A New Term for Transgender - Any Ideas?

[kyril]

Well, this gay boy approves of butterflies 

[Arch]

Maybe we should just call ourselves "HAPPY" because we are much happier doing what we do than being told we should be happy the way we are / were.

Oh, dear. Not long ago, someone suggested a new term for atheists/skeptics: bright.

So now I'm bright, happy, and gay.

Somebody shoot me.
Post Merge: March 29, 2010, 03:42:28 PM

How about this...
Butterflies

It is a symbol adopted by the trans comunity long ago. People have positive asociation with butterflies.

(I know kinda gay...)

I've always liked the chrysalis as a metaphor for transition, but with all of the reading I've done, I never knew that trans people had adopted butterflies as a symbol. Do you know where I can read up on this? It's cool.

[Sandy]

I don't know where it came from, but it does seem to be in common usage.

So much so that Dr McGinn calls he clinic the Papilion Gender Wellness center.  And were I to get a tattoo, I would definitely opt for a butterfly.

-Sandy

[Amazon D]

Thats funny and does work for me LOL

Maybe we're GAPPY!  "as in filling the gender gap, happily"

[BunnyBee]

I don't like any of our labels, and male to female transsexual is a gd mouthful.  I would really love it if we could find a cute simplified term.  I suppose I can tolerate how some of the current terms sound abbreviated or combined- like TS woman or transwoman.  Maybe that would be the simplest way to go.  Although, etymologically speaking, post transition, I don't believe trans-[anything] works.

I dunno, I just don't think there will ever be a label I'll be satisfied with, much less one that EVERYBODY will be satisfied with.  Honestly, if somebody can actually find a term that satisfies all of us, they really should consider using their genius in more constructive ways, like curing cancer or something.

Like others, I think I just prefer the term "woman."

[Janet_Girl]

Having read the other posts after mine, I agree with 'woman' for myself.  As for the guys how about 'man'.

I think that society should give up the labels, they would n't like having another label than 'man' or 'woman'.

[gennee]

Maybe they're jealous of us because we are happy. We don't need them to tell us what we need to make us happy.

Gennee

[kyril]

Having read the other posts after mine, I agree with 'woman' for myself.  As for the guys how about 'man'.

Still a boy here, working on some day becoming a man.

[Julie Marie]

Having read the other posts after mine, I agree with 'woman' for myself.  As for the guys how about 'man'.

I think that society should give up the labels, they would n't like having another label than 'man' or 'woman'.

We'd be hard pressed to get the mainstream to go along with that, at least not now.  The long range plans would be just that but for now I think we'd have more success moving a step or two away from the stigma riddled terms we now use.

As for finding the perfect term, no one term will be considered perfect by all, not ever.  But, just like "gay", you take a term and create positive imagery around it.  In time most will adapt and even embrace it.

[Miniar]

Having read the other posts after mine, I agree with 'woman' for myself.  As for the guys how about 'man'.

I think that society should give up the labels, they would n't like having another label than 'man' or 'woman'.

and the genderfluid, androgynous, bi-gendered, and so on?

[Dana Lane]

I am pretty much okay with transsexual and even prefer that over transgender. Transgender is too broad of a term to adequately describe me. The other day I saw an article somewhere that referred to a woman as a post-op transgender. Talk about confusing people! What the hell does post-op transgender mean?

[ativan]

and the genderfluid, androgynous, bi-gendered, and so on?

Sandwich
How many kinds are there?  Theres specialty, homemade, traditional, made up, Dagwood, the usual, the unusual, national, international, simple, plain, toasted; made with sliced bread, buns, w/out bread of any kind.......what was the other one?
And the discussion continues......

[Kay]

Personally, I think Julie Marie is on the right track with something like "Halcyon." 
.
Now...I'm not particularly enamored of that term specifically, it definitely needs to sound a bit less bookish (or perhaps a bit less Star-Trekish..."The Halcyon people from Numera Prime"    )...but I like the direction she's taken.  Positive meaning, good thought behind it...not a bad first pitch.  Not bad at all.
.
"So now I'm bright, happy, and gay."
Heh.  Arch...that is just too funny. 

[Arch]

(or perhaps a bit less Star-Trekish..."The Halcyon people from Numera Prime"    ).
...
"So now I'm bright, happy, and gay."
Heh.  Arch...that is just too funny. 

Sorry, Kay, but yours beat mine all to heck and back. I'm still laughing, which is pretty scary because my voice still breaks when I laugh. I sound not unlike one of those Disney hyenas.

[Sarah B]

Thank you Janet Lynn, Thank YOU.

Having read the other posts after mine, I agree with 'woman' for myself.  As for the guys how about 'man'.

I think that society should give up the labels, they would n't like having another label than 'man' or 'woman'.

After thinking about this for best part of a day, this morning I had the same thought just like Janet has.  It does not matter what name or label you come up with its just another 'bloody' label.  Label and names are used to group people.  Northern Jane said it best "Human beings are social creatures and sooner or later everybody wants some kind of connection with others of a similar experience".  However the main group name or label that I wish to associate with first and foremost is Yes you guessed it FEMALE.

I will discuss, offer my experiences or suggest my advice to other people who, for the want of a better way of saying it "have a medical condition".  Sandy said something similar and I will rephrase it "I am a woman with a diabetic condition, a woman with a broken arm or even a woman with [insert a medical condition].

I belong with the group called females, that is what I want to be labeled as, nothing less and nothing more, I do not want any other tag, label or name whatsoever.

Kind regards
Sarah B

[Miniar]

Halcyon is not a word I would support.
I'm not sure how to pronounce it and it just seems too "sci-fi" sounding for my tastes.

[cynthialee]

Halcyon is not a word I would support.
I'm not sure how to pronounce it and it just seems too "sci-fi" sounding for my tastes.

I agree with this statement.

[Julie Marie]

It does not matter what name or label you come up with its just another 'bloody' label.

Would it matter if your employer labeled you and then fired you?  Would it matter if your family labeled you and walked out of your life?  Would it matter if people voting on your rights labeled you and denied you of the same rights as everyone else?

The idea isn't to create a new label, it's to detach ourselves from negative labels and the only way to do that in a society that depends on labels is to come up with new, less stigmatized terminology

Halcyon is not a word I would support.
I'm not sure how to pronounce it and it just seems too "sci-fi" sounding for my tastes.

The exact word is unimportant so long as it conveys positive imagery.  When gay was chosen, it seemed to me a very outdated word (it was for my generation) and just not right.  I doubt today anyone will say that.   

No matter what word would be chosen, how it relates to the gender continuum, TG, etc would, in time, be defined and relayed to the general public.  The primary purpose is to move away from any terminology to which the general public has attached negative stigmas.

To me, finding a word that conveys peaceful, content, serene, calm, happy (even euphoric) would be the focus.  Mainstream has to know we're okay with ourselves.  Halcyon satisfies that criteria.  If possible, it should also be something simple.  Halcyon fails there.  But it can't be too common a word and it probably shouldn't be something made up.  Halcyon has fallen out of use over the years so younger people might think it sounds funny.  To me, it is a word used often in beautiful poetry.  The first one I was introduced to was Walt Whitman's Those Halcyon Days

Personally, I would stay away from anything that had a direct reference to GID, sex or changing genders.  The general public will immediately attach all those stigmas we are trying to escape.

So, any more word nominations?

[Lyric]

The problem I see with the term "transsexual" is that the terms "heterosexual" and "homosexual" are in common usage to describe the gender one is attracted to. Sexual attraction has nothing to do with gender identity, thus the term "transsexual" inappropriately throws them in with the other two terms. "Transgender" more clearly describes a situation in which one seeks to go over to the other gender without confusion about sexual orientation.

Lyric

[Miniar]

I knew it sounded iffy to me for a reason (by the by)
Wikipedia says;
- Halcyon (Stargate Atlantis novel), a novel by James Swallow
- Halcyon, the fictional capital city of the Thran civilization in the Magic: The Gathering universe
- Halcyon (role-playing game), an indie role-playing game
- Halcyon (console), a video-game console

I'd suggest something of mythological origin that resembles the phoenix mythology, but I can't think of anything.