Please don't kill me here but.....

[really-looney]

Look, I think of myself as a good Democrat and a Progressive, I went to Florida for the week before the election to work for the Kerry campain. I was willing to do anytinng, at one point I was asked to make calls to the GLB&T community. Now as a middle aged Irish Catholic from Boston, I had no problems making the calls but what is transgendered?

[Skittles]

1. I believe it is those folk who have had the operation to change gender

from man to woman, or woman to man

[ogradda]

2. i don't know either

so you're not alone here.

[NMDemDist2]

3. definition

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=transgender

trans·gen·dered (trns-jndrd, trnz-) also trans·gen·der (-dr)
adj.

1. Appearing as, wishing to be considered as, or having undergone surgery to become a member the opposite sex.
2. Of or relating to a transgendered person or transgendered people.

[Philostopher]

4. I think 'transgendered' means ...

anybody who's experiencing something psychologists call 'gender dysphoria,' whether they've actually started the process for a sex change operation or not.

In other words, men who genuinely believe they should have been born female, and vice-versa.

The reason it's not just called 'transsexual' is because not all of them choose to have gender-reassignment surgery, or can't afford it, or otherwise choose not to have surgical and hormonal treatment to change thier physical gender. They believe their personal gender is the other one, regardless.

[BattyDem]

5. I believe Transgendered is when ...

a person lives life as the opposite sex (like Brandon Teena). Transsexual is a person who has had the surgery.

[elshiva]

6. Transgender

I assume you know what a transexual is? A person transitions from female to male through surgery. For example a man will exchange the male genitals for female and get breasts.
A transgendered is a person who does not agree with their biological sex but gets no sex change operation. He wears a skirt snd high heels and she a business suit, but the identity transcends clothing. Please call a transgender person by the pronoun s/he prefers.

Heartening to know that Kerry campaigned reached out to trangenders.

[really-looney]

7. Thank You

I now have a better understanding as to the group we were calling in to. I will say this, the response was great, many had voted early and voted Kerry.

on edit, Its ok to vote early in Florida and the list did not break out by orientation so the GLB&T was a great democratic list

[Undercover Owl]

9. transition

trans-gender
their gender is in transit

[eridani]

8. When Dems are good, they are very, very good.

When you come down to it, it's the gut level sense of what's fair, and what's just not fair dammit! that defines us. Someone who doesn't know jack about a particular subculture automatically assumes that whoever they are, they are regular human beings who deserve equal treatment, and just wants some plain information. And he gets it without any snarky putdowns. Thanks all! This is really encouraging.

[Old Mouse]

11. Yeah! n/t

[readmoreoften]

10. Definition of Transgendered from a TG person's partner

My partner is TG, so let me explain more clearly for you. (Like Big Gay Al would say: thanks for asking!)

Don't look in the dictionary for a definition of transgendered, you're not going to get a very good answer.

The word transgendered has fluctuated in the GLBT community over decades. Currently, the word transgendered means a whole set of people which includes...

TRANSSEXUALS: a transsexual is someone who reassigns their physical sex through surgery. A transsexual may be male-to-female or female-to-male. They may date be straight, gay, they may date other transpeople, or they may be pansexual. Bisexual isn't really an option, because by definition, transsexuality goes off the binary grid.

transwoman: a male to female (MTF) transsexual who has had complete SRS (sex reassignment surgery) and hormone therapy. A transwoman is not the same as a drag queen. Transwomen vary in their 'glamorousness'. Some may be glamorous, others may be middle-aged hippy librarians.

trannygirls: young transwomen

transman: a female born person who transitions to a male identity (FTM). Transmen have chest reconstruction done, but many do not have 'bottom surgery' as it is INCREDIBLY expensive and not very useful (not exactly a medical research priority). The medical procedures for FTM bottom surgery are still somewhat dangerous. (This becomes a political issue, when laws require that FTMs to have bottom surgery to become 'legal male')

trannyboy: because biological females tend to easily look like boys, many FTMs do not go the full route with testosterone and keep permanent identities as grown boys (not boys as in 6 year olds, boys as in 20ish)

TRANSGENDERED: since biological sex (male, female) is separated from gender expression (masculine, feminine) there are many people who are TRANSGENDERED (in the strict sense of the term) who are not transsexuals. A 'TG BUTCH' or a transgendered butch lesbian is an example of a transgendered person who is not transsexual. (My partner falls into this category, if he can be placed into a category) Whether a TG Butch has surgeries or not, his/her (they may ID as he or she) goal is not to 'pass' (move seamlessly through society as the 'opposite sex') but to be recognized as 'who s/he feels s/he is: a female-bodied person who is so masculine that he is not easily readable as biologically female. Many TG butches stay female identified because they do not want to be read as 'straight men', but feel firmly rooted in the lesbian community.

Other examples of 'transgendered' people who are not transsexual: drag queens (may or may not be transsexual), drag kings, butches, feminine gay men, and persons who consider themselves to be 'third genders' or genderless. (this list is BY NO MEANS exhaustive)

SOME LEGAL ISSUES THAT TRANS PEOPLE HAVE:
1) they are routinely police-escorted out of public bathrooms (this is worse for transgendered people who aren't 'stealth')
2) mis-categorized in homeless shelters, jails, and prisons.
3) being visibly queer, transgendered people (again the non-stealth transpersons) are routinely accosted on the street and in school. Trans persons have a much higher murder rate than the regular population.
4) transpersons have no job protection and are often fired for their gender expression or not hired at all.
5) transfolk often have a difficult time marrying
6) transfolk have a TERRIBLE time with all the IDs that are so important in this police state. Their drivers licenses may be pre-hormones or the law might force them to ID as female when they have a full beard and pecs. A routine traffic ticket can be a nightmare.
7) Decent medical treatment is incredibly difficult outside NY and San Francisco. (see the HBO documentary "Southern Comfort" for more info.) Many transfolk fear paramedics laughing at their genitalia as they die on the stretcher (has happened already.)

Ready to tackle the issues of the intersexed?

[really-looney]

12. Thank You

I finally think I have an understanding. This is the kind of information I was looking for

[salin]

13. For your work on the election a huge

:thumbsup:!