Are we the tip of the iceberg?

[Rachel]

Yes we are the tip.

Trans*, transgender. transgendered or transsexual, I do not care, just don't call me Sir or Mister.

[JessicaH]

Transsexuals only transition when the discomfort of of maintaining their current gender exceeded the exceeds the the total costs (financial, social, emotional,etc) of transitioning. When the total costs to transition are lowered, more people will transition at a lower cost threshold which is why we see more people coming out and transitioning now vs. any time in the past.

So you can safely assume that for every person whose dysphoria exceeds today's aggregate cost of transition, there will be many others that would really like to but their discomfort isn't bad enough to risk or pay the costs involved.

As time goes by any transsexualism is accepted more, we will see people transitioning in greater numbers and at younger ages because it just won't be that big of a deal and their total costs to do so wont be remotely close to what we face today.

[Marissa]

Wow, that's well thought out Jessica, thanks.  It doesn't really account for the state of the economy in recent years; has the financial cost to transition been decreasing?  I believe the social cost is dropping though, so maybe that makes up for the economic side.  I hope your prediction is right!

[Tessa James]

I used to flatter myself and thought I had pretty accurate gaydar.  I was wrong and happily will not repeat that mistake with my evolving transdar as people continue to surprise me and help me think outside the usual boxes.  I find our endless variation an almost intoxicating lure to explore and often consider the labels an impediment to deeper understanding.  Some of the first books I read about us used transgendered as did therapists and other professionals.  Obviously we do evolve.......

Yes we are some tip of the iceberg but who is on the titanic this time?

[Terri]

To answer the question of how hard it is to come out -- even to yourself --  for me I find it very hard.  Impossible at times it seems.  Like many I imagine I find myself running and hiding inside of my alter ego -- that front of a person I built -- only to be cold, hard, unfeeling and miserable -- a shell of a human being walking around in the dark.  Despite how unpleasant that sounds it is easy for me to get lost over there.  Why?  Because the me that has been hiding for so long from everyone has so little idea of what to do with herself, never mind the monumental task of facing the reality of taking over a very successful life, marriage, and business that relies solely on the 1:1 relationship HE has with HIS clients.  That, and, frankly I am very afraid.  Yikes.  Sorry for ranting -- just felt like chiming in.  How many?  I have no idea -- even if I knew the real numbers it wouldn't offer me any comfort or any solace.  I'm just thankful right now that I have all of you.  There is comfort and solace in knowing that.

[Marissa]

Yes we are some tip of the iceberg but who is on the titanic this time?

I hope the Titanic is a metaphor for prejudice.

[Marissa]

I'm just thankful right now that I have all of you.  There is comfort and solace in knowing that.

Thanks for posting that, Terri!  Posts like that give me 'comfort and solace' and remind me that I'm not alone.

[Lo]

I read someplace recently that said a single doctor on the East Coast performs about 200 top surgeries a year; that's just one doctor. And just one procedure. Multiply that by how many surgeons perform top surgeries for trans folk* around the world, and then take that number and likely multiply that by two (for trans-masculine and trans-feminine) and you might get something close to a real number.

I would honestly say that we are definitely more than 1% of the population.

[KabitTarah]

To answer the question of how hard it is to come out -- even to yourself --  for me I find it very hard.  Impossible at times it seems.

I kinda just slipped out of the closet... or maybe fell out. I had coping mechanisms and one of them impacted my health...pair that with a period of very high dysphoria, and bam.

I was into the cross-dreaming stuff. There is a big community there and I think most of them are uncounted. Stories, pictures, interactive fiction, etc... it's not as big as some other niche groups (furry, for one), but there's a lot of crossover between transformation and transgender.

You can also figure that some of the hate and fear comes from those who question their own -ininity and/or gender. The same is said of homosexual hatred and homophobia.


Btw... stupid Kindle tried to autocorrect transgender to transgendered.

[JessicaH]

Wow, that's well thought out Jessica, thanks.  It doesn't really account for the state of the economy in recent years; has the financial cost to transition been decreasing?  I believe the social cost is dropping though, so maybe that makes up for the economic side.  I hope your prediction is right!

The main "cost" I was referring to was the social cost. The social cost are what instil so much fear in us and make it so hard for many of us to even accept ourselves. If the negative views and social cost were totally removed, almost all trans people would come out at a much younger age and so many people would be sparred the carnage that can be created when we come out and transition later in life.

An economist would be a great person to apply economical theory to this and could probably make a lot more sense out of this than I can. I'm sure it can all be distilled to a mathematical equation.

[MaryXYX]

Btw... stupid Kindle tried to autocorrect transgender to transgendered.

Ah!  That is where "transgendered" comes from - it's Amazonian (in the sense of amazon.com).  My spell checker wants to correct transgender to transcendent or perhaps transgenic.  It accepts transsexual though.

My main objection to transsexual is the assumption many people seem to have that it mean the same as post-op.  I don't want to get into the "A real transsexual is post-op" argument.  I'm open with friends about how far I am through the process and what my intentions are, but for anyone else I'm a woman and if they must know I have some medical issues.

[KabitTarah]

Ah!  That is where "transgendered" comes from - it's Amazonian (in the sense of amazon.com).  My spell checker wants to correct transgender to transcendent or perhaps transgenic.  It accepts transsexual though.

My main objection to transsexual is the assumption many people seem to have that it mean the same as post-op.  I don't want to get into the "A real transsexual is post-op" argument.  I'm open with friends about how far I am through the process and what my intentions are, but for anyone else I'm a woman and if they must know I have some medical issues.

I mentioned in my coming out letter to family that transgender is preferred (mentioned transsexual in a historical perspective from the 90s)

Transcendent certainly weeps apropos.

[aleon515]

I read someplace recently that said a single doctor on the East Coast performs about 200 top surgeries a year; that's just one doctor. And just one procedure. Multiply that by how many surgeons perform top surgeries for trans folk* around the world, and then take that number and likely multiply that by two (for trans-masculine and trans-feminine) and you might get something close to a real number.

I would honestly say that we are definitely more than 1% of the population.

I'm pretty sure Dr. Garramone does 500 a year. That's kind of a high number of surgeries. I don't know how many doctors perform that. And you could add all the other surgeons that perform all other procedures and then of course we know that quite a few people don't get surgeries in a given year or never get surgery for whatever reason.
I think 1% isn't an unreasonable no. Esp. since I think you have to include people who are gender noncomforming. So that they might not really identify with the "opposite" gender. But then don't identify with their own natal gender either.

Is "transgendered" the result of autocorrect?! Wow. 

--Jay

[Lo]

I think there are quite a few nonbinary trans* people out there; it's a growing identity/community. I think that nonbinary and non-op trans* people count for more than those who transition from one gender to another. Including cultures who recognize third/other genders, my optimistic bet would be that we number at around 2% of the general population.

[Marissa]

I hope those estimates are right that there are many more of us than are publicly acknowledged.  It's still not easy but I hope that acceptance will continue to grow and with it, resources to allow all gender nonconforming people to live a life that is right for them!