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The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transgender individuals face discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, and other areas of life.
The word cisgender describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not transgender. The prefix cis- is Latin and means on this side of. The term cisgender was coined in 1994 as an antonym to transgender, and entered into dictionaries starting in 2015 as a result of changes in social discourse about gender. The term has been and continues to be controversial and subject to critique.
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the individual's gender identity. Gender expression typically reflects a person's gender identity, but this is not always the case. While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role, such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity. The term gender identity was coined by psychiatry professor Robert J. Stoller in 1964 and popularized by psychologist John Money.
Stonewall Equality Limited, trading as Stonewall, is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.
Transfeminism, or trans feminism, is a branch of feminism focused on transgender women and informed by transgender studies. Transfeminism focuses on the effects of transmisogyny and patriarchy on trans women. It is related to the broader field of queer theory. The term was popularized by Emi Koyama in The Transfeminist Manifesto.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have developed significantly over time. Today, lesbian, gay and bisexual rights are considered to be advanced by international standards, while transgender, gender-nonconforming and non-binary rights face some of the highest levels of discrimination of any modernised country.
Gender nonconformity or gender variance is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-binary, or they may be cisgender. In the case of transgender people, they may be perceived, or perceive themselves as, gender-nonconforming before transitioning, but might not be perceived as such after transitioning. Transgender adults who appear gender-nonconforming after transition are more likely to experience discrimination.
Gender incongruence is the state of having a gender identity that does not correspond to one's sex assigned at birth. This is experienced by people who identify as transgender or transsexual, and often results in gender dysphoria. The causes of gender incongruence have been studied for decades.
Maryam Khatoonpour Molkara was an Iranian transgender rights activist, and she was widely recognized as a matriarch of the transgender community in Iran. Designated male at birth, she was later instrumental in obtaining a letter which acted as a fatwa enabling sex reassignment surgery to exist as part of a legal framework. Molkara became the first transgender person in Iran to legally undergo sex reassignment surgery with the permission of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The classification of transgender people (transgender women specifically) into distinct groups has been attempted since the mid-1960s. The most common modern classifications in use are the DSM-5 and ICD, which are mainly used for insurance and administration of gender-affirming care.
LGBTQ movements in the United States comprise an interwoven history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer social movements in the United States of America, beginning in the early 20th century. A commonly stated goal among these movements is social equality for LGBTQ people. Some have also focused on building LGBTQ communities or worked towards liberation for the broader society from biphobia, homophobia, and transphobia. LGBTQ movements organized today are made up of a wide range of political activism and cultural activity, including lobbying, street marches, social groups, media, art, and research. Sociologist Mary Bernstein writes:
For the lesbian and gay movement, then, cultural goals include challenging dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity, homophobia, and the primacy of the gendered heterosexual nuclear family (heteronormativity). Political goals include changing laws and policies in order to gain new rights, benefits, and protections from harm.
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 to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.
Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA) is a voluntary organisation for intersex people that promotes the human rights and bodily autonomy of intersex people in Australia, and provides education and information services. Established in 2009 and incorporated as a charitable company in 2010, it was formerly known as Organisation Intersex International Australia, or OII Australia. It is recognised as a Public Benevolent Institution.
Multiple countries legally recognize non-binary or third gender classifications. These classifications are typically based on a person's gender identity. In some countries, such classifications may only be available to intersex people, born with sex characteristics that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies."
Intersex rights in New Zealand are protections and rights afforded to intersex people. Protection from discrimination is implied by the Human Rights Act and the Bill of Rights Act, but remains untested. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission states that there has seemingly been a "lack of political will to address issues involved in current practices of genital normalisation on intersex children".
Transgender rights in the United Kingdom have varied significantly over time.
Transgender rights in the Federal Republic of Germany are regulated by the Transsexuellengesetz since 1980, and indirectly affected by other laws like the Abstammungsrecht. The law initially required transgender people to undergo sex-reassignment surgery in order to have key identity documents changed. This has since been declared unconstitutional. The German government has pledged to replace the Transsexuellengesetz with the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz, which would remove the financial and bureaucratic hurdles necessary for legal gender and name changes. Discrimination protections on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation vary across Germany, but discrimination in employment and the provision of goods and services is in principle banned countrywide.
Mermaids is a British charity and advocacy organisation that supports gender variant and transgender youth. It also provides inclusion and diversity training. Mermaids was founded in 1995 by a group of parents of gender nonconforming children and became a charitable incorporated organisation in 2015.
The Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) was a nationally operated health clinic in the United Kingdom that specialised in working with transgender and gender diverse youth, including gender dysphoria. Launched in 1989, GIDS was commissioned by NHS England and took referrals from across the UK, although it was operated at a Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust site. GIDS was the only gender identity clinic for people under 18 in England and Wales and was the subject of much controversy.
This article addresses the history of transgender people across the British Isles in the United Kingdom, the British colonies and the Kingdom of England until the present day. Transgender people were historically recognised in the UK by varying titles and cultural gender indicators, such as dress. People dressing and living differently from their sex assignment at birth and contributing to various aspects of British history and culture have been documented from the 14th century to the present day. In the 20th century, advances in medicine, social and biological sciences and transgender activism have influenced transgender life in the UK.
References
- ↑ Abbott, Stephen (10 January 2007). "Charity blasts PCT for proposed sex change cuts". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
But the Gender Trust said the move "would put medicine back 30 years in its understanding of what transsexualism is.
- ↑ Bradbury, Jennifer (11 August 2004). "Important to gain acceptance". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
A spokesman for the Gender Trust, a UK charity which offers advice, education, information and support on gender identity issues to transsexuals and professional people who come across transsexuals in the course of their work, said of Nadia's success on BB: "We feel it has been a positive experience. It's raised the general public's awareness that transsexuals are just ordinary people."
- ↑ Radnedge, Aidan (12 September 2011). "Child who wants sex change goes back to school as girl". Metro. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
"Michelle Bridgman, a psychotherapist and project manager for the Gender Trust charity, described the child's bullies as 'barbaric'.
- ↑ Bourke, Amy (4 April 2007). "Employers challenged over trans policies". Pink News. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
Not long before the Gender Equality duty (GED) comes into force, the Gender Trust has said that employers are often surprised what a turbulent process changing gender can be.
- ↑ "Transsexuals win extra change from the lottery" . The Independent. 14 January 1997. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
A charity for transsexuals is among 65 recipients of lottery money grants announced today by the National Lottery Charities Board. The Gender Trust, of Horsham and Henfield, West Sussex, is awarded pounds 33,700 in grants to health, disability and care projects totalling pounds 9.6m.
- ↑ Ford, Coreena (12 January 2003). "Stuck in the middle". Sunday Sun. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
There are many support groups in the UK for intersex people and those with gender-identity problems, including . . . Cross + Roads Gender Identity Support and Transwatch UK: 01388-607925 or e-mail paula@crossroads-gid-support.org.uk or andrea@crossroads-gid-support.org.uk The Gender Trust: 07000-790347. ATR-X Support Group: 01606-44943. Mermaids (family support group for children and teenagers with gender-identity issues): 07020-935066.
- ↑ "Ask The Panel for advice". Times Higher Education. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
They can also seek guidance from professional organisations such as Press for Change, The Gender Trust (www.gendertrust.org.uk) or TheGender Identity and Research Education Society (www.gires.org.uk).