Transgender flag, by Monica Helms:
The baby blue stripes were chosen because it is the traditional colour for boys, while the pink is for girls. The white stripe symbolises those who are intersex, transitioning, or see their gender as neutral or undefined.
This flag was deliberately made to be symmetrical, so no matter which way you fly it, it's always correct. This, according to the author, is a metaphor for trans people finding correctness in their lives.
Someone who doesn't identify solely, completely, and always as the gender they were assigned at birth.
Trans- is a Latin root which translates to "across".
What does "gender assigned at birth" mean?
When a baby is born, the doctors declare "it's a boy" or "it's a girl" based on their genitals. This means assigning a gender identity that others will classify them as, based on their sex.
If they have a vagina and ovaries, they're assigned/designated female at birth (AFAB/DFAB), while if they have a penis and tesicles, they're assigned/designated male at birth (AMAB/DMAB).
Very rarely, and only in certain cultures, if a child's genitals are ambiguous they may instead be assigned indeterminate/intersex at birth (AIAB/AXAB) (More on intersex in a different post).
Sex: the combination of physical elements (genitals, reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones etc.) that classify someone as female, male, or intersex.
Gender: the social, psychological, cultural, and behavioural categories of woman/girl, man/boy, or non-binary person, which carry their own behavioural expectations (gender roles).
Cisgender: the opposite of transgender; someone who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth. Shortened to "cis".
Trans woman/girl: someone who identifies as a woman despite not having been assigned female at birth. Women who have been assigned male at birth may refer to themselves as MTF (male-to-female).
Cis woman/girl: someone who identifies as a woman and has been assigned female at birth.
Trans man/boy: someone who identifies as a man despite not having been assigned male at birth. Men who have been assigned female at birth may refer to themselves as FTM (female-to-male).
Cis man/boy: someone who identifies as a man and has been assigned male at birth.
Note: there should always be a space between the adjective "trans" and the noun it accompanies; it is not written as "transwoman/transman". Trans is just a descriptive word, and when someone's trans status is not relevant, you should just refer to them as a woman/a man.
Non-binary: anyone whose gender identity doesn't fit within the binary of man–woman. It fits under the transgender umbrella because non-binary people don't identify fully, constantly, or solely as the gender they were assigned at birth, although some non-binary people may not find the term transgender useful to them. (I'll get into more detail on non-binary in the next post.)
Transition: the act of changing one's appearance, name, and/or pronouns to express one's trans gender identity.
There are 2 types of transition:
Social transition: the act of going by a different name, different pronouns, and/or a different gender presentation.
Medical transition: going on puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and/or having gender affirming surgeries/sex reassignment surgeries (GAS/SRS).
Gender dysphoria: a feeling of distress around the gendered parts of one's body and/or the gender one is socialized as, that can lead to mental issues like depression if left untreated.
Attempts to treat it with conversion therapy have been unsuccessful and are extremely harmful; the cure for dysphoria is transition.
Body dysphoria: distress over one's primary (genitals) and secondary (voice, hairs, height etc.) sex characteristics not matching one's gender identity. This type of dysphoria is best treated with medical transition.
Social dysphoria: distress over being gendered incorrectly (this act is called misgendering), being called the wrong name (deadnaming), and just generally being seen as a gender one doesn't identify as. This type of dysphoria is best treated with other people respecting the individual's pronouns and calling them their chosen name, even if it's hard to get used to.
Mental dysphoria: distress over one's internal reactions not matching the reactions of the gender one identifies as.
Not all trans people have all 3 types; in fact, some trans people may not even have any type of significant dysphoria.
Gender expression: the way someone dresses to express their gender.
Crossdresser/Transvestite: someone whose gender expression doesn't match the expectations for their gender identity. For example, someone who identifies as a man but likes to dress femininely (regardless of whether he's a trans man or a cis man). Transvestite is an outdated term used to medicalize such people, so it is best to just refer them as crossdressers, unless they have reclaimed the term.
Tranny: an offensive term used to degrade trans people. Has been reclaimed by some trans people, but absolutely do not use it on a trans person unless they specifically ask you to.
Transfeminine | Transmasculine
Transneutral | Transandrogynous (colour-adjusted cause the original's dark grey stripe was a slightly different shade)*
These terms indicate the "direction" of one's transition:
Transfeminine (shortened to transfem): transitioning towards a more feminine gender.
Transmasculine (shortened to transmasc): transitioning towards a more masculine gender.
Trans women are transfeminine, and trans men are transmasculine, but these words' meanings are not limited to these two: non-binary people can also be transmasc or transfem. Others however prefer different terms to describe their transition:
Transneutral (shortened to transneu): transitioning towards a more neutral gender.
Transandrogynous (shortened to transangi): transitioning towards a more androgynous gender.
Difference between gender-neutral and androgynous:
Although often used interchangeably, technically gender-neutral refers to something that is neither masculine nor feminine, while androgynous means it is both masculine and feminine (andro is a greek root for "male/man/masculine", and gyno for "female/woman/feminine").
This is reflected in the flag colour choices, since purple is a combination of pink and blue, while yellow is completely separate from them.
Things you should know about trans people:
Trans people aren't mentally ill. Yes, gender dysphoria is still listed in the DSM-V, but it is no longer considered a disorder; the diagnosis still exists to make it easier to access the medical means for transition.
"Rapid-onset gender dysphoria" is just a myth; no amount of outside influence can turn someone trans.
The amount of people who regret transitioning has been shown by multiple researches to be extremely low; for example, an US survey of 27,715 trans people found that of the 8% of people who revert their social and medical transition (detransitioners)—and of which 62% end up retransitioning—only 5% did so because they realized transition wasn't right for them. That's 0.04% of all people who were surveyed. The rest detransitioned due to financial, medical, and discrimination issues, and especially due to pressure from loved ones. It is especially uncommon to detransition after a gender-affirming surgery.
Being trans is not a sexual perversion. Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to all the discrimination trans people face every day—even risk being arrested or killed in some places—just to live out a sexual fantasy?
"Trans" vs "Transgender" vs "Transsexual":
"Trans" can be short for either "transgender" or "transsexual".
Transsexual is an older, mostly outdated term for trans people: it refers to those who transition medically and surgically. It's disrespectful to refer to a trans person as transsexual if they don't specifically tell you the term they identify with. This is because it's been used to medicalize trans people, and additionally not all trans people want or are able to undergo sex reassignment surgery.
Transgender by comparison is a more neutral term, and refers to any trans person regardless of whether they intend to undergo medical transition or not. (When in doubt, just use trans!)
Hormone Replacement Therapy consists of injections/gel/pills/patches of Testosterone (T)—the dominant male hormone—for transmascs, and Estrogen (E)—the dominant female hormone—along with anti-androgens, for transfems. These enact a "second puberty" of sorts e.g. a voice drop and facial hair growth for people who go on T, and breast growth for people who go on E.
If a trans kid hasn't started their puberty yet, and wants to delay it to decide if they want to undergo a different kind of puberty instead when they turn 16, they may be prescribed puberty blockers instead. These are reversible, meaning that if you stop taking them, you'll undergo a typical puberty for your sex.
HRT and puberty blockers aren't any more dangerous than any other medication: they've been used on cis people for longer than they've been used on trans people, for example puberty blockers for kids who have their puberty too early, or T for women who bodybuild.
*here's the original transandrogynous flag, if anyone wants it:
Whew; sorry for the wordiness of this one! I hope all trans people are living their best life! See you in the next post 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
