A Queergendered FAQ
A Primer by Danica Nuccitelli, of Sphere
(For
the purpose of this info sheet, I have used the term "queergendered" to mean people
who are transsexual and transgendered but particularly those who are
bigendered (identifying as both, or more, genders), non-gendered (not
identifying with any gender) and third-gendered (constructing their own
gender). Many of the questions and some quotes were drawn from P-FLAG's
Transgender FAQ; where there are quotes attributed to P-FLAG , they are
from that FAQ.)
1: What does it mean to be polygendered?
Polygendered people are transgendered. Transgendered people are defined by
TGS-PFLAG as "individuals of any age or sex who manifest characteristics,
behaviors or self-expression, which in their own or someone else's
perception, istypical of or commonly associated with persons of another
gender." Among transgendered people, there are transsexuals (who get
sex-change operations), non-op transsexuals (who
fulfill all the steps of a sex-change except for the genital operation),
drag kings and queens (who dress as the "opposite" sex for performances)
and transvestites (who do so all the time). And then there are us, the
less well-known transgender folks. We are people who identify as
bi-gendered, non-gendered, or third-gendered. We may feel we belong to
more than one gender, that we have no gender at all, or that we are our
own gender, something neither male nor female.
2: How are polygendered people different from "regular"
transgendered folks?
Just like any other transgendered people, we might have a different
name for ourselves than the gendered name we were given at birth; we might
dress differently than most people of our birth gender and try to "pass"
as another gender on a daily basis; we might take hormones or get
operations to modify our bodies. The difference is that we are not
"switching" from female to male or vice versa; we are going from living as
female to living as both female and male, or living as a gay man and a
lesbian and a teenage boy and a drag king, or living as no gender at all,
ambiguously, or as something entirely other.
3. What causes transgenderism?
P-FLAG notes that "the overall psychological term is called gender
dysphoria, an intense feeling of pain, anguish, and anxiety from the
mis-assignment of a transgendered person's sex at birth." Experiments of
varying validity have been done to try and find out what "causes"
transsexuality, but they're very similar to the experiments done
to discover the "gay gene." First, such experiments can't tell us very
much until we take into account the whole range of sexuality and gender;
second, they are misguided. We should not worry about finding a cause,
especially since it would almost certainly be a wide combination of
causes, most of which we can't control; we should worry about the main
cause of pain to transgendered people, which is rejection and hatred
from the people around them.
It is worth noting here that gender dysphoria is part of a clinical
term, Gender Identity Disorder, which is required for any transgendered
individual to be allowed hormonal or other treatment. This diagnosis is
found in volume four of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), and
was put on the books as a mental illness the same year that homosexuality
was removed from those pages. Since then, diagnoses of GID have been used
to torment gender-variant children, about 75% of whom turn out to be bi,
lesbian, or gay, and 25% of whom are indeed transgendered. The diagnosis,
as was noted earlier, is also used to torment those who do not fit
textbook ideas of what transgendered
people should be. Many queer groups are fighting to remove it from the DSM
today.
4. Can queergendered people be treated or cured?
The idea
of "curing" any transgendered person is an odd one. It implies that
there is something wrong with us for having different gender identities
than we are "supposed" to. Transgendered people often have to battle
depression because of the discrimination and lack of support we face, and
that can be "cured;" we may need hormones or operations to modify our
bodies so we may live as the correct gender, but that shouldn't be
perceived as some sort of salvation and cure for a tragic medical
condition. Being transgendered of any sort is a wonderful and valid
identity, not a sickness.
It is important to note that the medical attention to transgendered
people reveals another difference in queergendered situations. If you live
in a small town or a town which is not very queer-aware, you may go to a
psychiatrist or a doctor, tell them you are transsexual, and get complete
denial from them, be put on the wrong drugs, be sent to a psychiatric
hospital, be faced with years of therapy with a therapist who refuses to
learn anything about your condition and insists you stop hurting your
family like this. If you live in a big city or one which has a strong
queer community, transsexuality is likely to be better understood, and
there may even be laws protecting you from discrimination and guidelines
for how your place of employment should deal with your transition. But if
you live in one of those places and say that you are a male-to-both
transsexual, that you want hormones to pass better as both genders
or an operation to give you intersexed genitalia, you will get the same
reaction as a "normal" transsexual living in Queerphobiaville. Gender
clinics will perceive you as just a confused kid and have no time or
resources to help you; the most understanding doctors will refuse you
treatment because they think you are making a mistake; and those darn
Standards Of Care provided to trip up male-to-female and female-to-male
transsexuals will block your way entirely. This is yet another reason to
understand and respect the differences between all sorts of transgendered
people.
5. Is transgendered behavior sinful and against the teachings of
the Bible?
I don't like including this question because it assumes everyone is
coming from a Judeo-Christian background, but it has a very interesting
answer. There is a passage in the Book of Deuteronomy (22:5) which reads,
"The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall
a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto
the Lord thy God." The reason this and similar passages are in the Bible
is because a large number of very popular Pagan religions at the time
included transsexual priestesses and intersexed Goddesses! Yes, even then
there were procedures for sex-changes, which seem to have been remarkably
similar to our own. Many cultures held transgendered roles in high
respect, and some even had third and fourth genders; for more information,
go get a copy of Leslie Feinberg's _Transgender Warriors_,
a fascinating history of transgendered people. Anyway, as P-FLAG notes,
"Judged strictly by Hebrew standards the entirety of modern civilization
would appear to violate the Purity Code."
6. Are queergendered people gay?
One might think that, if you are born a man with an attraction to
women, and "become" a woman, you will still be attracted to women and will
thus be a lesbian. In reality, many people experience this and many other
people discover upon transitioning that they begin to discover their
attraction to members of another gender, coming out as bisexual or even
losing all attraction to their original "preferred" gender. This makes
transitioning even harder, especially if your original community rejects
you for "switching sides."
In summary, your gender and your sexual orientation are SEPARATE; being
transgendered doesn't mean you're gay or bi, necessarily. However, many of
us are, particularly because many of us discover the fluidity of gender
during our own transitions.
7. How are Transgendered People Discriminated Against?
As Gianna Israel writes in her essay, "External Homophobia," "Are men and
women with gender issues required to deal with those issues affecting gays
and lesbians? Yes, absolutely. There are many issues existing that
affect both transgender persons and gays and lesbians. The most insidious
and device of which is homophobia. Homophobia is an irrational fear or
dislike of gays and lesbians. Moreover, it is an intense misunderstanding
of who gays and lesbians are, based on stereotypes, misinformation and
ignorance." Transgendered people face employment and housing
discrimination and extremely violent physical attacks. The hate directed
towards transgendered people is based on the same element as that directed
towards lesbians, bisexuals, and gay men: violation
of acceptable gender roles.
Transgendered people are also subject to outdated gender-based
laws, and risk being arrested for "impersonation" if a police officer does
not like them living as something other than their biological gender, or
for violating state laws regarding which bathroom to use. Health care for
transgendered individuals is abysmal, with many of us dying because of
transphobic medical staff laughing, pointing us out to colleagues,
refusing us medical attention, and even requiring unwarranted psychiatric
treatment.
Bigendered, third-gendered, and nongendered folks are often even
discriminated against within transgendered resources and within the trans
community. We are seen as "wannabes" and "fans." We are often denied
treatment of any sort because medical "authorities" do not have any
information on us. We are automatically seen as "confused" and merely in
need of therapy to decide between the acceptable conclusions of either
being textbook transsexuals or regular people who just dislike gender
roles. There is a vicious circle at play here: many post-ops discover that
the sex-change operation was the wrong way to go and get more, costly
operations to go back to their original sex, or worse, are forced to
commit suicide. Then the medical establishment decides that there are not
enough barriers to the operation, and require even more "proof" of
transsexuality before anyone is allowed even to begin hormones. Then the
idea that
one is either very strongly a "normal" textbook case of transsexuality, or
else a "normal" human being, becomes even more entrenched, and more of us
are denied treatment - causing depression, agony, and death - or forced to
have the wrong treatment - causing depression, agony, and death.
8. Are there differences between crossdressers and queergendered
people?
Crossdressers are a subgroup of transgendered people, along with
drag kings/queens, transvestites, and transsexuals. Someone thirdgendered
might also be considered a transvestite, because they live in one gendered
body and are seen wearing the clothes of another gender; they might be
described as transsexual, for attempting to get surgery to make their
bodies into something they can live with. The difference between a
crossdresser and a bi-, non-, or third-gendered individual is the same as
the difference between a transsexual and an FTM: one label explains their
gender, the other explains what they're doing about it.
9: How can I help support the queergendered person in my family?
We'll just quote P-FLAG
wholeheartedly here: "First, offer your family member your unconditional
love and support. Secondly, educate yourself about transgenderism and
transgendered people and their concerns. Thirdly, help your loved one
educate and 'come out' to other family members and
friends who will be supportive."
On a personal note, when I came out, the people in my life who were
most supportive were the ones who asked me what I wanted to be called,
what pronouns to use, whether I planned to start taking hormones and/or
have a whole sex change, and what I needed from them. These friends are
some of the most loving people I know. Ask your transgendered
friends what they want to be called. Especially within the queergendered
community, everyone has a different way they want to describe themselves,
and even if they don't, they will see that you care and that they can
confide in you when they need someone to talk to about it.
