MY column last week has raised a lot of questions- not only about gender equality but gender in general. One curious writer asked me to speak about the transgender community as it is not something that she quite understands. It’s not surprising that in a sheltered and stigmatised country like Guyana, that these topics are not often discussed.

Gender identity is the internal sense of being male, female, neither or both. A Transgender individual is one who identifies with a different gender from their assigned sex at birth. Meaning, someone who was born a boy may one day feel as though he was meant to be a girl. The opposite of transgender is cisgender, which describes persons whose gender identity or expression matches their assigned sex at birth.

These terms are umbrella terms which means so many other groups fall under the term. For example, non-binary individuals, those who choose not to be male or female also fall under the term transgender.

Transgender is dressing or practising behaviours that are not normally associated with their birth sex. This is typically known as gender expression, where their behaviours, mannerisms or social roles don’t fit the society’s view of their birth-assigned gender.
Being transgender has nothing to do with sexual orientation, which is a person’s physical, romantic, emotional, or spiritual attraction to another person. This means that if a woman decided to transition to man, she may still like men or women. They can identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual or may decline a label at all.

Many transgender individuals experience gender dysphoria, which is the feeling that one’s emotional and psychological identity is opposite to one’s biological sex. This can happen as young as toddlerhood but many say they begin to experience these feelings in early adolescence. However, keep in mind that children who do not strictly fit the typical gender roles such as a tomboy girl aren’t necessarily or will become transgender. Many children embrace certain characteristics of the other gender.

Severe cases of gender dysphoria typically lead the individual to seek out some medical treatments such as hormone replacement therapy. For trans men (women who become men), this can mean an introduction of beard growth and masculinises skin, hair, voice, and fat distribution. Hormone replacement therapy for trans women (men who become women) feminises fat distribution and breasts. Those who choose medical assistance to do sex reassignment surgery, known as transitioning, identify as transsexual. These surgical procedures for trans women feminise the voice, skin, face, waist and while adding breasts and removing Adam’s apple and genitals. For trans men, these include surgical procedures which masculinise the chest and genitals and remove the womb, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. This is known as fully transitioning.

To those of you who believe this is a new concept, the term ‘transgender’ was created in 1965 by Psychiatrist John F. Oliven and in 1984, the transgender community” had finally developed. Still, transgender individuals face so much stigma within our society.
My research shows that transgender individuals are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses and many seek out therapy. However, these actions rarely have anything to do with being transgendered. Those who have transitioned are finally comfortable in their own skin- the mental health issues typically come from the stigma, bullying, or the life they have had to live in secret for so long. Also, some statistics show that the transgender community are 28 percent more likely to be victims of violence than the regular community. They are also more likely to be unemployed and living in poverty.

Transgender Pride flag
A common symbol for the transgender community is the Transgender Pride Flag, which was designed by an American transgender woman Monica Helms in 1999. The flag consists of five horizontal stripes: light blue, pink, white, pink, and light blue. Helms describes the meaning of the flag as follows:

“The light blue is the traditional colour for baby boys, pink is for girls, and the white in the middle is for “those who are transitioning, those who feel they have a neutral gender or no gender”, and those who are intersex. The pattern is such that “no matter which way you fly it, it will always be correct. This symbolises us trying to find correctness in our own lives”.
The life of a transgender person can be vastly challenging but it can also be happy, triumphant, and transformative—not just for the individual, but for those who love and accept them.

Thanking you for reading. Please keep sending any topics you’d like to talk about to caitlinvieira@gmail.com

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