Transsexual or transgender

[Lacey Lynne]

I have a problem with the 'trans' part... 

As once you be decades post-op, and fully 100% legally female as I be...

Then its a redundant adjunct..... I'm not between anything or traveling somewhere....anywhere?

I arrived long ago baby.....lol

Rock on, girl ... rock on!   Love your attitude!  Wish I could say the same thing.  We're very happy for you!   

[Sinnyo]

I too quite hate the sound of "transsexual". It does sound similar to homo- and bisexual, but I don't think people see that as misleading. It's the presence of "sexual" which unnerves me, because my transition's less about my body and more about the relationships I want to have. Sexual organs are just a stepping stone, and one that all trans folk need not clear; "transsexual" brings up a very clear mental image, of a stereotype I'm trying to put out of my mind while I figure out what I need.

"Transgender" feels nicer, so I use that or "trans". Honestly though, I hope the names change some day. As I understand it, they're clumsy labels first applied by urologists endocrinologists rather than psychologists anyway. Not that I can cite that.

Edit: Thanks for the correction, K8!

[lilacwoman]

I love you, but we are exactly opposite. I believe that the term transexual conjurs up freak shows and/or jerry springer

lol But thats me!!! How are you today?

I'm actually getting quite excited about going for nose job on Saturday.   You look like a happy lady.

[K8]

As I understand it, they're clumsy labels first applied by urologists rather than psychologists anyway. Not that I can cite that.

I believe that Harry Benjamin coined the term "transsexual".  My understanding is that the first time the word was used in print was his "The Transsexual Phenomenon," which was published in 1966.  He was primarily an endocrinologist.

- Kate

[fluffynuf]

I like to think of myself as a Woman with a trans history but dont realy care too much what people call me as long as they are nice to me

[Dana Lane]

I love you, but we are exactly opposite. I believe that the term transexual conjurs up freak shows and/or jerry springer

lol But thats me!!! How are you today?

In the US Transsexual is an actual diagnosis. I never thought of what I describe myself as to be a freak show. I have a frowny face.

[Bam]

My GYN and my primary care Dr' as well as my Spouse get on me all the time they say i was a man then i transitioned now i am a Woman. According to them the only point i was trans was when i was in between the two when you are done with surgery's etc. then you are a woman period!!!!

[JennX]

I really get tired of being labeled.  For the record, I personally believe that transgender would be correct.  So what does that make me now?  A post op transgender or transsexual???!!  No, I am a woman.  I have always felt like a girl and thought like a girl and now I have the body parts to match.  So out with the labels, they are discriminatory!!!  Except for my fiancé, nobody where I live knows that I used to have male parts and that is the way I intend it to be.

I agree with this.

I hear the terms used more and more interchangeably today by docs, nurses, other medical peeps, and other "transgendered persons". I prefer the term "transgendered" as it takes the "sex" out of it, which sort of dilutes and clouds the true nature of the issue at hand, which has nothing to with "sex" in the common form.

[kyril]

My GYN and my primary care Dr' as well as my Spouse get on me all the time they say i was a man then i transitioned now i am a Woman. According to them the only point i was trans was when i was in between the two when you are done with surgery's etc. then you are a woman period!!!!

I don't like this view because it implies that my identity changes in response to external factors, when in fact my identity is stable and it's my body that's changing.

[Lacey Lynne]

I believe that Harry Benjamin coined the term "transsexual".  My understanding is that the first time the word was used in print was his "The Transsexual Phenomenon," which was published in 1966.  He was primarily an endocrinologist.

- Kate

Absolutely correct and accurate, Kate!  Above all, he was reputedly a very compassionate and humane doctor.  Who better to be the trail-blazing pioneer than somebody like that?  Harry Benjamin also prescribed hormone replacement therapy and approved surgery (actually, his younger partner did this part) for Renee Richards, the historical transsexual I admire the most.  What a guy.  R.I.P., Dr. Benjamin.   

[K8]

When I was coming out to people and in the early stages, I used the term "transgendered".  Now I usually use the term "transsexual".  I've changed my sex from male to female.  My gender has stayed pretty much the same (woman) even though my gender presentation changed.

Because I lived so much of my life male and now live female, I still consider myself a transsexual.  That part of my identity is becoming less important as I settle into my post-op life.  I am also a widow.  That was an important part of my identity in the months after my spouse died.  Now, over three years later, it is less important but it is still an experience that shaped who and what I am.  I am also a veteran - important soon after leaving the service but less so now in defining who I am. 

If we live long enough we gather a lot of footnotes about who we are.  They help define us in large and small ways.  One of my footnotes is that I was male and lived as a man but now am female and live as a woman.  It's just one small part of who I am, but I wouldn't be who I am without that experience.

- Kate

[niamh]

As a pre-transition MTF I see myself as a 'trans woman' but if I do ever arrive at the other side I'll regard myself as a 'woman (with a trans history)'. If I was to label myself as a 'trans woman' post-transition it would only be in the sense that I am also an Irish woman, European, vegan, athetist. It would just be an attribute.

In the strictist sense though, one can longer be transsexual if they have already transitioned. They can however still be transgendered if they are still a member of the community and/or transcend traditional gender boundaries as seen by cis-society.

[April Dawne]

I'm going to throw my opinion out there and say that I don't really use either term. I simply tell people I am a trans woman. Once I am done transitioning, I will then simply be woman. When you say the word transsexual to the average person, their first thought is likely to be something other than what you mean. A lot of people out there as well are not familiar with transgender, and those that are I think are mostly aware that the term transgender does refer to anyone who is not a GUY that looks and acts like a GUY or a GIRL who looks and acts like a GIRL... according to established gender rules. In short, I think trans woman has a slightly less chance of conjuring up all sorts of nasty ideas in peoples heads and affords me the chance to explain what it means to ME to be a trans woman rather than a generalization of the term.

[Lacey Lynne]

I'm going to throw my opinion out there and say that I don't really use either term. I simply tell people I am a trans woman. Once I am done transitioning, I will then simply be woman. When you say the word transsexual to the average person, their first thought is likely to be something other than what you mean.

April, this is excellent.  You know, you're right.  I never thought about it this way, but you are so right.  Actually, I'm going to start saying this too.  Heck, I would never have thought of it this way.  Thanks!  This really makes sense. 

[Northern Jane]

I was transsexual, more specifically Type VI by Dr. Benjamin's original classifications of 1966. I was a pathetic failure at pretending to be male and could pass for one even doing my best "boy mode" act. In girl mode, nobody thought twice - it was totally natural. For me "passing" ended when I stopped trying to be something I wasn't.

I see transsexual as being a sub-set of transgender (in today's parlance) but, personally, I still see Type VI transsexual as being a unique phenomenon because it is recognizable well before puberty and has definitive indicators.

[April Dawne]

You are more than welcome Lacey =] I've tried in the past using both terms, and a lot of people either didn't know what the words meant, or they had the absolutely wrong idea and god knows what they might have been thinking. There are those that hear transsexual and immediately think of a crossdressing fetishist that gets turned on by dressing, which we all know is far from the truth. I've found that "trans woman" is easier for people to grasp maybe because the words "sexual" and "gender" are not part of the description. I am a woman in transition, therefore I say trans woman. =]