211020457/http://www.mental-health-today.com/gender/dsm.htm |archive-date=11 February 2007 |url-status=dead |access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref>
==Causes of transsexualism==
There is no scientifically proven cause of transsexualism. However, many theories have been proposed which suggest that the cause of transsexualism has its roots in biology.


Many transsexual people choose the language of how they refer to their sexual orientation based on their gender identity, not their birth ].<ref name="ekins2006"/>
===Proposed psychological causes===
In the past, many ] causes for transsexualism have been proposed; including "overbearing mothers and absent fathers", "parents who wanted a child of the other sex", "repressed homosexuality", "]" or a variety of sexual ]s. (Compare ].)


=== Surgical status <span class="anchor" id="Pre-op"></span><span class="anchor" id="Pre-op transsexual"></span><span class="anchor" id="Post-op"></span><span class="anchor" id="Post-op transsexual"></span><span class="anchor" id="Non-op"></span><span class="anchor" id="Non-op transsexual"></span> ===
None of these theories however was able to be applied successfully to a majority of transsexual people, usually not even to a significant minority. Many theories also were developed in order to describe transsexual women, and when applied to transmen, they usually work even less. Many of these theories had also previously been applied to homosexuals, where they did not work out, either. This led to theories which consider physical reasons for transsexualism.
Several terms are in common use, especially within the community itself relating to the surgical or operative status of someone who is transsexual, depending on whether they have already had gender affirming surgery, have not had but still intend to, or do not intend to have surgery.<ref name="Girshick-2009">{{cite book |last=Girshick |first=Lori B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZCPC96leH7UC&pg=PA16 |title=Transgender Voices: Beyond Women and Men |date=15 September 2009 |publisher=University Press of New England |isbn=978-1-58465-838-2 |location=Hanover |page=16 |oclc=929272452 |access-date=15 March 2017 |archive-date=16 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316031929/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZCPC96leH7UC&pg=PA16 |url-status=live}}</ref> A pre-operative ("pre-op") transsexual person is someone who intends to have SRS at some point, but has not yet had it.<ref name="Girshick-2009" /><ref name="Partridge-2006">{{cite book |last=Partridge |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mAdUqLrKw4YC&pg=PA1540 |title=The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: J-Z |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-415-25938-5 |page=1540 |oclc=180087865 |access-date=15 March 2017 |archive-date=16 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316031900/https://books.google.com/books?id=mAdUqLrKw4YC&pg=PA1540 |url-status=live}}</ref> A post-operative ("post-op") transsexual person is someone who has had SRS.<ref name="Girshick-2009" />


A non-operative ("non-op") transsexual person is someone who has not had SRS, and does not intend to have it in the future. There can be various reasons for this, from personal to financial.<ref name="Girshick-2009" /> Having SRS is not a requirement of being transsexual. Evolutionary biologist and trans woman ] criticizes the societal preoccupation with SRS as ], objectifying of transsexuals, and an invasion of privacy.<ref name=":02whip" />{{Rp|229–231}}
Experience with individuals who were surgically reassigned at birth (in order to correct deformities such as those caused by accidental ]) suggests strongly that the mental gender identification is determined at birth - individuals born male but raised as female show the same symptoms of gender dysphoria as transsexuals. (Compare ])


== Historical understanding ==
===="Curing" transsexualism====
{{transcluded section|Transgender}}Transgender people are known to have existed since ancient times. A wide range of societies had traditional third gender roles, or otherwise accepted trans people in some form.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=The Trans History You Weren't Taught in Schools |url=https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2021/06/07/trans-history-gender-diversity |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123215909/https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2021/06/07/trans-history-gender-diversity |archive-date=2022-01-23 |access-date=2022-01-23 |website=YES! Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> However, a precise history is difficult because the modern concept of being transgender, and gender in general, did not develop until the mid-1900s. Historical understandings are thus inherently filtered through modern principles, and were largely viewed through a medical lens until the late 1900s.<ref name=":3b">{{Cite journal |last=Janssen |first=Diederik F. |date=2020-04-21 |title=Transgenderism Before Gender: Nosology from the Sixteenth Through Mid-Twentieth Century |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |language=en |volume=49 |issue=5 |pages=1415–1425 |doi=10.1007/s10508-020-01715-w |issn=0004-0002 |pmid=32319033 |s2cid=216073926}}</ref>{{#section:Transgender|history}}
Psychological treatments aimed at curing transsexuality are historically known to be unsuccessful. As early as 1972, the American Medical Association Committee on Human Sexuality published the prevailing medical belief that psychotherapy was generally ineffectual for adult transsexuals and that sexual reassignment therapy was more useful. (Human Sexuality. The American Medical Association Committee on Human Sexuality. Chicago. 1972.) A number of other treatments have been used in the past that are now considered ineffective for people with significant and persistent cross gender identity, including aversion therapy, psychoactive medications, electroconvulsive therapy, hormone treatments consistent with the birth gender, and psychotherapy alone.


=== 20th century medical understanding ===
] aimed at gay or lesbian people has also been applied to transsexual and transgender people, since gender variant behaviour is seen by proponents or reparative therapy as an extreme form of homosexuality (a view that has long since disappeared from almost all scientific discourses). While the ] expressed a similar view, the scientific community today rejects this part of Kinsey's theory, making reparative therapy as useless to transsexual people as it is for gay and lesbian people. Unfortunately, even though many of the major medical professional associations have repeatedly condemned reparative therapy as not only ineffective, but actually harmful, it continues to be advocated as a treatment for both homosexuals and transsexuals by several organizations with ties to the conservative Christian movement. However, reparative therapy is not considered either standard of care or good medical/psychological care currently in modern western medicine.
Although there are records of gender affirming surgery (SRS) going back to the 2nd century, the first modern types of such practice first appeared in the 20th century.<ref name="Smith-Han">{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Shannon |last2=Han |first2=Justin |date=1 April 2019 |title=The trans-formation of gender confirming surgery: a brief history |journal=The Journal of Urology |volume=201 |issue=4S |page=e244 |doi=10.1097/01.JU.0000555394.71572.8e |s2cid=149966616|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Goldberg |editor-first1=Abbie E. |editor-last2=Beemyn |editor-first2=Genny |date=2021 |chapter=Ancient and Medieval Times |title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies |publisher=SAGE Publishing |page=32 |doi=10.4135/9781544393858.n188 |isbn=978-1-5443-9381-0 |s2cid=242422061}}</ref> In this context, Harry Benjamin suggested that moderate intensity male to female transsexual people may benefit from estrogen medication as a "substitute for or preliminary to operation".<ref name="benjaminscale" /> In Benjamin's view, people may have had gender affirming surgery even though they do not meet the definition of transsexual,{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} while others do not desire SRS although they fit his definition of a "true transsexual".{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} "Transsexuality" was included for the first time in the ] in 1980 and again in the ] in 1987, where it was located under ''Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence''.


Beyond Benjamin's work, which focused on male-to-female (MTF) transsexual people, there are cases of the female to male transsexual, for whom genital surgery may not be practical. Benjamin gave certifying letters to his MTF transsexual patients that stated "Their anatomical sex, that is to say, the body, is male. Their psychological sex, that is to say, the mind, is female." Starting in 1968 Benjamin abandoned his early terminology and adopted that of "gender identity".<ref name="ekins2006" />
However, it should be remembered that all therapy aimed at resolving gender conflicts, which is exclusive of somatic treatments to reassign physical sex, is not entirely negative. Some people may have milder conflicts between gender identity and their physical sexual characteristics. These individuals may not actually wish to pursue sexual reassignment therapy, but may seek care to help deal with the conflicts they face. If individuals express this desire for psychological care without SRS, supportive and psychoeducational counseling may be helpful. Additionally some transsexuals, who may have a ''significant'' lifelong conflict between gender identity and their sexed-body may present for care ''without'' requesting SRS. Their reasons for forgoing transition may include family or professional concerns, perceptions of difficulty of transition, worry about perceived losses of social standing or role, and sometimes even advanced age or chronic medical problems. Regardless of their reasoning, if their decision is consistent, it should be respected. These individuals can often be helped by alternative methods to improve current functional status, promote acceptance of their gender identity as valid, and ameliorate mood symptoms caused by gender conflict through psychotherapy and sometimes medications. Additionally, these individuals sometimes benefit from partial somatic treatment. Low dose hormonal therapy only, validating patients desire to dress and live partially in the gender role appropriate to their gender, and even simply allowing the person a safe outlet to express themselves as a male or female can provide a great deal of comfort to patients who for one reason or another chose not to transition.


== Medical diagnosis ==
===Physical causes===
Transsexualism is no longer classified as a mental disorder in the ] (ICD). The ] (WPATH) and many transsexual people had recommended this removal,<ref>{{cite web |title=WPATH Consensus Process Regarding Transgender and Transsexual-Related Diagnoses in ICD-11 |url=http://www.wpath.org/uploaded_files/140/files/ICD%20Meeting%20Packet-Report-Final-sm.pdf |website=] |date=2013-05-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814230500/http://www.wpath.org/uploaded_files/140/files/ICD%20Meeting%20Packet-Report-Final-sm.pdf |archive-date=2015-08-14 |access-date=2015-03-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1161996063 |title=Encyclopedia of sex and sexuality : understanding biology, psychology, and culture |date=2021 |others=Heather L. Armstrong |isbn=978-1-61069-875-7 |location=Santa Barbara, California |oclc=1161996063}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=743}} arguing that at least some mental health professionals are being insensitive by labelling transsexualism as a "disease" rather than as an inborn trait, as many transsexuals believe it to be.<ref>{{cite book |author=Green, Jamison |url=https://archive.org/details/becomingvisiblem00gree |title=Becoming a Visible Man |date=May 2004 |publisher=Vanderbilt University Press |isbn=978-0-8265-1457-8 |page= |url-access=limited}}</ref> Now, instead, it is classified as a sexual health condition; this classification continues to enable healthcare systems to provide healthcare needs related to gender.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last1=Kacala |first1=Alexander |date=18 June 2018 |title=Being Trans Is (Finally) No Longer Classified as a Mental Disorder by the WHO |publisher=Hornet |url=https://hornet.com/stories/transgender-mental-disorder/ |access-date=19 June 2018 |archive-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619035935/https://hornet.com/stories/transgender-mental-disorder/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{failed verification|Reason=source explicitly scopes itself to a different topic we treat in a different article, ] not ]|date=July 2023}} The ] was released in June 2018. The previous version, ICD-10, had incorporated ''transsexualism'', ''dual role transvestism,'' and ''gender identity disorder of childhood'' into its ] category. It defined transsexualism as " desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of, one's anatomic sex, and a wish to have surgery and hormonal treatment to make one's body as congruent as possible with one's preferred sex". ICD-11 renamed Transexualism as Gender incongruence of adolescence or adulthood ({{ICD11|HA60}}), and Gender identity disorder of childhood was renamed Gender incongruence of childhood ({{ICD11|HA61}}).
Many transsexual (and also many other transgendered) people have assumed that there is a physical cause of their transsexualism, because they claim to have had the feeling of being a girl or a boy for as long as they can remember. However, research into brain gender identity has been sparse.


HA60 of the ICD-11 reads:<ref name=":2b">{{Cite web |title=ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics |url=https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http://id.who.int/icd/entity/90875286 |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=icd.who.int}}</ref><blockquote>Gender Incongruence of Adolescence and Adulthood is characterised by a marked and persistent incongruence between an individual's experienced gender and the assigned sex, which often leads to a desire to 'transition', in order to live and be accepted as a person of the experienced gender, through hormonal treatment, surgery or other health care services to make the individual's body align, as much as desired and to the extent possible, with the experienced gender. The diagnosis cannot be assigned prior the onset of puberty. Gender variant behaviour and preferences alone are not a basis for assigning the diagnosis.</nowiki></blockquote>{{failed verification|date=July 2023}} Historically, transsexualism has also been included in the ]'s '']'' (DSM). With the ], transsexualism was removed as a diagnosis, and a diagnosis of ] was created in its place.<ref name="DSM-V">{{Cite book |last=American Psychiatric Association |url=https://archive.org/details/diagnosticstatis0005unse |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition |publisher=American Psychiatric Publishing |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-89042-554-1 |url-access=registration}}</ref> This change was made to reflect the consensus view by members of the APA that the desire for gender affirming surgery is not, in and of itself, a disorder and that transsexual people should not be stigmatized unnecessarily.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.dsm5.org/documents/gender%20dysphoria%20fact%20sheet.pdf |title=Gender Dysphoria |date=2013 |publisher=American Psychiatric Publishing |access-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611202525/http://www.dsm5.org/documents/gender%20dysphoria%20fact%20sheet.pdf |archive-date=June 11, 2013}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=July 2023}} By including a diagnosis for gender dysphoria, transsexual people are still able to access medical care through the process of transition.
While the article by Zhou, et al: http://www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtc0106.htm, has been touted as strong evidence that transsexuality is based in structural and neurochemical similarities between the brain of transsexuals and brains typical of their gender identity, this article has numerous flaws.


The current diagnosis for transsexual people who present themselves for medical treatment is gender dysphoria (leaving out those who have sexual identity disorders without gender concerns).<ref name="DSM-V"/> According to the ''Standards of care'' formulated by WPATH, formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, this diagnostic label is often necessary to obtain gender affirming therapy with health insurance coverage, and the designation of gender identity disorders as mental disorders is not a license for stigmatization or for the deprivation of gender patients' civil rights.<ref name="WPATH web">{{cite web |date=2011-09-25 |title=World Professional Association for Transgender Health |url=http://wpath.org |access-date=2012-02-23 |publisher=WPATH |archive-date=2011-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822232617/http://www.wpath.org/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="WPATHSOCs">{{cite web |title=Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People, 7th Version |url=http://www.wpath.org/documents/Standards%20of%20Care%20V7%20-%202011%20WPATH.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303035205/http://www.wpath.org/documents/Standards%20of%20Care%20V7%20-%202011%20WPATH.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-03 |access-date=2012-02-23}}</ref>
More interesting evidence comes from numerous animal studies demonstrating that exposure to cross-sex hormones during development can reliably produce cross-sex behaviors in animals. In addition twin studies have demonstrated a strong heritability for transsexuality. (Concordance for Gender Identity Among Monozygotic and Dizygotic Twin Pairs. Diamond, M and Hawk, S. American Psychological Association 2004 Annual Meeting. July 28 - August 1, 2004, Honolulu, Hawaii.) This research provides more suggestive evidence that transsexuality may be determined in part by genetics and in utero hormonal environment.


== Causes, studies, and theories ==
===Objections against research of causes===
Scholars of ], gender professionals and transsexual and transgender rights activists contest the very rationale of looking for a "cause" to transsexualism. The basic assumption behind this quest for "causes" is that gender dimorphism (the idea that there are only two discrete, well defined and dichotomous genders) is an established fact. The critics cite, among other things, historiographic and anthropological findings pointing to the fact that different cultures had diverse concepts of gender, some of them including three or more genders.


=== Causes ===
The main argument against the search for a "cause" to transsexualism is that it assumes a priori the legitimacy of normative gender identity, i.e. gender identity congruent with the external genitalia. This, affirm the critics, is an unproved contention. Historical research shows that the relation of genitals and gender identity changes across cultures. Assuming a priori that variant gender identity is anomalous (and therefore its "causes" should be investigated) distorts science's view of gender and contributes to the stigmatization of gender non-conformant people.
{{main|Causes of transsexuality}}


=== Focus on trans women over trans men ===
==Transsexual youth==
Historically, formal efforts by the medical community to provide transsexual healthcare were extremely focused on transsexual women, with little thought for transsexual men. Julia Serano suggests that ] (the idea that male femininity is more psychopathological than female masculinity) was the driving factor. She sees this as a kind of ] (hatred of trans women as an extension of sexism).<ref name=":02whip">{{Cite book |last=Serano |first=Julia |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/920728057 |title=Whipping girl : a transsexual woman on sexism and the scapegoating of femininity |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-58005-622-9 |edition=2 |location=Berkeley, CA |pages=233–245 |oclc=920728057}}</ref>{{Rp|126–127}} This effimimania conflates male homosexuality, transsexual women, and feminine gender expression, while treating them all as a disease.<ref name=":02whip"/>{{Rp|129}} She points to the medical community's long love of now outdated theories such as ].<ref name=":02whip"/>{{Rp|131}}
Individuals may begin to come to terms with their gender identity at many different stages in their life. In most cases, the transsexual condition becomes apparent at some time in ], sometimes in very early childhood, where the child may be expressing behaviour incongruent with, and dissatisfaction related to, their assigned gender.


== Medical assistance ==
Most of the time, though, these children try to hide their ''being different'' as soon as they experience rejection resulting from their differences.
Individuals make different choices regarding gender affirming therapy, which may include hormones, minor to extensive surgery, social changes, and psychological interventions. The extent of medical intervention is a highly personal decision: there is no one-size-fits-all solution.


=== Hormone replacement therapy ===
===Coming out===
{{Main|Transgender hormone therapy}}
Since transsexualism is still not widely accepted in many countries, transsexual youth may feel they need to remain in ] until they feel that there is a time appropriate to reveal to their parents their gender identity -- understandably so, as parents have a great deal of influence in their children's lives, some parents can react negatively towards such news. Other parents can be very supportive, initially, or after such news has been broken to them.
Transsexual individuals frequently opt for ] or ] ] (HRT) to modify ]s.


=== Sex reassignment therapy ===
===Ensuring the child's security===
{{Main|Sex reassignment therapy}}
Only in recent years have some transsexual or transgendered children received both counseling and in some cases also medical treatment, as well as the possibility to change their social role.


''Sex reassignment therapy'' (SRT) is an umbrella term for all medical treatments related to gender affirming of both transgender and ] people. ] (such as ]) alters ], including chest surgery such as ] or ], or, in the case of trans women, a ], ] or ].
Families with a young child, who may identify already as a member of "the other" sex, and who chooses to change their gender roles through dress and behaviors, may decide to relocate this child and home to another area in order to afford the young person the best opportunity to live in the desired gender role among a novel set of peers and community.


To obtain gender affirming therapy, transsexual people are generally required to undergo a psychological evaluation and receive a diagnosis of gender identity disorder in accordance with the Standards of Care (SOC) as published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.<ref name="WPATH web" /> This assessment is usually accompanied by counseling on issues of adjustment to the desired gender role, effects and risks of medical treatments, and sometimes also by psychological therapy. The SOC are intended as guidelines, not inflexible rules, and are intended to ensure that clients are properly informed and in sound psychological health, and to discourage people from ]ing based on unrealistic expectations.
Choosing to remain and live within an intolerant society where the local community has had previous experience of the child's assigned sex may raise many challenging issues. ] of ] was a young person who had attempted to cross-live as a female, a gender opposite to the male gender assigned her at birth. She became the victim of violent crimes that resulted in her death after she attended a party where her birth sex was revealed.


==== Gender roles and transitioning ====
The film (1997), by Alain Berliner, depicts a similar scenario: Ludovic is a young child who is assigned male but who identifies as a girl and tries to make others agree with this identification. Ludovic's gender play incurs conflict within the family and prejudice from the neighbours; in the end the family has to relocate to a new community.
After an initial psychological evaluation, trans men and trans women may begin medical treatment, starting with hormone replacement therapy<ref name="WPATHSOCs"/><ref name="Gooren">{{cite journal |last1=Gooren |first1=LJ |last2=Giltay |first2=EJ |last3=Bunck |first3=MC |year=2008 |title=Long-term treatment of transsexuals with cross-sex hormones: extensive personal experience |journal=J Clin Endocrinol Metab |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=19–25 |doi=10.1210/jc.2007-1809 |pmid=17986639 |doi-access=free}}</ref> or hormone blockers. In these cases, people who change their gender are usually required to live as members of their target gender for at least one year prior to genital surgery, gaining ], which is sometimes called the "real-life test" (RLT).<ref name="WPATHSOCs"/> Transsexual individuals may undergo some, all, or none of the medical procedures available, depending on personal feelings, health, income, and other considerations. Some people posit that transsexualism is a physical condition, not a psychological issue, and assert that gender affirming therapy should be given on request. (Brown 103)


Like other trans people, transsexual people may refer to themselves as trans men or trans women. Transsexual people desire to establish a permanent gender role as a member of the gender with which they identify, and many transsexual people pursue medical interventions as part of the process of expressing their gender. The entire process of switching from one physical sex and social gender presentation to another is often referred to as transitioning, and usually takes several years. Transsexual people who transition usually change their social gender roles, ]s and legal sex designation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Restar |first1=Arjee |last2=Jin |first2=Harry |last3=Breslow |first3=Aaron |last4=Reisner |first4=Sari L. |last5=Mimiaga |first5=Matthew |last6=Cahill |first6=Sean |last7=Hughto |first7=Jaclyn M.W. |date=2020 |title=Legal gender marker and name change is associated with lower negative emotional response to gender-based mistreatment and improve mental health outcomes among trans populations |journal=SSM - Population Health |language=en |volume=11 |pages=100595 |doi=10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100595 |pmc=7229467 |pmid=32435684}}</ref>
The 1999 documentary film ''Creature'' directed by Parris Patton, tells the story of Stacey "Hollywood" Dean, a young transsexual woman who grew up in rural North Carolina. It follows her through four years and includes interviews with her conservative Christian parents.


Not all transsexual people undergo a physical transition. Some have obstacles or concerns preventing them from doing so, such as the expense of surgery, the risk of medical complications, or medical conditions which make the use of hormones or surgery dangerous. Others may not identify strongly with another binary gender role. Still others may find balance at a midpoint during the process, regardless of whether or not they are binary-identified. Many transsexual people, including binary-identified transsexual people, do not undergo genital surgery, because they are comfortable with their own genitals, or because they are concerned about nerve damage and the potential loss of sexual pleasure, including orgasm. This is especially so in the case of trans men, many of whom are dissatisfied with the current state of ], which is typically very expensive, not covered by health insurance, and commonly does not achieve desired results.<!-- NOTE: All of this phalloplasty content is sourced after the metoidioplasty comparison.--> For example, not only does phalloplasty not result in a completely natural erection, it may not allow for an erection at all, and its results commonly lack penile sexual sensitivity; in other cases, however, phalloplasty results are satisfying for trans men.<!-- NOTE: All of this phalloplasty content is sourced after the metoidioplasty comparison.--> By contrast, ], which is more popular, is significantly less expensive and has far better sexual results.<ref name="Teich">{{cite book |last=Teich |first=Nicholas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdA7AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 |title=Transgender 101: A Simple Guide to a Complex Issue |publisher=] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-231-50427-0 |page=55 |quote=Historically, many transmen who have had phalloplasty have not been satisfied with the results. Doctors continue to make improvements to this surgery, but many surgeons in the United States choose not to perform it because of the high risk of complications (severe scarring or fistulas for example), the significant risk of never regaining sensation in the penis or donor sites, and the chance that the result will not be aesthetically pleasing. However, some transmen are satisfied with their results and would choose to do it again if given the choice. |access-date=August 20, 2015 |archive-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920032700/https://books.google.com/books?id=gdA7AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Stryker & Whittle">{{cite book |last1=Stryker |first1=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SfqOAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA353 |title=The Transgender Studies Reader |last2=Whittle |first2=Stephen |publisher=] |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-135-39884-2 |page=353 |quote=In addition, phalloplasty 'cannot produce an organ rich in the sexual feeling of the natural one.' |access-date=August 20, 2015 |archive-date=September 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910063206/https://books.google.com/books?id=SfqOAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA353 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Carroll">{{cite book |last=Carroll |first=Janell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cy9-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT132 |title=Sexuality Now: Embracing Diversity |publisher=] |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-305-44603-8 |page=132 |quote=Penises made from phalloplasty cannot achieve a natural erection, so penile implants of some kind are usually used (we will discuss these implants in more detail in Chapter 14). Overall, metoidioplasty is a simpler procedure than phalloplasty, which explains its popularity. It also has fewer complications, takes less time, and is less expensive (e.g., a metoidioplasty takes about 1 to 2 hours and can cost around $15,000 to 20,000, whereas, a phalloplasty can take about 8 hours can cost more than $65,000). |access-date=August 20, 2015 |archive-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920055722/https://books.google.com/books?id=cy9-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT132 |url-status=live}}</ref>
The decision to relocate, however, depends very much on the social environment and the handling of the situation by caretakers and other adults. There are also several cases where it was not felt that there was such a need to relocate, particularly in Western Europe.


Transsexual people can be heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual; many choose the language of how they refer to their sexual orientation based on their gender identity, not their birth ].<ref name="ekins2006" />
==Gender reassignment therapy==
Most transsexual men and women suffer from great psychological and emotional pain due to the conflict between their gender identity and their original gender role and anatomy. They find their only recourse is to change their gender role and undergo ]. This may include taking ] or having ] to modify their primary and secondary ]s.


==Psychological treatment== === Psychological treatment ===
Psychological techniques that attempt to alter gender identity to one considered appropriate for the person's assigned sex, aka ], are ineffective. The widely recognized Standards of Care note that sometimes the only reasonable and effective course of treatment for transsexual people is to go through gender affirming therapy.<ref name="WPATHSOCs"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Eva |last2=Wisniewski |first2=Amy |last3=Dobs |first3=Adrian |author-link3=Adrian Sandra Dobs |date=2003 |title=Endocrine Treatment of Transsexual People: A Review of Treatment Regimens, Outcomes, and Adverse Effects |url=http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/88/8/3467 |journal=The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism |volume=88 |issue=8 |pages=3467–3473 |doi=10.1210/jc.2002-021967 |pmid=12915619 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216040318/http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/88/8/3467 |archive-date=February 16, 2007 |access-date=July 4, 2021 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
Mental health approaches that attempt to change the gender identity to one considered appropriate for their assigned sex have universally been shown to be ineffective. It is generally accepted, therefore, that the only effective course of treatment for transsexuals is gender reassignment therapy.


The need for physical treatment is emphasized by the high rate of mental health problems, including depression, various addictions, and a ] rate among untreated transsexual people many times the rate in the general population (some estimates are as high as between thirty and seventy percent); many of these problems in the majority of cases disappear or decrease significantly after a change of gender role. The need for treatment of transsexual people is emphasized by the high rate of ] problems, including ], ], and various ], as well as a higher ] rate among untreated transsexual people than in the general population.<ref>{{cite web |date=18 August 2000 |title=Transgender Health |url=http://www.metrokc.gov/health/glbt/transgender.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818182316/http://www.metrokc.gov/health/glbt/transgender.htm |archive-date=18 August 2000}}</ref> These problems are alleviated by a change of gender role and/or physical characteristics.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=De Cuypere |first1=Greta |date=2006 |title=Long-term follow-up: psychosocial outcome of Belgian transsexuals after sex reassignment surgery |journal=Sexologies |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=126–133 |doi=10.1016/j.sexol.2006.04.002 |url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4377939/file/4377940 |quote=...the suicide attempt rate dropped significantly from 29.3% to 5.1%}}</ref>


Transgender and transsexual activists, but also many caretakers, however, point out that these problems are usually not related to the gender identity issue as such, but to problems that arise from dealing with those issues and social problems related to them. Also, those problems are much more likely to be diagnosed than similar problems in the general population, since for both medical treatments and letters of recommendation contacting a healthcare professional is needed, where the patients are routinely screened for these and similar problems. Many transgender and transsexual activists, and many caregivers, note that these problems are not usually related to the gender identity issues themselves, but the social and cultural responses to gender-variant individuals. Some transsexual people reject the counseling that is recommended by the Standards of Care<ref name="WPATHSOCs"/> because they do not consider their gender identity to be a cause of psychological problems.


Brown and Rounsley noted that "some transsexual people acquiesce to legal and medical expectations in order to gain rights granted through the medical/psychological hierarchy." Legal needs, such as a change of sex on legal documents, and medical needs, such as gender affirming surgery, are usually difficult to obtain without a doctor or therapist's approval. Because of this, some transsexual people feel coerced into affirming outdated concepts of gender to overcome simple legal and medical hurdles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Mildred L. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51437864 |title=True selves : understanding transsexualism-- for families, friends, coworkers, and helping professionals |date=2003 |publisher=Jossey-Bass |others=Chloe Ann Rounsley |isbn=0-7879-6702-5 |edition=1 paperback |location=San Francisco |pages=107 |oclc=51437864}}</ref>
A growing number of transsexual and transgender people therefore resent or even refuse often mandatory psychological treatment, since gender dysphoria itself is untreatable by psychological means, and they have no other problems that need treatment. This however can cause significant problems when they try to obtain physical treatment.


=== Regrets and detransitions ===
Therapists' records reveal most transsexuals do not believe they need psychological counseling, but acquiesce to legal demands in order to gain rights which are granted through the medical/psychological hierarchy. Legal issues such as a ], and sex reassignment surgery itself are usually impossible to obtain without a doctor's approval. This leads to the inevitability that transsexuals feel coerced into confirming pre-ordained symptoms of self-loathing, impotence, and sexual-preference in order to see simple legal hurdles granted. Transsexuals face the unattractive option of remaining invisible with no legal rights and possibly incongruent identification, or submitting to a medical hierarchy which alone has the ability to grant legal gender status.
{{See also|Detransition}}
People who undergo gender affirming surgery can develop regret for the procedure later in life, largely predicted by a lack of support from family or peers, with data from the 1990s suggesting a rate of 3.8%.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Landén |first=M |author2=Wålinder, J |author3=Hambert, G |author4=Lundström, B. |date=April 1998 |title=Factors predictive of regret in sex reassignment |journal=] |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=284–9 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0447.1998.tb10001.x |pmid=9570489 |s2cid=19652697}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=I will never be able to have sex again. Ever |last=Stark |first=Jill |work=] |date=31 May 2009 |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/i-will-never-be-able-to-have-sex-again-ever-20090530-br41.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409010158/https://www.theage.com.au/national/i-will-never-be-able-to-have-sex-again-ever-20090530-br41.html |archive-date=9 April 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2001 study of 232 MTF patients who underwent GRS, none of the patients reported complete regret and only 6% reported partial or occasional regrets.<ref name="Lawrence">{{Cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=A. A. |date=Aug 2003 |title=Factors associated with satisfaction or regret following male-to-female sex reassignment surgery |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=299–315 |doi=10.1023/A:1024086814364 |pmid=12856892 |s2cid=9960176}}</ref> A 2009 review of ] literature suggests the total rate of patients expressing feelings of doubt or regret is estimated to be as high as 8%.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baranyi |first=A |author2=Piber, D |author3=Rothenhäusler, HB. |year=2009 |title=Male-to-female transsexualism. Sex reassignment surgery from a biopsychosocial perspective |journal=Wien Med Wochenschr |volume=159 |issue=21–22 |pages=548–57 |doi=10.1007/s10354-009-0693-5 |pmid=19997841}}</ref>


A 2010 meta-study, based on 28 previous long-term studies of transsexual men and women, found that the overall psychological functioning of transsexual people after transition was similar to that of the general population and significantly better than that of untreated transsexual people.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Murad |first1=Mohammad |last2=Elamin |first2=Mohomed |last3=Garcia |first3=Magaly |last4=Mullan |first4=Rebecca |last5=Murad |first5=Ayman |last6=Erwin |first6=Patricia |last7=Montori |first7=Victor |date=2010 |title=Hormonal therapy and sex reassignment: a systematic review and meta-analysis of quality of life and psychosocial outcomes |journal=Clinical Endocrinology |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=214–231 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03625.x |pmid=19473181 |s2cid=19590739}}</ref>
==Requirements for gender reassignment treatment==
''Main article: ]''


== Prevalence ==
The requirements for ] vary greatly. Often a minimum time period of psychological counseling or a time spent living in the desired gender role in order to ensure they can function psychologically in that role is required. This is not always possible; transsexual men especially often cannot "pass" this period without hormones. <!-- Kindly stop inserting "breast reduction", cases where hormones are not enough to enable basic passing are extremely rare. I know you mean well, but this is unnecessary.--> This time period is usually called the Real Life Test (RLT). The most recent revision of the ] Standards of Care recognize this limitation for some transgender people. So the SOC state that patients may be approved for treatment after either a period of successful cross-living ''or'' a period of diagnostic psychotherapy - generally at least three months.
{{See also|Transgender#Population figures and prevalence}}
Estimates of the ] of transsexual people are highly dependent on the specific case definitions used in the studies, with prevalence rates varying by orders of magnitude.<ref name="jsm.jsexmed.org">{{cite journal |url=http://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(16)00133-8/abstract |last1=Collin |first1=Lindsay |last2=Reisner |first2=Sari L |last3=Tangpricha |first3=Vin |last4=Goodman |first4=Michael |title=Prevalence of Transgender Depends on the "Case" Definition: A Systematic Review |journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine |volume=13 |issue=4 |date=April 1, 2016 |pages=613–626 |doi=10.1016/j.jsxm.2016.02.001 |pmid=27045261 |pmc=4823815 |access-date=July 4, 2021}}</ref> In the United States, the '']'' (DSM-V 2013) gives the following estimates: "For natal adult males , prevalence ranges from 0.005% to 0.014%, and for natal females , from 0.002% to 0.003%." It states, however, that these are likely underestimates since the figures are based on referrals to specialty clinics.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/diagnosticstatis0005unse/page/454 |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders |date=2013 |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |isbn=978-0-89042-554-1 |edition=5th |location=Washington, D.C. |page=}}</ref>


The Amsterdam Gender Dysphoria Clinic over four decades has treated roughly 95% of Dutch transsexual clients, and it suggests (1997) a prevalence of 1:10,000 among assigned males and 1:30,000 among assigned females.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van Kesteren |first1=Paul J. M |last2=Asscheman |first2=Henk |last3=Megens |first3=Jos A. J |last4=Gooren |first4=Louis J. G |year=1997 |title=Mortality and morbidity in transsexual subjects treated with cross-sex hormones |journal=J. Clin. Endocrinol. |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=337–343 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2265.1997.2601068.x |pmid=9373456 |s2cid=12126434}}</ref>
Some surgeons who perform sex-reassignment surgery may require the patient to live as the opposite gender in as many ways as possible ways for a specified period of time (this is termed "cross-living" or real-life-test) prior to the start of surgery. However some surgeons recognize that RLT without at least chest reconstruction may be difficult. So many are willing to perform some or even all elements of SRS without a RLT period. This is especially prevalent amongst surgeons who practice in Asia.


Olyslager and ] presented a paper<ref>{{Cite report |last1=Olyslager |first1=Femke |last2=Conway |first2=Lynn |year=2007 |title=On the Calculation of the Prevalence of Transsexualism |url=http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Prevalence/Reports/Prevalence%20of%20Transsexualism.pdf |journal= |access-date=2007-12-11 |archive-date=2008-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227041138/http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Prevalence/Reports/Prevalence%20of%20Transsexualism.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> at the WPATH 20th International Symposium (2007) arguing that the data from their own and other studies actually imply much higher prevalence, with minimum lower bounds of 1:4,500 male-to-female transsexual people and 1:8,000 female-to-male transsexual people for a number of countries worldwide. They estimate the number of post-op women in the US to be 32,000 and obtain a figure of 1:2500 male-to-female transsexual people. They further compare the annual instances of gender affirming surgery (SRS) and male birth in the U.S. to obtain a figure of 1:1000 MTF transsexual people and suggest a prevalence of 1:500 extrapolated from the rising rates of SRS in the US and a "common sense" estimate of the number of undiagnosed transsexual people. Olyslager and Conway also argue that the US population of assigned males having already undergone reassignment surgery by the top three US SRS surgeons alone is enough to account for the entire transsexual population implied by the 1:10,000 prevalence number, yet this excludes all other US SRS surgeons, surgeons in countries such as Thailand, Canada, and others, and the high proportion of transsexual people who have not yet sought treatment, suggesting that a prevalence of 1:10,000 is too low.
Generally both physicians who prescribe hormones and surgeons who perform SRS may request letters of diagnosis and recommendation for treatment from the patient's therapist. However, experienced physicians and surgeons sometimes waive this requirement with patients who, by their evaluation, are obvious candidates for treatment.


A 2008 study of the number of New Zealand passport holders who changed the sex on their passport estimated that 1:3,639 birth-assigned males and 1:22,714 birth-assigned females were transsexual.<ref name="veale2">{{Cite journal |author=Veale |first=Jaimie F. |author-link=Jaimie Veale |date=October 2008 |title=Prevalence of transsexualism among New Zealand passport holders |url=http://www.jaimieveale.com/publications/prevalence.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry |volume=42 |issue=10 |pages=887–889 |doi=10.1080/00048670802345490 |pmid=18777233 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328062257/http://www.jaimieveale.com/publications/prevalence.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-28 |access-date=2011-07-27 |s2cid=205398433}}</ref>
==Hormone replacement therapy==
''Main article: ]''


A 2008 presentation at the LGBT Health Summit in Bristol, UK,<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Reed |first1=Bernard |last2=Rhodes |first2=Stephenne |year=2008 |title=Presentation on prevalence of transsexual people in the UK |url=http://www.gires.org.uk/prevalence.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309113504/http://www.gires.org.uk/prevalence.php |archive-date=2009-03-09 |url-status=dead}}</ref> showed that the prevalence of transsexual people in the UK was increasing (14% per year) and that the mean age of ] was rising.
For both transsexual men and women hormone replacement therapy (HRT) causes the development of some of the secondary sexual characteristics of their desired gender. Many of the already existing primary and secondary sexual characteristics cannot be undone by HRT though. For example breasts will grow in transsexual women but they will not regress in transsexual men. However some characteristics like distribution of body fat and muscle as well as menstruation in transsexual men may be reversed by hormonal treatment. Unfortunately generally those traits that are easily reversible will also revert on cessation of hormonal treatment unless surgical castration has occurred. Moreover, especially in transsexual women, but also in some transsexual men, surgery is required to provide a satisfactory physical body. Transsexual women often require extensive ] to remove unwanted facial hair and, if necessary, body hair.


Though no direct studies on the prevalence of ] (GID) have been done, a variety of clinical papers published in the past 20 years provide estimates ranging from 1:7,400 to 1:42,000 in assigned males and 1:30,040 to 1:104,000 in assigned females.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tgmentalhealth.com/2010/03/31/the-prevalence-of-transgenderism/ |title=The Prevalence of Transgenderism |last=Kaplan |first=Ami B. |date=31 March 2010 |website=Transgender Mental Health |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823093050/https://tgmentalhealth.com/2010/03/31/the-prevalence-of-transgenderism/ |archive-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=live |access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref>
==Sex reassignment surgery==
''Main article: ]''


In 2015, the ] conducted a National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Of the 27,715 transgender and ] people who took the survey, 35% identified as "non-binary", 33% identified as transgender women, 29% identified as transgender men, and 3% said that "crossdresser" best described their gender identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey |url=http://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/USTS-Full-Report-FINAL.PDF |access-date=6 March 2016 |publisher=] |year=2016 |archive-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209150153/http://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/USTS-Full-Report-FINAL.PDF |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="NTDS_2011">{{cite report |last1=Grant |first1=Jaime M. |last2=Mottet |first2=Lisa A. |last3=Tanis |first3=Justin |last4=Harrison |first4=Jack |last5=Heman |first5=Jody L. |last6=Keisling |first6=Mara |author6-link=Mara Keisling |title=Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey |year=2011 |url=http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf |publisher=] and ] |access-date=2021-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506162958/http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf |archive-date=2015-05-06 |url-status=dead}}<!-- additional links (working as of 2021-05-31): https://www.thetaskforce.org/injustice-every-turn-report-national-transgender-discrimination-survey/ (overview page) https://www.thetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ntds_full.pdf https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20120618153556/http://endtransdiscrimination.org/PDFs/NTDS_Report.pdf --></ref>
Sex reassignment surgery consists of processes transsexual women and men take in order to match their anatomical sex to their gender identity; however, surgery to correct genitalia (SRS) is also very expensive and not covered by public or private health insurance everywhere.


A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis of "how various definitions of transgender affect prevalence estimates" in 27 studies found a ] (mP) estimates per 100,000 population of 9.2 (95% CI = 4.9–13.6), equal to 1:11,000 for surgical or hormonal gender affirmation therapy and 6.8 (95% CI = 4.6–9.1), equal to 1:15,000 for transgender-related medical condition diagnoses. Of studies assessing self-reported transgender identity, prevalence was 355 (95% CI = 144–566), equal to 1 in 282. However, a single outlier study would have influenced the result to 871 (95% CI = 519–1,224), equal to 1 in 115; this study was removed. "Significant heterogeneity was observed in most analyses."<ref name="jsm.jsexmed.org" />
Prior to surgery, transsexual men and women are often referred to as ''pre-operative'' (''pre-op''); those who have already had the surgery may be referred to as ''post-operative'' (''post-op'') or simply identified by the sex and sexual status they have chosen. Not all ] people undergo sexual reassignment surgery (either because of the high cost of such surgery, medical reasons, or other reasons), although they live constantly in their chosen ]; these people are often called ''non-operative'' (''non-op").


Those with an ] or ] are transsexuals more often than the general population.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Cureus |year=2017 |volume=9 |issue=12 |doi=10.7759/cureus.1984 |title=Transgender Associations and Possible Etiology: A Literature Review |author=Fatima Saleem & Syed W Rizvi |pages=e1984 |doi-access=free |pmc=5825045 |pmid=29503778}}</ref>
A more modern idea suggests the notion that the focus on surgery status is misplaced, and therefore more and more people are refusing to define themselves in terms of operative status.


{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders
==Legal and social aspects==
|-
''Main article: ]''
!scope="col"| Country
!scope="col"| Publication
!scope="col"| Year
!scope="col"| Incidence in males
!scope="col"| Incidence in females
|-
!scope="row"| US
| DSM-IV || 1994 || 1:{{formatnum:30000}} || 1:{{formatnum:100000}}
|-
!scope="row"| Netherlands
| '']'' || 1997 || 1:{{formatnum:10000}} || 1:{{formatnum:30000}}
|-
!scope="row"| US
| '']'' || 2007 || 1:{{formatnum:4500}} || 1:{{formatnum:8000}}
|-
!scope="row"| New Zealand
| '']'' || 2008 || 1:{{formatnum:3639}} || 1:{{formatnum:22714}}
|-
!scope="row"| US
| '']'' || 2016 || 1:{{formatnum:11000}} || 1:{{formatnum:15000}}
|}


== Society and culture ==
Many Western societies today have some sort of procedure whereby an individual can ], and sometimes also their legal gender, to reflect their ]. Medical procedures for transsexual and transgender people are also available in most Western countries. However, transsexual and transgender people make strong challenges to the prevalence of gender roles in many cultures and often face considerable prejudice. The film '']'' chronicles such a case.
A number of ] and ] cultures have traditional social and ceremonial roles for individuals who do not fit into the usual roles for males and females in that culture. These roles can vary widely between tribes, because gender roles, when they exist at all, also vary considerably among different Native cultures. However, a modern, ] status known as ] has emerged among LGBT Natives in recent years.<ref name="Gilley">{{cite book |last=Gilley |first=Brian Joseph |title=Becoming two-spirit : gay identity and social acceptance in Indian country |publication-place=Lincoln |date=2006 |isbn=0-8032-5797-X |oclc=75428414}}</ref>


=== Legal and social aspects ===
Some people who have undergone a change of gender role will adopt or provide foster care for children, often for children who are also transsexual or transgender so they can live according to their gender identity. Societies are in some instances challenged to assimilate these men and women into their social institutions such as marriage and the role of parenting. Often children exist from the time before transition. Many of these children stay with their transitioning/transitioned parent. Recent research shows that this does not harm the development of these children in any way.
{{See also|Legal aspects of transsexualism}}
]'s ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sejm.gov.pl/sejm7.nsf/posel.xsp?id=119 |title=Anna Grodzka |website=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426002143/https://sejm.gov.pl/sejm7.nsf/posel.xsp?id=119 |archive-date=26 April 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=2 December 2011 |language=pl}}</ref> is the first transsexual MP in the history of Europe to have had gender affirming ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infokrakow24.pl/2011/10/10/wybory-2011-andrzej-duda-pis-zdeklasowal-konkurentow-w-krakowie/ |title=Wybory 2011: Andrzej Duda (PIS) zdeklasował konkurentów w Krakowie |last=Świerzowski |first=Bogusław |date=10 October 2011 |website=Info Krakow 24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904000523/https://www.infokrakow24.pl/18374/wybory-2011-andrzej-duda-pis-zdeklasowal-konkurentow-w-krakowie/ |archive-date=4 September 2015 |url-status=live |language=pl}}</ref>]]
Laws regarding changes to the legal status of transsexual people are different from country to country. Some jurisdictions allow an individual to ], and sometimes, their legal gender, to reflect their gender identity. Within the US, some states allow amendments or complete replacement of the original birth certificates.<ref name="transgenderlaw.org">{{cite web |title=The Transgender Law and Policy Institute: Home Page |url=http://transgenderlaw.org/ |access-date=2011-07-06 |publisher=Transgenderlaw.org |archive-date=2013-04-15 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415233541/http://transgenderlaw.org/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some states seal earlier records against all but court orders in order to protect the transsexual person's privacy.


In many places, it is not possible to change birth records or other legal designations of sex, although changes are occurring. ]'s book documented her struggle to change the Australian birth certificate and passport laws, although there are other individuals who have been instrumental in changing laws and thus attaining more acceptance for transsexual people in general.
The style guides of many media outlets prescribe that a journalist who writes about a transsexual should use the pronoun and name used by that person. Family members and friends, who are often confused about pronoun usage or the definitions of sex, are frequently corrected by either the transsexual or the professionals who assist them as they approach that point at which they begin to "]" as a member of the sex they wish to adopt.


Medical treatment for transsexual and transgender people is available in most Western countries. However, transsexual and transgender people challenge the "normative" gender roles of many cultures and often face considerable hatred and prejudice. The film '']'' chronicles the case of ], a transsexual man who was raped and murdered after his status was discovered. In 1999 Brandon was memorialised in the first ].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/transgender-day-of-remembrance-why-we-remember_b_2166234 |title=Transgender Day of Remembrance: Why We Remember |last=Ann Smith |first=Gwendolyn |author-link1=Gwendolyn Ann Smith |date=20 November 2012 |work=] |access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref> The Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed annually on November 20 by members of the transgender community and LGBT+ organisations across the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.glaad.org/tdor |title=Trans Day of Remembrance Nov 20 |website=] |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=8 November 2019 |access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://tgeu.org/tdor/ |title=Trans Day of Remembrance Campaign |website=] |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=20 November 2018 |access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref>
==Stealth==
After this level of transition and development has been achieved, many transsexual men and women may wish to blend back in with other members of their new sex and will avoid revealing their past preferring the relative peace and security they find on the other side of a stressful and potentially dangerous transition.


Jurisdictions allowing changes to birth records generally allow ] members of the opposite sex to their gender identity and to adopt children. Jurisdictions which prohibit ] often require pre-transition marriages to be ended before they will issue an amended birth certificate.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 28, 2014 |title=When Albert met Ann: 'Ridiculous' marriage laws force transgender divorce |work=The Age |url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/when-albert-met-ann-ridiculous-marriage-laws-force-transgender-divorce-20141210-124b8q.html |access-date=August 23, 2015 |archive-date=April 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424115957/http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/when-albert-met-ann-ridiculous-marriage-laws-force-transgender-divorce-20141210-124b8q.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
This behaviour is known as ''stealth'', and is somewhat a contentious issue. Some people, including some transsexual people, feel that they should be upfront about their past, and that stealth living is somehow dishonest; however, others claim that transsexual men and women should be able to live in their true ] in a normal way and be in control of whom they reveal their past to.


Health-practitioner manuals, professional journalistic ]s, and LGBT advocacy groups advise the adoption by others of the name and pronouns identified by the person in question, including present references to the transgender or transsexual person's past.<ref name="APA Complicated">{{cite journal |last=Glicksman |first=Eve |date=April 2013 |title=Transgender terminology: It's complicated |journal=Monitor on Psychology |url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/04/complicated.aspx |access-date=2013-09-17 |publisher=American Psychological Association |volume=44 |issue=4 |page=39 |quote=Use whatever name and gender pronoun the person prefers |archive-date=2013-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925130527/http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/04/complicated.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fenway Meeting">{{cite web |title=Meeting the Health Care Needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) People: The End to LGBT Invisibility |url=http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/glbt/tfi-grand-rounds-makadon.ppt |access-date=2013-09-17 |publisher=The Fenway Institute |page=24 |format=PowerPoint Presentation |quote=Use the pronoun that matches the person's gender identity |archive-date=2013-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020025808/http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/glbt/tfi-grand-rounds-makadon.ppt |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fenway Glossary">{{cite web |date=January 2010 |title=Glossary of Gender and Transgender Terms |url=http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/DocServer/Handout_7-C_Glossary_of_Gender_and_Transgender_Terms__fi.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019120607/http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/DocServer/Handout_7-C_Glossary_of_Gender_and_Transgender_Terms__fi.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-19 |access-date=2013-09-17 |publisher=Fenway Health |location=Preface |page=2 |quote=listen to your clients – what terms do they use to describe themselves}}</ref> Family members and friends who may be confused about pronoun usage or the definitions of ] are commonly instructed in proper pronoun usage, either by the transsexual person or by professionals or other persons familiar with pronoun usage as it relates to transsexual people. Sometimes transsexual people have to correct their friends and family members many times before they begin to use the transsexual person's desired pronouns consistently. According to ], deliberate mis-gendering of transsexual people is "an arrogant attempt to belittle and humiliate trans people".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Serano |first1=Julia |author1-link=Julia Serano |title=Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity |date=2009 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-58005-154-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/whippinggirltran0000sera |access-date=2021-05-31}}</ref>
The choice to live completely in stealth is known to present its own psychological difficulties - while its desirable for the transsexual male or female to assimilate fully into the new gender role, without someone in which to confide there are often tendencies towards anxiety and depression. The term ''deep stealth'' is sometimes used for these individuals, referring to those that have completely isolated themselves from their past and from the support structures that may have helped them through transition, and who now are only known as transsexual to the medical professionals directly involved in their treatment process.


Both "transsexualism" and "gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments" are specifically excluded from coverage under the ] Section 12211.<ref>{{cite web |title=Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 - ADA - 42 U.S. Code Chapter 126 |url=http://finduslaw.com/americans_with_disabilities_act_of_1990_ada_42_u_s_code_chapter_126#3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227074955/http://finduslaw.com/americans_with_disabilities_act_of_1990_ada_42_u_s_code_chapter_126#3 |archive-date=2011-12-27 |access-date=2011-07-06 |publisher=find US law}}</ref> Gender dysphoria is not excluded.<ref>{{cite web |date=2009-01-01 |title=Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 §512. DEFINITIONS. |url=http://www.access-board.gov/about/laws/ada.htm#TITLE%20V%20-%20MISCELLANEOUS%20PROVISIONS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720042309/http://access-board.gov/about/laws/ADA.htm#TITLE%20V%20-%20MISCELLANEOUS%20PROVISIONS |archive-date=2013-07-20 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=United States Access Board, a Federal Agency}}</ref>
==Retransitions==
As with every transition, in children and in adults, "experts" often raise the spectre of transitions gone wrong, that is people transitioning ''back'' to their original sex. These cases do in fact exist, however, every recent study done on the number of these cases states that their number is well below 1%, and that the reasons for retransitioning are very diverse. See for examples.


==== Employment issues ====
These cases are often cited as reasons for the lengthy triadic process outlined in the ], which specifies a treatment process combining supportive psychological, hormonal, and surgical care. While many have criticized this process as being too slow for some, it is argued that without the safeguards within the standards of care, the incidence of unsuccessful surgical transitions would be much higher. This is also questioned by many critics, especially with regard to particular demands or behaviour of some caretakers. The article above states that in some of these cases, transitioning could have been prevented if some demands made by caretakers, or demands perceived as coming from the caretakers, had been less rigid; particularly, if the patients had not felt that talking about any problems or doubts would jeopardize their further treatment. (An unwavering demand for medical treatment and the absolute conviction of "doing the right thing" is often indeed seen as a necessary for the diagnosis of transsexualism, and therefore the prerequisite for any further treatment; consequently, further treatment has indeed been denied to people who uttered any doubts or even questions.)
{{update|section|date=June 2022}}
Openly transsexual people can have difficulty maintaining employment. Most find it necessary to remain employed during transition in order to cover the costs of living and transition. However, ] against trans people is rampant and many of them are fired when they come out or are involuntarily ] at work.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.transgendermap.com/finance/employment/ |title=Transgender employment |last=James |first=Andrea |author-link1=Andrea James |website=Transgender Map |date=4 April 2019 |access-date=12 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602052309/https://www.transgendermap.com/finance/employment/ |archive-date=2 June 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Transsexual people must decide whether to transition on-the-job, or to find a new job when they make their social transition. Other stresses that transsexual people face in the workplace are being fearful of coworkers negatively responding to their transition, and losing job experience under a previous name—even deciding which rest room to use can prove challenging.<ref>{{harvnb|Pepper|2008}}</ref> Finding employment can be especially challenging for those in mid-transition.


Laws regarding name and gender changes in many countries make it difficult for transsexual people to conceal their trans status from their employers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weiss |first=Jillian Todd |year=2001 |title=The Gender Caste System: Identity, Privacy and Heteronormativity |url=http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~jweiss/tulane.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=] |publisher=Tulane Law School |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20070621130831/http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~jweiss/tulane.pdf |archive-date=2007-06-21 |access-date=2007-02-25}}</ref> Because the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care requires one-year of real life experience prior to SRS, some feel this creates a ] situation which makes it difficult for trans people to remain employed or obtain SRS.
Critics claim that when patients cannot talk about problems or doubts, but have to present themselves as having neither, the patients, anxious to get treatment they perceive at this point to be absolutely necessary, will face these problems or doubts after transitioning, when dealing with them is much more difficult, and this will often lead to social problems, ], ], or similar problems, and, in some rare cases, to a retransitioning. While there is no scientific study on the question, many trans*-organisations and groups claim from experience that the less pressure is felt by the patient to conform to any particular ], the more satisfactory the outcome of the transition will be. This of course does not preclude any screening for ]s which might lead to pseudo-transsexuality, nor a supportive psychological therapy if necessary.


In many countries, laws provide protection from workplace discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression, including masculine women and ]. An increasing number of companies are including "gender identity and expression" in their non-discrimination policies.<ref name="transgenderlaw.org"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=transgender_issues&template=/TaggedPage/Taggedpagedisplay.cfm&TPLID=26&ContentID=31022 |title=Workplace Discrimination: Gender Identity or Expression |year=2004 |website=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031145247/https://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Transgender_Issues&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=26&ContentID=31022 |archive-date=31 October 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Often these laws and policies do not cover all situations and are not strictly enforced. ]'s ]s protect transsexual persons in the workplace and specifically prohibit employers from terminating or refusing to hire a person based on their gender identity. The ] provides employment protection as part of gender discrimination protections following the ] decisions in '']''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?isOldUri=true&uri=CELEX:61994CJ0013 |title=Judgment of the Court of 30 April 1996. - P v S and Cornwall County Council. |date=30 April 1996 |access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref>
== Depictions of transsexuality in the media ==


In the United States National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 44% of respondents reported not getting a job they applied for because of being transgender.<ref name="NTDS_2011"/> 36% of trans women reported losing a job due to discrimination compared to 19% of trans men.<ref name="NTDS_2011"/> 54% of trans women and 50% of trans men report having been harassed in the workplace.<ref name="NTDS_2011"/> Transgender people who have been fired due to bias are more than 34 times likely than members of the general population to attempt suicide.<ref name="NTDS_2011"/>
The ] industry is notable for its exploitative treatment of pre-operative male-to-female transsexuals, usually referred to by the pornography industry as "]s" (a term regarded as offensive by many transsexuals). The general depiction is that of transsexuals as freaks, or as "women with a bit more".


=== Stealth ===
However, the mainstream media, after years of insensitive depictions of transsexuals, is now making films with a more serious and nuanced depiction of transsexuals. Films containing depictions of transgender issues include '']'' and '']''. The film '']'' is notable for a sensitive depiction of a male-to-female transsexual who meets up with, and forms a romantic relationship with, her male former best friend.
Many transsexual men and women choose to live completely as members of their gender without disclosing details of their birth-assigned sex. This approach is sometimes called ''stealth.''<ref name="Schilt 2006 pp. 465–490">{{cite journal | last=Schilt | first=Kristen | title=Just One of the Guys? | journal=Gender & Society | publisher=SAGE Publications | volume=20 | issue=4 | year=2006 | issn=0891-2432 | doi=10.1177/0891243206288077 | pages=465–490| s2cid=144778992 }}</ref> Stealth transsexuals choose not to disclose their past for numerous reasons, including fear of discrimination and fear of physical violence.<ref name="NTDS_2011"/>{{Rp|63}} There are examples of people having been denied medical treatment upon discovery of their trans status, whether it was revealed by the patient or inadvertently discovered by the doctors.<ref name="TyraTGR">{{Cite book |last1=Stryker |first1=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBRR1isU-VAC |title=The Transgender Studies Reader |last2=Whittle |first2=Stephen |publisher=CRC Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-415-94709-1 |author-link=Susan Stryker |author2-link=Stephen Whittle |access-date=2009-11-24 |archive-date=2016-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203112813/https://books.google.com/books?id=HBRR1isU-VAC |url-status=live}}</ref>


==See also== === In the media ===
] ads, at the 2010 ]]]
{{See also|Media portrayals of transgender people}}


Before transsexual people were depicted in popular movies and television shows, ]—a transsexual woman whose surgery took place in 1962<ref name="Brevard-2011">{{cite book |last=Brevard |first=Aleshia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bd9PkUb2XR0C |title=Woman I Was Not Born To Be: A Transsexual Journey |date=19 January 2011 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-4399-0527-2 |location=Philadelphia |oclc=884015871 |access-date=20 October 2016 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026083804/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bd9PkUb2XR0C |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|3}}—was actively working as an actress<ref name="Brevard-2011" />{{rp|141}} and model<ref name="Brevard-2011" />{{rp|200}} in Hollywood and New York throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Aleshia never portrayed a transsexual person, though she appeared in eight Hollywood-produced films, on most of the popular variety shows of the day, including '']'', and was a regular on '']'' and '']'' before returning to university to teach drama and acting.<ref name="Brevard-2011" /><ref>{{IMDb name|0108087|Aleshia Brevard}}</ref>{{User-generated source|date=June 2022}}
*]


=== In pageantry ===
==External links==
Since 2004, with the goal of crowning the top transsexual of the world, a beauty pageant by the name of ''The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest'' was held in ], ]. The pageant accepted pre-operation and post-operation trans women, but required proof of their gender at birth. The winner of the 2004 pageant was a woman named ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/113469904 |title=Chicago Performer Mimi Marks Reflects on Her Award-Winning Career |last=Forman |first=Ross |date=January 27, 2021 |website=Go Pride |access-date=July 4, 2021 |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421022909/https://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/113469904 |url-status=live}}</ref>


], the 23-year-old woman who forced ] and his Miss Universe Canada pageant to end its ban on transgender contestants, competed in the pageant on May 19, 2012, in Toronto.<ref>{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Paula |date=May 21, 2012 |title=Transgender Miss Universe Canada contestant falls short of title |work=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/19/showbiz/canada-miss-universe-transgender/index.html |access-date=August 29, 2015 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211131/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/19/showbiz/canada-miss-universe-transgender/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> On January 12, 2013, Kylan Arianna Wenzel was the first transgender woman allowed to compete in a Miss Universe Organization pageant since Donald Trump changed the rules to allow women like Wenzel to enter officially. Wenzel was the first transgender woman to compete in a Miss Universe Organization pageant since officials disqualified 23-year-old Miss Canada Jenna Talackova the previous year after learning she was transgender.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bennettsmith |first=Meredith |date=2013-01-11 |title=Transgender Miss California Contestant Set To Make History |work=Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/11/kylan-arianna-wenzel-transgender-miss-california_n_2457523.html |access-date=2014-08-26 |archive-date=2014-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203011706/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/11/kylan-arianna-wenzel-transgender-miss-california_n_2457523.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Transgender woman to compete in Miss California USA pageant |url=http://lgbtweekly.com/2013/01/11/transgender-woman-to-compete-in-miss-california-usa-pageant |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912052919/http://lgbtweekly.com/2013/01/11/transgender-woman-to-compete-in-miss-california-usa-pageant/ |archive-date=2015-09-12 |access-date=2015-08-29 |publisher=LGBT Weekly}}</ref>
* - The Official Journal of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (])
* - including ''Successful Transwomen'' and ''Successful Transmen''
*
*
* - California, USA, civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities through direct legal services, public policy advocacy, and educational opportunities
* - UK information about the trans rights campaign, and details about the legal, medical, political and social issues surrounding the people it represents
* - The UK Charity for the support of trans individuals, their friends & family, employers and professionals
* - prepared by 24 internationally recognized experts


=== Specific to trans women === == See also ==
{{Portal|Transgender|Human sexuality
}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


== References ==
* - a book by the mother of a transsexual child
{{Reflist}}
* - practical and medical information
* Medical and Other Resources for Transsexual Women


== Bibliography ==
=== Specific to trans men ===
* {{cite book |last1=Benjamin |first1=Harry |title=The Transsexual Phenomenon |date=1966 |publisher=Julian Press, Incorporated Publishers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eYNozQEACAAJ |language=en |oclc=1138665289}}
* {{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Mildred L. |author2=Chloe Ann Rounsley |title=True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism&nbsp;– For Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professionals |publisher=Jossey-Bass |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7879-6702-4 |oclc=51437864 |url=https://archive.org/details/trueselvesunders00brow}}
* {{Cite book |last=Feinberg |first=Leslie |title=Trans Liberation : Beyond Pink or Blue |publisher=Beacon Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8070-7951-5 |oclc=38732343}}
* {{cite report |title=Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender-Nonconforming People |publisher=] |year=2012 |version=7 |url=https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/SOC%20v7/SOC%20V7_English2012.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511200339/https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/SOC%20v7/SOC%20V7_English2012.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2022 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite journal |doi=10.1210/jcem.85.5.6564 |last1=Kruijver |first1=Frank P. M. |first2=Jiang-Ning |last2=Zhou |first3=Chris W. |last3=Pool |first4=Michel A. |last4=Hofman |first5=Louis J. G. |last5=Gooren |first6=Dick F. |last6=Swaab |title=Male-to-Female Transsexuals Have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus |journal=] |publisher=] |volume=85 |issue=5 |pages=2034–41 |date=1 May 2000 |url=http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/85/5/2034 |pmid=10843193 |issn=0021-972X |doi-access=free |access-date=2007-02-25 |archive-date=2007-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206172047/http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/85/5/2034 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rathus |first=Spencer A. |author2=Jeffery S. Nevid, Lois Fichner-Rathus |title=Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity |publisher=Allyn & Bacon |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-205-40615-9 |oclc=55502508}}
* {{Cite book |last=Schreiber |first=Gerhard |title=Transsexuality in Theology and Neuroscience. Findings, Controversies, and Perspectives |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2016 |isbn=978-3-11-044080-5 |oclc=962412457 |language=de}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Pepper |first1=Shanti M. |first2=Peggy |last2=Lorah |title=Career Issues and Workplace Considerations for the Transsexual Community: Bridging a Gap of Knowledge for Career Counselors and Mental Health Care Providers |journal=The Career Development Quarterly |publisher=Wiley |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=330–343 |year=2008 |ref={{harvid|Pepper|2008}} |doi=10.1002/j.2161-0045.2008.tb00098.x |id={{ProQuest|219546491}} |issn=0889-4019}}


== External links ==
* - Female To Male International: practical and medical information
{{Medical resources
* - practical and medical information
| ICD10 = {{ICD10|F|64|0|f|64}}
| ICDO =
| OMIM =
| MedlinePlus = 001527
| eMedicineSubj =
| eMedicineTopic =
| MeshID = D014189
}}
{{Prone to spam|date=September 2018}}
{{Wiktionary}}
<!----Please be conservative and discriminate about adding new links to this list; it is already a bit overwhelming and Misplaced Pages is not meant to be a repository of links. I know you have good intentions, but linking from here to every transgender blog on the web seems highly excessive. To contribute constructively to this article, I suggest adding inline citations, as this article needs more of those.---->
* &nbsp;– The Official Journal of the ] (formerly HBIGDA). is available, as are , including ]'s ''The Transsexual Phenomenon''


{{Sexual identities}}
=== Media treatment of transsexuality ===
{{Transgender footer}}
* ''spectator.net'' article:
{{LGBTQ|state=collapsed|main=expanded}}
* ''GLBTQ'' article:


{{Authority control}}
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Latest revision as of 07:15, 21 December 2024

People experiencing a gender identity inconsistent with their assigned sex "Transsexuality" redirects here. Not to be confused with transgender sexuality.

Transsexual woman July Schultz displaying her palm with the letters "XY" written on it at an outdoor demonstration.
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See also

A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including gender affirming therapies, such as hormone replacement therapy and gender affirming surgery) to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.

The term transsexual is a subset of transgender, but some transsexual people reject the label of transgender. A medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria can be made if a person experiences marked and persistent incongruence between their gender identity and their assigned sex.

Understanding of transsexual people has rapidly evolved in the 21st century; many 20th century medical beliefs and practices around transsexual people are now considered outdated. Transsexual people were once classified as mentally ill and subject to extensive gatekeeping by the medical establishment, and remain so in many parts of the world.

Terminology

See also: Transgender § Terminology

Transsexual has had different meanings throughout time. In modern usage, it refers to "a person who desires to or who has modified their body to transition from one gender or sex to another through the use of medical technologies such as hormones or surgeries". Within the transgender community, the term is a subject of debate, and it is sometimes considered an antiquated or pejorative term. The more widely preferred terms are transgender or the abbreviated form trans. However, due to its historical usage, continued usage in the medical community, and continued self-identification with the term by some people, transsexual remains in the modern vernacular.

In understanding the subject, it is noted that there is a difference between gender and sex. Gender is defined as a "set of social, cultural, and linguistic norms that can be attributed to someone's identity, expression, or role as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or nonbinary". Sex is defined as being "assigned at birth by medical professionals based on the appearance of genitalia, and related assumptions about chromosomal makeup, gender identity, expressions, and roles emerge over the life span, sometimes changing over time".

Origins

Norman Haire reported that in 1921 Dora Richter of Germany began a surgical transition, under the care of Magnus Hirschfeld, which ended in 1930 with a successful genital reassignment surgery (GRS). In 1930, Hirschfeld supervised the second genital reassignment surgery to be reported in detail in a peer-reviewed journal, that of Lili Elbe of Denmark. In 1923, Hirschfeld introduced the (German) term "Transsexualismus", after which David Oliver Cauldwell introduced "transsexualism" and "transsexual" to English in 1949 and 1950.

Cauldwell appears to be the first to use the term to refer to those who desired a change of physiological sex. In 1969, Harry Benjamin claimed to have been the first to use the term "transsexual" in a public lecture, which he gave in December 1953. Benjamin went on to popularize the term in his 1966 book, The Transsexual Phenomenon, in which he described transsexual people on a scale (later called the "Benjamin scale") of three levels of intensity: "Transsexual (nonsurgical)", "Transsexual (moderate intensity)", and "Transsexual (high intensity)".

Relationship to transgender

The term transgender was coined by John Oliven in 1965. By the 1990s, transsexual had come to be considered a subset of the umbrella term transgender. The term transgender is now more common, and many transgender people prefer the designation transgender and reject transsexual. Some people who pursue medical assistance (for example, gender affirming surgery) to change their sexual characteristics to match their gender identity prefer the designation transsexual and reject transgender. One perspective offered by transsexual people who reject a transgender label for that of transsexed is that, for people who have gone through sexual reassignment surgery, their anatomical sex has been altered, whilst their gender remains constant.

Historically, one reason some people preferred transsexual to transgender is that the medical community in the 1950s through the 1980s encouraged a distinction between the terms that would only allow the former access to medical treatment. Other self-identified transsexual people state that those who do not seek gender affirming surgery are fundamentally different from those who do, and that the two have different concerns, but this view is controversial. Others argue that medical procedures do not have such far-reaching consequences as to put those who have had them and those who have not (e.g. because they cannot afford them) into such distinctive categories. Some have objected to the term transsexual on the basis that it describes a condition related to gender identity rather than sexuality. For example, Christine Jorgensen, the first person widely known in the United States for having had gender affirming surgery (in this case, male-to-female), rejected transsexual and instead identified herself in newsprint as trans-gender, on this basis.

A common argument in opposition to the term transsexual is that it over-medicalizes the trans experience, and/or focuses too much on diagnosis. The term transgender emerged in part in an attempt to break the "medical monopoly" on transitioning that transsexual implied.

GLAAD's media reference guide offers the following distinction on the use of transsexual:

An older term that originated in the medical and psychological communities. As the gay and lesbian community rejected homosexual and replaced it with gay and lesbian, the transgender community rejected transsexual and replaced it with transgender. Some people within the trans community may still call themselves transsexual. Do not use transsexual to describe a person unless it is a word they use to describe themself. If the subject of your news article uses the word transsexual to describe themself, use it as an adjective: transsexual woman or transsexual man.

Terminological variance

The word transsexual is most often used as an adjective rather than a noun – a "transsexual person" rather than simply "a transsexual". As of 2018, use of the noun form (e.g. referring to people as transsexuals) was often deprecated by those in the transsexual community. Like other trans people, transsexual people prefer to be referred to by the gender pronouns and terms associated with their gender identity. For example, a trans man is a person who was assigned the female sex at birth on the basis of his genitals, but despite that assignment, identifies as a man and is transitioning or has transitioned to a male gender role; in the case of a transsexual man, he furthermore has or will have a masculine body. Transsexual people are sometimes referred to with directional terms, such as "female-to-male" for a transsexual man, abbreviated to "F2M", "FTM", and "F to M", or "male-to-female" for a transsexual woman, abbreviated "M2F", "MTF" and "M to F".

Individuals who have undergone and completed gender affirming surgery are sometimes referred to as transsexed individuals; however, the term transsexed is not to be confused with the term transsexual, which can also refer to individuals who have not undergone SRS, and whose anatomical sex (still) does not match their psychological sense of personal gender identity.

A rarer, alternate spelling for transsexual has been transexual, with a single S. This variation is British in origin. This spelling was used by The Transexual Menace, an activist group, for example. This spelling has been used by some activists in an attempt to remove "pathologizing implications" from their use of the word. Another rare variation, a synonym for transsexual, is transsex.

The terms gender dysphoria and gender identity disorder were not used until the 1970s, when Laub and Fisk published several works on transsexualism using these terms. "Transsexualism" was replaced in the DSM-IV by "gender identity disorder in adolescents and adults".

Male-to-female transsexualism has sometimes been called "Harry Benjamin's syndrome" after the endocrinologist who pioneered the study of dysphoria. As the present-day medical study of gender variance is much broader than Benjamin's early description, there is greater understanding of its aspects, and use of the term Harry Benjamin's syndrome has been criticized for delegitimizing gender-variant people with different experiences.

Sexual orientation

Main article: Androphilia and gynephilia See also: Transgender § Sexual orientation of transgender people

Since the middle of the 20th century, homosexual transsexual and related terms were used to label individuals' sexual orientation based on their birth sex. Many sources criticize this choice of wording as confusing, "heterosexist", "archaic", and demeaning because it labels people by sex assigned at birth instead of their gender identity. Sexologist John Bancroft also recently expressed regret for having used this terminology, which was standard when he used it, to refer to transsexual women. He says that he now tries to choose his words more sensitively. Sexologist Charles Allen Moser is likewise critical of the terminology. Sociomedical scientist Rebecca Jordan-Young challenges researchers like Simon LeVay, J. Michael Bailey, and Martin Lalumiere, who she says "have completely failed to appreciate the implications of alternative ways of framing sexual orientation".

The terms androphilia and gynephilia to describe a person's sexual orientation without reference to their gender identity were proposed and popularized by psychologist Ron Langevin in the 1980s. The similar specifiers attracted to men, attracted to women, attracted to both or attracted to neither were used in the DSM-IV.

Many transsexual people choose the language of how they refer to their sexual orientation based on their gender identity, not their birth assigned sex.

Surgical status

Several terms are in common use, especially within the community itself relating to the surgical or operative status of someone who is transsexual, depending on whether they have already had gender affirming surgery, have not had but still intend to, or do not intend to have surgery. A pre-operative ("pre-op") transsexual person is someone who intends to have SRS at some point, but has not yet had it. A post-operative ("post-op") transsexual person is someone who has had SRS.

A non-operative ("non-op") transsexual person is someone who has not had SRS, and does not intend to have it in the future. There can be various reasons for this, from personal to financial. Having SRS is not a requirement of being transsexual. Evolutionary biologist and trans woman Julia Serano criticizes the societal preoccupation with SRS as phallocentric, objectifying of transsexuals, and an invasion of privacy.

Historical understanding

This section is transcluded from Transgender. (edit | history)

Transgender people are known to have existed since ancient times. A wide range of societies had traditional third gender roles, or otherwise accepted trans people in some form. However, a precise history is difficult because the modern concept of being transgender, and gender in general, did not develop until the mid-1900s. Historical understandings are thus inherently filtered through modern principles, and were largely viewed through a medical lens until the late 1900s. The Hippocratic Corpus (interpreting the writing of Herodotus) describes the "disease of the Scythians" (regarding the Enaree), which it attributes to impotency due to riding on a horse without stirrups. This reference was well discussed by medical writings of the 1500s–1700s. Pierre Petit writing in 1596 viewed the "Scythian disease" as natural variation, but by the 1700s writers viewed it as a "melancholy", or "hysterical" psychiatric disease. By the early 1800s, being transgender separate from Hippocrates' idea of it was claimed to be widely known, but remained poorly documented. Both trans women and trans men were cited in European insane asylums of the early 1800s. One of the earliest recorded gender nonconforming people in America was Thomas(ine) Hall, a seventeenth century colonial servant. The most complete account of the time came from the life of the Chevalier d'Éon (1728–1810), a French diplomat. As cross-dressing became more widespread in the late 1800s, discussion of transgender people increased greatly and writers attempted to explain the origins of being transgender. Much study came out of Germany, and was exported to other Western audiences. Cross-dressing was seen in a pragmatic light until the late 1800s; it had previously served a satirical or disguising purpose. But in the latter half of the 1800s, cross-dressing and being transgender became viewed as an increasing societal danger.

William A. Hammond wrote an 1882 account of transgender Pueblo "shamans" [sic] (mujerados), comparing them to the Scythian disease. Other writers of the late 1700s and 1800s (including Hammond's associates in the American Neurological Association) had noted the widespread nature of transgender cultural practices among native peoples. Explanations varied, but authors generally did not ascribe native transgender practices to psychiatric causes, instead condemning the practices in a religious and moral sense. Native groups provided much study on the subject, and perhaps the majority of all study until after WWII.

Critical studies first began to emerge in the late 1800s in Germany, with the works of Magnus Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld coined the term "transvestite" in 1910 as the scope of transgender study grew. His work would lead to the 1919 founding of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin. Though Hirscheld's legacy is disputed, he revolutionized the field of study. The Institut was destroyed when the Nazis seized power in 1933, and its research was infamously burned in the May 1933 Nazi book burnings. Transgender issues went largely out of the public eye until after World War II. Even when they re-emerged, they reflected a forensic psychology approach, unlike the more sexological that had been employed in the lost German research.

20th century medical understanding

Although there are records of gender affirming surgery (SRS) going back to the 2nd century, the first modern types of such practice first appeared in the 20th century. In this context, Harry Benjamin suggested that moderate intensity male to female transsexual people may benefit from estrogen medication as a "substitute for or preliminary to operation". In Benjamin's view, people may have had gender affirming surgery even though they do not meet the definition of transsexual, while others do not desire SRS although they fit his definition of a "true transsexual". "Transsexuality" was included for the first time in the DSM-III in 1980 and again in the DSM-III-R in 1987, where it was located under Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood or Adolescence.

Beyond Benjamin's work, which focused on male-to-female (MTF) transsexual people, there are cases of the female to male transsexual, for whom genital surgery may not be practical. Benjamin gave certifying letters to his MTF transsexual patients that stated "Their anatomical sex, that is to say, the body, is male. Their psychological sex, that is to say, the mind, is female." Starting in 1968 Benjamin abandoned his early terminology and adopted that of "gender identity".

Medical diagnosis

Transsexualism is no longer classified as a mental disorder in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and many transsexual people had recommended this removal, arguing that at least some mental health professionals are being insensitive by labelling transsexualism as a "disease" rather than as an inborn trait, as many transsexuals believe it to be. Now, instead, it is classified as a sexual health condition; this classification continues to enable healthcare systems to provide healthcare needs related to gender. The eleventh edition was released in June 2018. The previous version, ICD-10, had incorporated transsexualism, dual role transvestism, and gender identity disorder of childhood into its gender identity disorder category. It defined transsexualism as " desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by a sense of discomfort with, or inappropriateness of, one's anatomic sex, and a wish to have surgery and hormonal treatment to make one's body as congruent as possible with one's preferred sex". ICD-11 renamed Transexualism as Gender incongruence of adolescence or adulthood (HA60), and Gender identity disorder of childhood was renamed Gender incongruence of childhood (HA61).

HA60 of the ICD-11 reads:

Gender Incongruence of Adolescence and Adulthood is characterised by a marked and persistent incongruence between an individual's experienced gender and the assigned sex, which often leads to a desire to 'transition', in order to live and be accepted as a person of the experienced gender, through hormonal treatment, surgery or other health care services to make the individual's body align, as much as desired and to the extent possible, with the experienced gender. The diagnosis cannot be assigned prior the onset of puberty. Gender variant behaviour and preferences alone are not a basis for assigning the diagnosis.

Historically, transsexualism has also been included in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). With the DSM-5, transsexualism was removed as a diagnosis, and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria was created in its place. This change was made to reflect the consensus view by members of the APA that the desire for gender affirming surgery is not, in and of itself, a disorder and that transsexual people should not be stigmatized unnecessarily. By including a diagnosis for gender dysphoria, transsexual people are still able to access medical care through the process of transition.

The current diagnosis for transsexual people who present themselves for medical treatment is gender dysphoria (leaving out those who have sexual identity disorders without gender concerns). According to the Standards of care formulated by WPATH, formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, this diagnostic label is often necessary to obtain gender affirming therapy with health insurance coverage, and the designation of gender identity disorders as mental disorders is not a license for stigmatization or for the deprivation of gender patients' civil rights.

Causes, studies, and theories

Causes

Main article: Causes of transsexuality

Focus on trans women over trans men

Historically, formal efforts by the medical community to provide transsexual healthcare were extremely focused on transsexual women, with little thought for transsexual men. Julia Serano suggests that effemimania (the idea that male femininity is more psychopathological than female masculinity) was the driving factor. She sees this as a kind of transmisogyny (hatred of trans women as an extension of sexism). This effimimania conflates male homosexuality, transsexual women, and feminine gender expression, while treating them all as a disease. She points to the medical community's long love of now outdated theories such as autogynephilia.

Medical assistance

Individuals make different choices regarding gender affirming therapy, which may include hormones, minor to extensive surgery, social changes, and psychological interventions. The extent of medical intervention is a highly personal decision: there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Hormone replacement therapy

Main article: Transgender hormone therapy

Transsexual individuals frequently opt for masculinizing or feminizing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to modify secondary sex characteristics.

Sex reassignment therapy

Main article: Sex reassignment therapy

Sex reassignment therapy (SRT) is an umbrella term for all medical treatments related to gender affirming of both transgender and intersex people. Sex reassignment surgery (such as orchiectomy) alters primary sex characteristics, including chest surgery such as top surgery or breast augmentation, or, in the case of trans women, a trachea shave, facial feminization surgery or permanent hair removal.

To obtain gender affirming therapy, transsexual people are generally required to undergo a psychological evaluation and receive a diagnosis of gender identity disorder in accordance with the Standards of Care (SOC) as published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. This assessment is usually accompanied by counseling on issues of adjustment to the desired gender role, effects and risks of medical treatments, and sometimes also by psychological therapy. The SOC are intended as guidelines, not inflexible rules, and are intended to ensure that clients are properly informed and in sound psychological health, and to discourage people from transitioning based on unrealistic expectations.

Gender roles and transitioning

After an initial psychological evaluation, trans men and trans women may begin medical treatment, starting with hormone replacement therapy or hormone blockers. In these cases, people who change their gender are usually required to live as members of their target gender for at least one year prior to genital surgery, gaining real-life experience, which is sometimes called the "real-life test" (RLT). Transsexual individuals may undergo some, all, or none of the medical procedures available, depending on personal feelings, health, income, and other considerations. Some people posit that transsexualism is a physical condition, not a psychological issue, and assert that gender affirming therapy should be given on request. (Brown 103)

Like other trans people, transsexual people may refer to themselves as trans men or trans women. Transsexual people desire to establish a permanent gender role as a member of the gender with which they identify, and many transsexual people pursue medical interventions as part of the process of expressing their gender. The entire process of switching from one physical sex and social gender presentation to another is often referred to as transitioning, and usually takes several years. Transsexual people who transition usually change their social gender roles, legal names and legal sex designation.

Not all transsexual people undergo a physical transition. Some have obstacles or concerns preventing them from doing so, such as the expense of surgery, the risk of medical complications, or medical conditions which make the use of hormones or surgery dangerous. Others may not identify strongly with another binary gender role. Still others may find balance at a midpoint during the process, regardless of whether or not they are binary-identified. Many transsexual people, including binary-identified transsexual people, do not undergo genital surgery, because they are comfortable with their own genitals, or because they are concerned about nerve damage and the potential loss of sexual pleasure, including orgasm. This is especially so in the case of trans men, many of whom are dissatisfied with the current state of phalloplasty, which is typically very expensive, not covered by health insurance, and commonly does not achieve desired results. For example, not only does phalloplasty not result in a completely natural erection, it may not allow for an erection at all, and its results commonly lack penile sexual sensitivity; in other cases, however, phalloplasty results are satisfying for trans men. By contrast, metoidioplasty, which is more popular, is significantly less expensive and has far better sexual results.

Transsexual people can be heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual; many choose the language of how they refer to their sexual orientation based on their gender identity, not their birth assigned sex.

Psychological treatment

Psychological techniques that attempt to alter gender identity to one considered appropriate for the person's assigned sex, aka conversion therapy, are ineffective. The widely recognized Standards of Care note that sometimes the only reasonable and effective course of treatment for transsexual people is to go through gender affirming therapy.

The need for treatment of transsexual people is emphasized by the high rate of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and various addictions, as well as a higher suicide rate among untreated transsexual people than in the general population. These problems are alleviated by a change of gender role and/or physical characteristics.

Many transgender and transsexual activists, and many caregivers, note that these problems are not usually related to the gender identity issues themselves, but the social and cultural responses to gender-variant individuals. Some transsexual people reject the counseling that is recommended by the Standards of Care because they do not consider their gender identity to be a cause of psychological problems.

Brown and Rounsley noted that "some transsexual people acquiesce to legal and medical expectations in order to gain rights granted through the medical/psychological hierarchy." Legal needs, such as a change of sex on legal documents, and medical needs, such as gender affirming surgery, are usually difficult to obtain without a doctor or therapist's approval. Because of this, some transsexual people feel coerced into affirming outdated concepts of gender to overcome simple legal and medical hurdles.

Regrets and detransitions

See also: Detransition

People who undergo gender affirming surgery can develop regret for the procedure later in life, largely predicted by a lack of support from family or peers, with data from the 1990s suggesting a rate of 3.8%. In a 2001 study of 232 MTF patients who underwent GRS, none of the patients reported complete regret and only 6% reported partial or occasional regrets. A 2009 review of Medline literature suggests the total rate of patients expressing feelings of doubt or regret is estimated to be as high as 8%.

A 2010 meta-study, based on 28 previous long-term studies of transsexual men and women, found that the overall psychological functioning of transsexual people after transition was similar to that of the general population and significantly better than that of untreated transsexual people.

Prevalence

See also: Transgender § Population figures and prevalence

Estimates of the prevalence of transsexual people are highly dependent on the specific case definitions used in the studies, with prevalence rates varying by orders of magnitude. In the United States, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V 2013) gives the following estimates: "For natal adult males , prevalence ranges from 0.005% to 0.014%, and for natal females , from 0.002% to 0.003%." It states, however, that these are likely underestimates since the figures are based on referrals to specialty clinics.

The Amsterdam Gender Dysphoria Clinic over four decades has treated roughly 95% of Dutch transsexual clients, and it suggests (1997) a prevalence of 1:10,000 among assigned males and 1:30,000 among assigned females.

Olyslager and Conway presented a paper at the WPATH 20th International Symposium (2007) arguing that the data from their own and other studies actually imply much higher prevalence, with minimum lower bounds of 1:4,500 male-to-female transsexual people and 1:8,000 female-to-male transsexual people for a number of countries worldwide. They estimate the number of post-op women in the US to be 32,000 and obtain a figure of 1:2500 male-to-female transsexual people. They further compare the annual instances of gender affirming surgery (SRS) and male birth in the U.S. to obtain a figure of 1:1000 MTF transsexual people and suggest a prevalence of 1:500 extrapolated from the rising rates of SRS in the US and a "common sense" estimate of the number of undiagnosed transsexual people. Olyslager and Conway also argue that the US population of assigned males having already undergone reassignment surgery by the top three US SRS surgeons alone is enough to account for the entire transsexual population implied by the 1:10,000 prevalence number, yet this excludes all other US SRS surgeons, surgeons in countries such as Thailand, Canada, and others, and the high proportion of transsexual people who have not yet sought treatment, suggesting that a prevalence of 1:10,000 is too low.

A 2008 study of the number of New Zealand passport holders who changed the sex on their passport estimated that 1:3,639 birth-assigned males and 1:22,714 birth-assigned females were transsexual.

A 2008 presentation at the LGBT Health Summit in Bristol, UK, showed that the prevalence of transsexual people in the UK was increasing (14% per year) and that the mean age of transition was rising.

Though no direct studies on the prevalence of gender identity disorder (GID) have been done, a variety of clinical papers published in the past 20 years provide estimates ranging from 1:7,400 to 1:42,000 in assigned males and 1:30,040 to 1:104,000 in assigned females.

In 2015, the National Center for Transgender Equality conducted a National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Of the 27,715 transgender and genderqueer people who took the survey, 35% identified as "non-binary", 33% identified as transgender women, 29% identified as transgender men, and 3% said that "crossdresser" best described their gender identity.

A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis of "how various definitions of transgender affect prevalence estimates" in 27 studies found a meta-prevalence (mP) estimates per 100,000 population of 9.2 (95% CI = 4.9–13.6), equal to 1:11,000 for surgical or hormonal gender affirmation therapy and 6.8 (95% CI = 4.6–9.1), equal to 1:15,000 for transgender-related medical condition diagnoses. Of studies assessing self-reported transgender identity, prevalence was 355 (95% CI = 144–566), equal to 1 in 282. However, a single outlier study would have influenced the result to 871 (95% CI = 519–1,224), equal to 1 in 115; this study was removed. "Significant heterogeneity was observed in most analyses."

Those with an autism spectrum disorder or schizophrenia are transsexuals more often than the general population.

Country Publication Year Incidence in males Incidence in females
US DSM-IV 1994 1:30,000 1:100,000
Netherlands The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 1997 1:10,000 1:30,000
US International Journal of Transgenderism 2007 1:4,500 1:8,000
New Zealand Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2008 1:3,639 1:22,714
US The Journal of Sexual Medicine 2016 1:11,000 1:15,000

Society and culture

A number of Native American and First Nations cultures have traditional social and ceremonial roles for individuals who do not fit into the usual roles for males and females in that culture. These roles can vary widely between tribes, because gender roles, when they exist at all, also vary considerably among different Native cultures. However, a modern, pan-Indian status known as Two-Spirit has emerged among LGBT Natives in recent years.

Legal and social aspects

See also: Legal aspects of transsexualism
Poland's Anna Grodzka is the first transsexual MP in the history of Europe to have had gender affirming surgery.

Laws regarding changes to the legal status of transsexual people are different from country to country. Some jurisdictions allow an individual to change their name, and sometimes, their legal gender, to reflect their gender identity. Within the US, some states allow amendments or complete replacement of the original birth certificates. Some states seal earlier records against all but court orders in order to protect the transsexual person's privacy.

In many places, it is not possible to change birth records or other legal designations of sex, although changes are occurring. Estelle Asmodelle's book documented her struggle to change the Australian birth certificate and passport laws, although there are other individuals who have been instrumental in changing laws and thus attaining more acceptance for transsexual people in general.

Medical treatment for transsexual and transgender people is available in most Western countries. However, transsexual and transgender people challenge the "normative" gender roles of many cultures and often face considerable hatred and prejudice. The film Boys Don't Cry chronicles the case of Brandon Teena, a transsexual man who was raped and murdered after his status was discovered. In 1999 Brandon was memorialised in the first Transgender Day of Remembrance. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed annually on November 20 by members of the transgender community and LGBT+ organisations across the world.

Jurisdictions allowing changes to birth records generally allow trans people to marry members of the opposite sex to their gender identity and to adopt children. Jurisdictions which prohibit same sex marriage often require pre-transition marriages to be ended before they will issue an amended birth certificate.

Health-practitioner manuals, professional journalistic style guides, and LGBT advocacy groups advise the adoption by others of the name and pronouns identified by the person in question, including present references to the transgender or transsexual person's past. Family members and friends who may be confused about pronoun usage or the definitions of sex are commonly instructed in proper pronoun usage, either by the transsexual person or by professionals or other persons familiar with pronoun usage as it relates to transsexual people. Sometimes transsexual people have to correct their friends and family members many times before they begin to use the transsexual person's desired pronouns consistently. According to Julia Serano, deliberate mis-gendering of transsexual people is "an arrogant attempt to belittle and humiliate trans people".

Both "transsexualism" and "gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments" are specifically excluded from coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act Section 12211. Gender dysphoria is not excluded.

Employment issues

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2022)

Openly transsexual people can have difficulty maintaining employment. Most find it necessary to remain employed during transition in order to cover the costs of living and transition. However, employment discrimination against trans people is rampant and many of them are fired when they come out or are involuntarily outed at work. Transsexual people must decide whether to transition on-the-job, or to find a new job when they make their social transition. Other stresses that transsexual people face in the workplace are being fearful of coworkers negatively responding to their transition, and losing job experience under a previous name—even deciding which rest room to use can prove challenging. Finding employment can be especially challenging for those in mid-transition.

Laws regarding name and gender changes in many countries make it difficult for transsexual people to conceal their trans status from their employers. Because the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care requires one-year of real life experience prior to SRS, some feel this creates a Catch-22 situation which makes it difficult for trans people to remain employed or obtain SRS.

In many countries, laws provide protection from workplace discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression, including masculine women and feminine men. An increasing number of companies are including "gender identity and expression" in their non-discrimination policies. Often these laws and policies do not cover all situations and are not strictly enforced. California's anti-discrimination laws protect transsexual persons in the workplace and specifically prohibit employers from terminating or refusing to hire a person based on their gender identity. The European Union provides employment protection as part of gender discrimination protections following the European Court of Justice decisions in P v S and Cornwall County Council.

In the United States National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 44% of respondents reported not getting a job they applied for because of being transgender. 36% of trans women reported losing a job due to discrimination compared to 19% of trans men. 54% of trans women and 50% of trans men report having been harassed in the workplace. Transgender people who have been fired due to bias are more than 34 times likely than members of the general population to attempt suicide.

Stealth

Many transsexual men and women choose to live completely as members of their gender without disclosing details of their birth-assigned sex. This approach is sometimes called stealth. Stealth transsexuals choose not to disclose their past for numerous reasons, including fear of discrimination and fear of physical violence. There are examples of people having been denied medical treatment upon discovery of their trans status, whether it was revealed by the patient or inadvertently discovered by the doctors.

In the media

Nina Poon, a transsexual model who has appeared in Kenneth Cole ads, at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
See also: Media portrayals of transgender people

Before transsexual people were depicted in popular movies and television shows, Aleshia Brevard—a transsexual woman whose surgery took place in 1962—was actively working as an actress and model in Hollywood and New York throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Aleshia never portrayed a transsexual person, though she appeared in eight Hollywood-produced films, on most of the popular variety shows of the day, including The Dean Martin Show, and was a regular on The Red Skelton Show and One Life to Live before returning to university to teach drama and acting.

In pageantry

Since 2004, with the goal of crowning the top transsexual of the world, a beauty pageant by the name of The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Contest was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pageant accepted pre-operation and post-operation trans women, but required proof of their gender at birth. The winner of the 2004 pageant was a woman named Mimi Marks.

Jenna Talackova, the 23-year-old woman who forced Donald Trump and his Miss Universe Canada pageant to end its ban on transgender contestants, competed in the pageant on May 19, 2012, in Toronto. On January 12, 2013, Kylan Arianna Wenzel was the first transgender woman allowed to compete in a Miss Universe Organization pageant since Donald Trump changed the rules to allow women like Wenzel to enter officially. Wenzel was the first transgender woman to compete in a Miss Universe Organization pageant since officials disqualified 23-year-old Miss Canada Jenna Talackova the previous year after learning she was transgender.

See also

References

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  5. Winters, Kelley; Karasic, Dan (2008). Gender Madness in American Psychiatry: Essays From the Struggle for Dignity. Dillon, CO: GID Reform Advocates. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-4392-2388-8. OCLC 367582287. Some Transsexual individuals also identify with the broader transgender community; others do not.
  6. "Transsexualism". Gender Centre. March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016. Transsexualism is often included within the broader term 'transgender', which is generally considered an umbrella term for people who do not conform to typically accepted gender roles for the sex they were assigned at birth. The term 'transgender' is a word employed by activists to encompass as many groups of gender diverse people as possible. However, many of these groups individually don't identify with the term. Many health clinics and services set up to serve gender variant communities employ the term, however most of the people using these services again don't identify with this term. The rejection of this political category by those that it is designed to cover clearly illustrates the difference between self-identification and categories that are imposed by observers to understand other people.
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