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Why a WA Gender Project?
The problems facing transgender, transsexual and intersex (TTI) people often transcend those of lesbian, gay and bisexual
individuals, and they are considered to be at an increased risk for harassment and violence [1].
The Private Lives study, the largest survey of gay, lesbian, bisexual,
transgender, transsexual and intersex Australians to date, confirmed that TTI people
experience significantly higher rates of discrimination, harassment and
vilification than both their heterosexual and same-sex attracted non-TTI
peers [2].
Discrimination has serious implications for the health and wellbeing of
TTI Australians, increasing the likelihood of individuals experiencing depression and anxiety disorders, lowered self-esteem, social isolation,
internalised transphobia and suicidal ideation [3].
What does WA Gender Project do?
WA Gender Project is a lobby, education and advocacy group
and works to advance the human rights of TTI people and their significant others.
We work with government, service providers and the wider community to increase
and improve access to services for TTI people.
WA Gender Project is not a support group. However, we
maintain links to other organisations who can provide assistance and support.
If you are seeking support, please see the links
section of our website for further information.
How can I help?
The easiest way to help is to take part in one of our campaigns.
This can be as simple as writing a letter or sending an e-mail to a politician.
Alternatively, both individuals and community organisations can help by joining WA Gender Project,
or by making a donation. Click here to find out more.
References:
[1] Levy, A, Crown, A & Reid, R 2003, 'Endocrine intervention for transsexuals', Clinical Endocrinology, vol. 59, pp. 409-418.
[2] Pitts, M, Smith, A, Mitchell, A & Patel, S 2006, Private Lives: A Report on the Wellbeing of GLBTI Australians, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne.
[3] Brown, R, Perlesz, A & Proctor, K 2002, 'Mental Health Issues for GLBTI Victorians', in W Leonard (ed.), What's the Difference? Health Issues of Major Concern to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (GLBTI) Victorians, Rural and Regional Health and Aged Care Services Division, Victorian Government Department of Human Services, Melbourne, pp. 29-36.
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Some of the terms we use on this website are defined below. However, sex and
gender, like sexuality, is a complex and contentious area.
WA Gender Project acknowledge that the following terminology is subject
to debate within TTI communities, reflecting "the importance members of
marginalised groups attach to the processes of self-definition and redefinition" [1].
Sex
Sex is the physiological make-up of a person. It is commonly expressed as a
binary and used to divide people into males and females.
However, in reality,
sex is a "complex relationship of genetic, hormonal, morphological, biochemical,
and anatomical differences that impact the physiology of the body and the sexual
differentiation of the brain. Although everyone is assigned a sex at birth,
approximately 2 percent of the population are intersex and do not fit easily
into a dimorphic division of two sexes that are 'opposite'" [2].
Gender
Gender is used to refer to the socially constructed system that inscribes the
meanings of femininity and masculinity upon people. (For example, how we are
expected to dress - skirts for women and trousers for men). These categories are
assumed to be "natural", yet they are subject to cultural variation and have
not remained fixed over time [2, 3].
For example, in Victorian-era England, pink was considered a masculine colour.
Paintings and photographs from the era often show male babies dressed in pink-coloured clothes.
In Masculinities and Identities,
David Buchbinder writes: "[while] masculinity and femininity are often popularly
spoken of as if they were innate qualities of men and women, it would be truer
to say that the masculine is what men in their immense variety do, just as the
feminine is what women do, rather than what men and women are" [4].
Transgender
Transgender is a label adopted by those whose expression of gender
differs from the social expectations of the sex that they were assigned at
birth. This is commonly used as an umbrella term for any person who is perceived to challenge
gender norms, such as transsexual and genderqueer people, and people who
cross-dress.
Some transsexual people feel that transgender is
not an appropriate term to describe themselves, and instead prefer to use
language and terminology that defines transsexualism as a
medical condition.
WA Gender Project acknowledge that the lived experience of
transsexual people can be very different from many self-identified
transgender individuals, and that transsexual people face distinct medical,
social and legal challenges which may not be shared with other groups.
Genderqueer
Genderqueer is a label adopted by people who do not locate themselves
within traditional gender or sex categories. Genderqueer people may have a gender expression that
reflects a combination of masculinity and femininity or reject traditional
categories of gender or sex entirely.
Transsexual
A person who is transsexual lives as the opposite sex to the one assigned
at birth.
There is some evidence to suggest that transsexual people possess a
cross-sexed brain structure [5, 6], which may be a result of genetic polymorphisms [7, 8],
exposure to pre- and perinatal organising effects of hormones [7, 9], and
exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (such as environmental pollutants) [10].
Transsexualism was originally listed as a mental disorder because no physiological explanation
could be found at the time of its listing. Although the listing remains unchanged [11, 12], the
classification of transsexualism as a mental illness is widely rejected by
transsexual people. A growing number of clinicians support this position [13, 14],
and worldwide, activists are campaigning to reform the classification of
transsexualism.
WA Gender Project oppose the labeling of transsexualism as a mental
disorder, and support the right of transsexual people to receive a diagnosis which is non-pathologising, but
will enable access to medical therapies under both private and public health systems.
WA Gender Project therefore support calls for the removal of Gender Identity Disorder from
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) [11], and for the re-classification of transsexualism in
the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD) [12] from a mental disorder to an endocrine or
congenital condition.
Trans man
A trans man is a person who lives as and identifies as a man. Some
trans men do not like to use the prefix "trans" and prefer to refer to
themselves as simply a man, or male.
Trans woman
A trans woman is a person who lives as and identifies as a woman. Some
trans women do not like to use the prefix "trans" and prefer to refer to
themselves as simply a woman, or female.
Transition(ing)
Transition is the process by which a person changes their body and
presentation to match their sense of sex and gender.
Transition can include hormonal therapy, surgery, and adjustments to names
and style of dress, and is a process that may last for many years.
Intersex
Intersex is a term commonly used to describe people with
reproductive systems or sexual characteristics that are neither
exclusively male or female, although such variations are not always visible.
Some intersex people do not discover their intersex state until adolescence or later in life.
Intersex states may result from endocrine disorders, chromosomal variations,
and in utero exposure to hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Medical
science now acknowledges that sexual differentiation extends beyond the
reproductive organs; the brain has been shown to be sexually dimorphic [15, 16].
Thus, some people consider the cross-sexed brain structure observed in transsexual people as a type of intersex condition.
WA Gender Project support the right of transsexual people to define transsexualism
as a type of intersex condition, but also acknowledge that some intersex people have specific
medical needs that are distinct from transgender and transsexual individuals, and
may face unique social and legal challenges.
References:
[1] Leonard, W 2002, 'Introductory paper: developing a framework for understanding patterns of health and illness specific to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (GLBTI) people', in W Leonard (ed.), What's the Difference? Health Issues of Major Concern to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (GLBTI) Victorians, Rural and Regional Health and Aged Care Services Division, Victorian Government Department of Human Services, Melbourne, pp. 3-12.
[2] Lev, AI 2004, Transgender emergence: Therapeutic guidelines for working with gender-variant people and their families, Haworth Press, Binghamton, New York.
[3] Butler, J 1990, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, 10th edn, Routledge, New York.
[4] Buchbinder, D 1994, Masculinities and Identities, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.
[5] Kruijver, FPM, Zhou, J, Pool, CW, Hofman, MA, Gooren, LJG & Swaab, DF 2000, 'Male-to-female transsexuals have female neuron numbers in a limbic nucleus', The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 85, no. 5, pp. 2034-2041.
[6] Zhou, JN, Hofman, MA, Gooren, LJ & Swaab, DF 1995, 'A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality', Nature, vol. 378, pp. 68-70.
[7] Cohen-Kettenis, PT, van Goozen, SHM, Doorn, CD & Gooren, LJG 1998, 'Cognitive ability and cerebral lateralisation in transsexuals', Psychoneuroendocrinology, vol. 23, no. 6, p. 631-641.
[8] Henningsson, S, Westberg, L, Nilsson, S, Lundstrom, B, Ekselius, L, Bodlund, O, Lindstrom, E, Hellstrand, M, Rosmond, R, Eriksson, E & Landen, M 2005, 'Sex steroid-related genes and male-to-female transsexualism', Psychoneuroendocrinology, vol. 30, p. 657-664.
[9] Schneider, HJ, Pickel, J & Stalla, GK 2006, 'Typical female 2nd:4th finger length (2D:4D) ratios in male-to-female transsexuals - possible implications for prenatal androgen exposure', Psychoneuroendocrinology, vol. 31, p. 265-269.
[10] Dörner, G, Götz, F, Rohde, W, Plagemann, A, Lindner, R, Peters, H & Ghanaati, Z 2001, 'Genetic and epigenetic effects on sexual brain organization mediated by sex hormones', Neuroendocrinology Letters, vol. 22, p. 403-409.
[11] American Psychiatric Association 1994, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn, APA, Washington.
[12] World Health Organization 2005, International Statistical Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, 2nd edn, WHO, Geneva.
[13] Cantor, C 2002, 'Transsexualism - need it always be a DSM-IV disorder', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 141-142.
[14] Asscheman, H, Diamond, M, Di Ceglie, D, Kruijver, F, Martin, J, Playdon, Z, Reed, T, Reid, R 2002, Definition and Synopsis of the Aetiology of Adult Gender Identity Disorder and Transsexualism, Gender Identity Research and Education Society, London.
[15] Carruth, LL, Reisert, I & Arnold, AP 2002, 'Sex chromosome genes directly affect brain sexual differentiation', Nature Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 933-934.
[16] Chung, WCJ, De Vries, GJ & Swaab, DF 2002, 'Sexual differentiation of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in humans may extend into adulthood', Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 22, no. 3, p. 1027-1033.
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