Gender Identity Disorder

[Bright_Star]

I don't think there is a topic about this yet.

 

You probably all know what a gender identity disorder is. To quote wikipedia: ...is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria (discontent with their biological sex and/or the gender they were assigned at birth).

 

I know two people with gender identity disorders. Last year, I joined the school's theatre club for the sixth time and there was a girl participating who once told us all during a rehearsal that she wanted to be a boy. It was totally accepted by everyone, and since then, everyone considers her a boy.

The second is my former best friend. There is this girl who I used to be best friends with for more than six or seven years. We lost contact a few years ago. Recently I was added on Facebook by someone called "Eric". The surname was familiar to me, so I accepted the request. Not much later I found out it was her (now him). You can imagine that, even though I have nothing against it, I felt quite shocked. She had always been quite masculine, but this was something I hadn't expected at all.

 

What is your opinion on gender identity disorder? Do you know people who have it? Like I said, I have nothing against it, in fact, I admire people who openly tell everyone that they feel they want to do this. It's a process that takes years and includes many conversations with a psychologist before one can actually undergo surgery.

[Maestro]

When I lived in a boarding school there were two boys named Koen en Emiel who had this. We all considered it quite normal, after a while we called them by their girl names and they chose(Kirsten en Eske). For all intents and purposes we considered them as girls. Although I lost contact with them, the fact that they had this never was a problem for me or the people I lived with. Only of course when people were angry at them...but I guess that's human nature.

[Karen]

This is the same thing as being transgender, right? I did a research paper on this my frosh year of college I wrote about the support systems for gay, tranvestite, and transgender peoples! It was really sad actually - those groups have a higher rate of suicide and depression because they aren't getting the right support system.

 

I have a friennd named Zack, who used to be Michelle - she slowly changed over the years, first changing her sex on facebook then putting Zack as her middle name, then fully changing her name...etc. He's great! we speak spanish together when she was still a woman (which I guess she TECHNICALLY is because she hasn't had any operations yet to my knowledge) she was a lesbian. So now I guess that because she's a guy she's straight? Not sure. The only thing that throws me off is the pronouns - i never know whether to call her "her" or "him" or "she", "he" etc. Because *I* remember her as michelle/mitch so it's weird to think of her as a guy now. I accept it and the choice that she's made, OF COURSE. I think that's such a brave thing to do!

[Carlyn]

I had a male friend in highschool who now identifies himself as female. During high school, most people thought he was gay because he was very effeminate. When he graduated from high school, he distanced himself from his friends and then came back as woman. At first it was very shocking meeting her again but I quickly accepted his well I should say her new identity. I think my friend finally feels comfortable with herself as it must have been such a burden in high school to pretend to be someone she was not.

[Mrs Duck]

Wow this topics shows this is more common than I thought!

 

When I started high school one of the guys (to me he was always male) in my class was George. I never even thought he looked feminine and it took a year before I found out he was actually born a girl. He started taking hormones when I became "friends" with him and he quickly erased any feminine look about himself.

Even today he still biologically a girl but in his passport and in everything else he's a man. He's gone through some rough patches though and leaned towards becoming a woman again (which I find difficult to think he'll ever be) but most of the time he's a man. In most senses of the word. He sure looks like one.

Edited September 18, 2011 by Mrs Duck

[flying kiwi]

I went to school with a boy who wanted to be a girl, I knew him before he sort of came out (if you can use that term in this case) but not very well, I then got to know him better when he was open about what he was and was there through the transition period of Daniel to Tanya.

[Lady Deadpool]

A thing i hate when it comes to transgenders is when people say "they go too far. We understand he likes men so he can be gay, why does he have to change into a woman" and vice versa. I mean that's not even the point. It's not about who they like, it's about who they are, what gender they identify themselves with. It must be horrible for a person to feel like a woman and be trapped into a man's body and the opposite and when finally finds the courage to change that, many people point at them or they don't even support them.

 

those groups have a higher rate of suicide and depression because they aren't getting the right support system.

I don't know the scientific or phsycological reasons that cause gender identity disorder, and i don't know any transgender in real life, but i totally understand that statement above^ And it's sad.

[Bright_Star]

A thing i hate when it comes to transgenders is when people say "they go too far. We understand he likes men so he can be gay, why does he have to change into a woman" and vice versa. I mean that's not even the point. It's not about who they like, it's about who they are, what gender they identify themselves with. It must be horrible for a person to feel like a woman and be trapped into a man's body and the opposite and when finally finds the courage to change that, many people point at them or they don't even support them.

 

 

I don't know the scientific or phsycological reasons that cause gender identity disorder, and i don't know any transgender in real life, but i totally understand that statement above^ And it's sad.

I agree with you, that's not the point at all! And indeed, it must be horrible...I find it very brave of these people to be able to tell who they really want to be.

[i love emma]

havent scientists linked this to genetics, such as people stuck in the wrong body?

 

i find this so interesting but quite confusing still

[Data Vampire]

niggawut? Gender Identity Disorder? You know you live in a hetero-normative society when transgenders are considered mentally ill.

[Revan]

..

 

I thought about making this topic. I wasn't sure. I'm so glad someOne did. <3

 

I guess You could say I have "GID". I don't like the name because - frankly - it's not a disorder. Biologically, I am male; internally, I have ALWAYS felt immensely, immensely female. I simply do what is natural to Me, and Our society labels that "female". So, I am a girl in a boy's body. For now.

 

GID is like non-physical medical condition: sometimes it's genetic, sometimes it happens for no apparent reason, sometimes it's externally caused. In My particular case, I have no idea. I've never looked at My genome, though I do genuinely desire to.

 

Being gay or lesbian is NOT the same thing as being transgender. Someone who's homosexual likes the same sex, whereas a transgender person simply feels like and identifies as the opposite sex, which is completely and utterly independent of orientation. Just like anybody else, transgender people have their own unique orientation.

 

It's ... a scary experience, to say the least. It's one thing to question a quality about the Self, it's entirely another matter to question THE SELF ITSELF which is exactly what GID is.

 

I'm not quite open about mine yet. My close friends know, I'm preparing to tell My family.. which is why I'm alright with posting this on the internet, of course.

 

I'm no expert, and I cannot offer professional advice, but I can answer from a personal perspective any questions anyOne may have. And really, ask anything - I'll answer it all.

 

~Revan

Edited March 5, 2012 by Revan

[Revan]

Oh, I also don't identify as transgender .. at all. The word transgender assumes the person has ever been anything but what They truly are. I'm a girl, always have been, always will be.

 

~Revan

[Midnight Toker]

I guess I should try my best to educate people on this. First of all, we do not like the term Gender Identity Disorder. We find it to be hurtful and incorrect.

 

Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people who do not feel like they are in the right body. I fall under the term transsexual, meaning that I want to change my outside to match my inside which is male. Gender is not as binary as people think. It's all about gender continuum. We all move in the spectrum of male and female each and every day. I can go more into that if anyone wants more info on it. I actually recently got credited to teach gender so I'm kinda excited about it.

 

Most transmen do not get a "sex change" because it's not beneficial. I'm not going to go into details on how that works because it gets kinda graphic.

 

Revan brings up a good point too about our genes. There was actually a test done (which I can find the results for that if anyone is interested) that brings up how transgenderism is linked to our genes. Also, there are a lot of people who might be intersex and not even know it. I had a friend who was cysgender (meaning that you are okay with the gender you were assigned at birth) and she has a Y chromosome. She had no clue she was intersex until she had a test done. So there you go.

 

It's sad though that biology loves variety but society doesn't. We do things in such a black and white manner.

 

Revan, you sound awesome. Just be yourself.

[ling]

I admit even though I am in the LGBTQ spectrum, I didn't know much about trans* people until I became friends with a guy who was/is trans (he makes videos on YouTube as drunkenlullaby52, which are super interesting if anyone wants to learn more about transitioning and what's required to transition, etc). But yeah, I have total respect for trans* people and the pressures they face. Even LGB people can be very exclusive of trans and queer/questioning people because most LGB people are still cisgender and Ts and Qs are about gender perception rather than sexuality. So the trans* community is very small and doesn't have a lot of support, so it's extra hard for people who fall in that category.

[Revan]

Oh, I suppose I'll post here again now that the topic is on a roll, again.

 

A bit's happened since I posted my bit up there. I finally came out to my family; did not go well.

 

@Wunderbar and ling: Where do you identify in the spectrum?

 

~Revan

[ling]

Oh I am entirely cisgender. I mean, I don't believe in binary gender, but I fit comfortably into the role that generally comes with my assigned biological sex.

[Revan]

Oh I am entirely cisgender. I mean, I don't believe in binary gender, but I fit comfortably into the role that generally comes with my assigned biological sex.

 

Ah, alrighty. (: Just curious. Thanks! <3

 

~Rev

[Nike]

I don't like the phrasing "gender identity disorder". It sounds like there is something wrong; like it wasn't meant to be...

 

I guess people who have it do want to switch... but I still don't like the phrasing.

[ling]

Yeah, no way it should be a disorder... although giving it a clinical name DOES make it a bit more accessible to people who don't understand (i.e. it's harder to say "they're making it up" if there's an actual *diagnosis* attached), BUT it also implies that, like many disorders, there could be a "cure" for it... and most people see the cure as making the person stick to their biologically assigned gender, rather than the actual "cure" of gender reassignment.

 

Homosexuality was classified as a mental illness until recently in most developed countries (and still is classified as such by some), so I think trans* people still have a long way to go, unfortunately.

[Revan]

Yeah, no way it should be a disorder... although giving it a clinical name DOES make it a bit more accessible to people who don't understand (i.e. it's harder to say "they're making it up" if there's an actual *diagnosis* attached), BUT it also implies that, like many disorders, there could be a "cure" for it... and most people see the cure as making the person stick to their biologically assigned gender, rather than the actual "cure" of gender reassignment.

 

Homosexuality was classified as a mental illness until recently in most developed countries (and still is classified as such by some), so I think trans* people still have a long way to go, unfortunately.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself, ling.

 

~R

[Zainab]

Lol, um my previous history teacher sometimes behaves like a boy.

[Midnight Toker]

Revan: I usually tell people I am just some dude. I don't go into details. Online I like to hide but since so many people on this board knew the old me, I came out here. I identify as a male though. I am a pansexual man. /shrug

 

Ling: There is a double-edged sword with taking it away as a disorder. The reason being that Obamacare covers the surgeries in certain states here. If it were to be taken away as a disorder, then perhaps it won't get covered. I think this is stupid but this is what America is. I'm not sure how it works in Canada and in Europe. Perhaps someone who is trans over there can tell you more about the process.

 

Listen, I am open to educating people. Especially on this forum because I feel a lot of you are mature and open minded. So if you have questions, just ask me. I'll try my best to answer them.

[ling]

Yeah, in Canada they took away funding completely in a lot of provinces even though it's still classified as a disorder. But it's a definite double-edged sword. Like I said, in a perfect world everyone could be whichever gender they are in their head and nobody would care. But as it is, it's still hard for A LOT of people to understand, which is why it needs a label, and why the label needs to be so harsh.

[Midnight Toker]

Yeah. Unfortunately, that's the way it is. It's like when homosexuality was listed as a disorder. It makes no sense whatsoever. They said they were going to declassify it as a disorder but they haven't. Speaking of which, the woman who got kicked from the Miss Universe pageant is holding a petition for this very thing. It would change it in the World Health Organization's eyes. Here is the petition link with has her video message. Please take the time to sign it. Thanks guys!

 

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/world-health-organization-trans-people-aren-t-sick?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12630&alert_id=waSeRKCozm_RFSzQQWhBU

[Danielle]

Many of you may not know or remember me as I haven't posted here in well over a year. One of the big reasons for that has been because my gender issues have increasingly taken over my life. Like others have said, I hate the term 'disorder', and in the medical world it is becoming more and more recognised as a medical condition, rather than a mental condition.

 

I am a Trans Woman. Growing up in a male body, I have always known that I should have been born a girl right from my earliest memories but I have spent much of my life repressing these feelings. I now accept who I am and I was diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria by my doctor last month. I fully intend to undergo Gender Reassignment and I have since come out to my family and friends who have been so supportive. It's been a difficult period for me and the next few years will be hard but for the first time in my life I see light at the end of the tunnel and I am finally on the pathway to being the person I always was inside.

 

I've written my story, about what it was like for me growing up and my coming out experience in my blog. For anyone interested, the link is in my signature.