WHAT IS A TRANSGENDER PERSON?

TRIGGER WARNING: this page has mentions of suicide and transphobia, proceed with caution!

A transgender person is, in the simplest terms, someone who does not fully identify with their birth gender. Often the term transgender is used for people who identify with the opposite gender, i.e. male to female or female to male transgender people, however transgender people can also identify as a whole host of other genders that fall outside of the gender binary. Some transgender people do not identify with any gender, or may identify with multiple labels. While a transgender person understands that they will always be their biological sex, they may undergo hormone therapy or surgery to better fit with the gender they identify with. Others may not undergo medical changes, and both are equally valid.

Gender dysphoria is the medically recognized term for people who experience a mismatch between their gender identity and their birth gender. Gender dysphoria has been studied for a long time, first appearing in the DSM-III in 1980 under the term "gender identity disorder". The most effective treatment for gender dysphoria is transition, whether it be social or medical. Transition and social acceptance has repeatedly been shown to significantly lower transgender suicidal ideation rates.

Transgender people are not the same as intersex people, though intersex people may also identify as transgender! Intersex people are people that are born with biological features that do not fit conventional male or female standards. This includes having different sex chromosomes, gonads, genitals, and hormones than what is considered the "standard". While I am not in a position of authority to speak on intersex people, here's an article that provides some more info!

Some quick facts:

Transition is the safest and most effective treatment for gender dysphoria!

80% of transgender individuals reported significant improvement in gender dysphoria
78% reported significant improvement in psychological symptoms
80% reported significant improvement in quality of life
72% reported significant improvement in sexual function

[source: "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19473181/"]

"Based on the follow-up interview, more than 90% were stable or improved as regards work situation, partner relations, and sex life"

"86% were assessed by clinicians at follow-up as stable or improved in global functioning."

[source: "https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-009-9551-1"]

The transgender suicide rate does not increase post transition! Suicidal ideation rates drop from 67% pre-transition to 3% post transition.

"Being able to transition made my life worth living and gave me hope for the future. On balance I feel stronger in myself since transition. I also feel like I’ve let go of a big secret I was carrying around which takes some of the pressure off and makes me feel like I’m living life more genuinely"

[source: "https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-49363-001"]

The actual transgender suicide rate also does not exist, in spite of the false "40%" statistic that many people are fed.

Children are not being medically transitioned! Young adolescents are not able to access hormone therapy beyond puberty blockers, which have existed for a long time, been thoroughly studied, are reversible, and have no adverse effects. Allowing children to socially transition has also correlated to positive impacts on their mental health. Socially transitioned children show levels of depression and self-worth that does not differ from cisgender children.

"These findings are in striking contrast to previous work with gender-nonconforming children who had not socially transitioned, which found very high rates of depression and anxiety."

[sources: "https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567%2816%2931941-4/fulltext", "https://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf", "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453020301402?via%3Dihub", "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453015000943"]

Transphobia is real, and lowering rates of transphobia significantly improves the mental health of transgender people.

[sources: "https://www.totaljobs.com/advice/wp-content/uploads/Transgender-employee-experiences-survey-report-2016_Totaljobs.pdf", "https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2.pdf", "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5996383/"]

Being transgender is not anti-science. Gender dysphoria has been excessively studied, and simply looking at actual scientific papers can prove that to you.

Here are some organizations and institutions that support the existence of transgender people:

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

American Academy of Dermatology

American Academy of Family Physicians

American Academy of Nursing

American Academy of Pediatrics

American Academy of Physician Assistants

American College Health Association

American College of Nurse-Midwives

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians

American College of Physicians

American Counseling Association

American Heart Association

American Medical Association

American Medical Student Association

American Nurses Association

American Osteopathic Association

American Pediatrics Association

American Psychiatric Association

American Psychoanalytic Association

American Psychological Association

American Public Health Association

American Society of Plastic Surgeons

Canadian Institute of Health Research

Endocrine Society

GLMA

Humans Rights Campaign

National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health

National Association of Social Workers

National Commission on Correctional Healthcare

National Institutes of Health

Pediatric Endocrine Society

Royal College of Psychiatrists

Scientific American

Society for Adolescent Help and Medicine

Stanford Medical

United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS)

United Nations

World Health Organization (WHO)

World Medical Association

World Professional Association for Transgender Health

Sources used:

https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/95/1/109/2835177

https://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2.pdf

https://europepmc.org/article/med/24719967

https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/eu-lgbt-survey-results-at-a-glance_en.pdf

https://ijpeonline.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1155/2010/398639.pdf

https://jme.bmj.com/content/34/8/580

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-009-9551-1

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-014-0453-5

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jsm.13034

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/137/3/e20153223

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-49363-001

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1517382/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19473181/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25201798/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29551430/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9031580/

https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/842073

https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567%2816%2931941-4/fulltext

https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(18)30085-5/fulltext#intraref0010a/fulltext#intraref0010a

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/trgh.2015.0008

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5178031/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5996383/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6223813/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7073269/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0303720708001766

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453015000943

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X1630146X

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X20300276

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1743609515336171

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453020301402?via%3Dihub

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26895269.2020.1747768

https://www.totaljobs.com/advice/wp-content/uploads/Transgender-employee-experiences-survey-report-2016_Totaljobs.pdf