THE SCIENCE OF TRANSGENDERUNMC SCIENCE CAFE

Dr. Jay A. Irwin, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Dr. Sofia Jawed-Wessel, Assistant Professor of Public Health

Technical Language

• Sex• Gender• Gender Identity• Gender Expression• Sexual Attraction• Sexual Orientation • Sexual Behavior

Learning the Alphabet

• LGBTQQIA:• L = Lesbian• G = Gay• B = Bisexual• T = Transgender• Q = Questioning• Q = Queer• Intersex• Ally or Asexual

Sexual Minority

Populations

Continuum of Identity

Transgender Medical Terms• Gender Identity Disorder

• Old term used by the DSM IV-TR• Problematic term for many trans people

• Gender Dysphoria• New term used by the DSM V• Still a lot of disagreement within the community

• Mostly these terms are used by MDs and mental health professionals and are largely medical coding mechanisms• Most insurance companies will not pay for things associated with

these codes

Transgender Identity Terms

• Transgender – an umbrella term for people who identify as something other than their sex assigned at birth

• Transsexual – someone who seeks medical intervention to change their bodies to match their internal sense of gender• Male to female (MTF)/Male Assigned At Birth (MAAB)/Trans woman – a

person classified as male at birth, but now identifies as something other than male

• Female to male (FTM)/Female Assigned At Birth (FAAB)/Trans man – a person classified as female at birth, but now identifies as something other than female

• NOT all trans people are comfortable with this term

Transgender Identity Terms• Others include trans*, transmasculine, transfeminine,

genderqueer, bigender, agender, genderf*ck, etc.• The term that someone identifies with is personal and

important• Cisgender – someone who is not trans; someone who

identifies with the sex they were assigned at birth; non-transgender persons

Transgender Terms• Pronouns

• Someone who presents as a woman = feminine pronouns• Someone who presents as a man = male pronouns• Could be more complicated:

- Someone who presents female at school, but must work as their birth gender or go by their birth name at home

- It is ok to respectfully ask someone what pronouns they use

Transgender Terms• Gender Neutral

Terms• Source:

http://blogs.uww.edu/prosers2012/2012/05/07/gender-neutral-pronouns-why-not-and-how-to-ish/

Prevalence • How many trans people are there in the U.S.?

• “Official” estimates are 1:30,000 (MtF) and 1:100,000 (FtM)• American Psychiatric Association – DSM-IV-TR 2000

• Dutch studies 1:10,000 (MtF) and 1:30,400 (FtM)• van Kesteren et al. 1996

• Broader categorization 1:4,500 (MtF) and 1:8,000 (FtM)• Conway 2002

• Most recent estimate is around 700,000 trans people in the U.S. (0.3% of the population)• Gates 2011

Transition as a Process• All persons experience a unique transition experience, but

there are some common steps:• Social transition• Psychological care• Hormonal transition• Surgical transition

• There is no one way to transition, and regardless of where one is in this process, the way they identify is the way we should address them

National Support/Advocacy Groups• World Professional Association for Transgender Health• National Center for Transgender Equality• Trevor Project – 24 hour LGBTQ suicide prevention

hotline - 1-866-488-7386• National Gay and Lesbian Task Force• Human Rights Campaign

Local Support Groups• River City Gender Alliance• PFLAG Cornhusker and PFLAG Omaha• Queer Nebraska Youth Networks (14-24 yr olds)• Proud Horizons (Omaha)• Open Arms Transgender Youth Group (Omaha)• Parents of Gender Non-Conforming Children Group

(Lincoln)

Local Professional Organizations• MSHRC – Midlands Sexual Health Research

Collaborative

• PTRN – Professional Transgender Resource Network

From http://www.ontoscopy.net/on-my-way-to-the-marketplace

QUESTIONS?