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Transgender persons and transsexuals

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The term "LGBT" is an acronym for "Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals,
transgender persons/Transsexuals. Sometimes, additional letters
are added, like "Q" for Queer or questioning, "I" for Intersexual.

The term "transgender person" is now preferred vs. the earlier "transgendered person".
Tracking down and manually changing almost 1,000 ocurrences in our web site
would consume many more staff hours that we have available.
So, we chose to have our DreamWeaver editor do it for us.
It may well have generated a few errors. We apologize in advance.

Gender identity, transgender persons and transsexuals:

This section discusses gender identity -- what a person perceives their gender to be. For over 99% of adults their gender identity matches the gender that they were assigned at birth. They are called cisgendered. But a small minority of adults firmly identify themselves as being of the opposite gender to their birth assigned gender, or of both genders, or of neither gender, or above any gender classification. They are called transgender persons.

There are two schools of thought about transgender individuals:

• Essentially all from the LGBT community, religious liberals, mental health therapists, human sexuality researchers, secularists, and some others:
  • Refer to transgender persons by the gender with which they currently identify which is typically different from their birth-assigned gender.
    
    
  • Believe that their gender identity is fixed and cannot be change by any known form of therapy.
    
    
  • Believe that, for those who qualify, hormone treatments and gender reassignment surgery (GRS) can at least partly harmonize their gender identity with their appearance.
    
    
  • Strongly support protections for transgender persons from hate crimes, from discrimination in employment, etc.
    
    
• Many religious conservatives:
  • Refer to transgender persons by their birth-assigned gender.
    
    
  • Believe that their gender identity is changeable through therapy and/or prayer.
    
    
  • Regard trangender persons as being "gender confused."
    
    
  • Regard GRS as a form of body mutilation that is offensive to God.
    
    
  • Strongly oppose legislation protecting transgender persons from hate crimes and from discrimination in employment.
    
    
  • Use the terms "religious freedom and liberty," and "conscience clauses," to justify using religious beliefs to discriminate against transgender persons.

Although there is no direct connection between sexual orientation and gender identity, the above two groups are engaged in similar efforts to promote or oppose equal rights and equal treatment for the LGBT community.

Topics covered in this section:

	Introduction: Introduction to transgender persons, transsexuals, cisgender persons, etc.
	Cause(s) of transsexuality according to medical researchers: Fetal exposure to abnormal androgen levels? Genetically determined at conception?
	Causes of, and cures for, transsexuality according to religious groups: Beliefs of conservative Protestant groups: Part 1  Part 2 Beliefs of individual Christians Terms and concepts used by evangelicals Beliefs of the Roman Catholic church
	Bible passages which may impact transgender/transsexual topics
	Prevalence of transsexuality
	Transsexuals in history
	Transitioning from female to male or vice versa
	Transitioning success rates
	How a lack of consensus about gender identity harms transgender individuals. Webmaster's rant
	Using medication to delay puberty in transgender pre-teens and teens
	Is transsexualism linked to homosexuality?
	Involuntary sexual reassignment of infants: Creating transgender persons via surgery
	Discrimination against transgender persons & transsexuals: Resolutions by the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association Homelessness Personal stories of success and difficulties transitioning Discrimination against transgender pesons and transsexuals in the military Ending employment discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender identity (The ENDA bill) Studies and polls about transgender persons: Polls on protection in employment Studies of employment discrimination Reports by APA; homelessness 2011 Study of all types of discrimination experienced by transgender persons 2011 polls concerning public opinions on transgender persons Discrimination and lack of protection by US state governments Acceptance and rejection within religious denominations: 2009 & 2012: Consideration of transgender persons by the Episcopal Church, USA Political and religious conflicts over sexual orientation & gender identity. Are they resolvable? Anti-discrimination laws across the U.S. Laws in other countries that oppress or protect LGBT persons International declarations on the rights of LGBT persons   Conflicts over the use of washrooms and dressing rooms in stores.
	Glossary of terms relating to transgender persons: Words beginning with A to S Words beginning from T to Z
	Transsexual information sources: Web sites Books for transsexuals, their families, and co-workers Biographies, books on transsexuality, books for therapists, etc.
	News: 2008 to now: News and information from the media concerning the transgender/transsexual community

References used:

The following information source was used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlink is not necessarily still active today.

1. Barack Obama, "A Proclamation..." White House, 2009-JUN-01, at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/
2. Charlie Butts and Jody Brown, "Obama appoints transgender LGBT activist," OneNewsNow.com. 2010-JAN-07, at: http://www.onenewsnow.com/
3. Jennifer Reitz, "What transsexuality is," at: http://transsexual.org/

A movie:

Tom Murray produced and directed a video concerning transsexuality. It is titled: "Almost Myself: Reflections on mending and transcending gender." See: http://www.almostmyself.com/

Copyright © 2007 to 2011 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Original posting: 2007-JUN-08
Latest update and review: 2012-SEP-23
Author: B.A. Robinson

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