Behind the Mask: Understanding Transgender People

“In reality, transition... is a process of a mask coming off, whether to reveal a true identity (transsexuals) or a hidden part of their identity (crossdressers).”

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It’s often thought that a transgender person puts on a mask to become someone else. In reality, transition or transformation is a process of a mask coming off, whether to reveal a true identity (transsexuals) or a hidden part of their identity (crossdressers).

Gender Dysphoria (GD)

Medically, this is referred to as Gender Dysphoria, or Gender Identity Disorder. GD occurs when one’s psychological gender does not exactly match their physical sex.

In extreme cases, as with transsexuals, the two are completely opposite. And it has been shown that attempting to force the mind to match the body often leads a TS to become cyclically self-destructive, severely depressed, and often unable to function emotionally. For this reason -- and because of the high incidence of suicide among pre-transition transsexuals -- the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual -IV guide for the medical community advocates changing the body and living circumstances to reflect one’s internal gender.

In less extreme cases, as with some “drag” performers and many crossdressers, a person needs to express a feminine (or masculine, in the case ot those going from female to male) aspect of their persona -- which may at times seem to be another persona entirely, because of how completely a person is forced to keep that out of their day-to-day life.

Corroboration From Nature

There are precedents in nature and scientific study that strongly suggest that physical sex and psychological gender are independent aspects, and that in rare cases they can be misaligned. Studies of diverse animal populations (frogs, chickens, sheep, lab rats, among others) have uncovered gender misalignments, and studies of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) such as DES (which was once administered to pregnant women) are increasingly seen as a likely trigger of this disparity. Studies are not yet conclusive, but have fostered a strong belief that gender variance is innate, and not chosen (which jives with most transgender peoples’ assertions that they did not wake up one day and decide to be different).

Common Misconceptions

“Transgender” is not the same as “homosexual.” One is about who we are, the other about who we love. But because gender variance means that one’s gender is perceived relatively (seen differently depending on who the observer is), because being gay can sometimes (but not always) include some perceived outward gender variance, because many of the associations that underlie homophobia and transphobia are similar, and because all of the GLBT umbrella is often seen to be non-heteronormative, the communities are allies.

Transgender is commonly perceived to be about sex. But in extreme GD, sexual function is often impeded by a transgender person’s own revulsion of their original genitalia, and hormone therapy would also undermine any sexual motivations. Where GD is less intense (crossdressers), a sexual element may be present, but is usually subordinate to the need to express something innate and integral of themselves.

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