One of many confusing things I have faced is learning a whole new terminology. Attend one Trans support group and you will understand what I mean. You won’t see me using many of these as we don’t use them at home but it still does not hurt to learn and understand them. I decided to give the official definition but then also how I understand it in more layman terms. You might even have some “ah-ha” moments in this section!
- Transgender
- Dictionary.com has it simply as: A person whose gender identity does not correspond to that persons sex assigned at birth.
- Lisa’s definition: When this first happened, I confused gender identity with sexual preference. It has taken me a while to really understand the huge difference. Transgender to me simply means a person who feels they were born the wrong sex.
- Transsexual
- Dictionary.com has two answers saying it is either a person who has a strong desire to assume the physical characteristics and gender role of the opposite sex and/or a person who has undergone hormone treatment and surgery to attain that gender.
- Lisa’s definition: This is a person who will or who has taken steps to become their most authentic self. It is not true that all transgender people actually transition. There are many reasons for this.
- Gender Dysphoria
- Dictionary.com calls it a psychological condition marked by significant emotional distress caused by a lack of congruence between gender identity and biological sex assigned at birth.
- Lisa’s definition: There are two layers of this for me/us. First there is the distress John felt by being a man but knowing he really was a woman and the struggle to keep his secret. The new dysphoria he is experiencing is that the more changes he makes to feel his most authentic self the further he moves from the man I married, and he knows that hurts me.
Although I did not find the answers I needed for my personal experience, I did find some great information along the way. I wanted to share those resources here and I will add more as we go:
I am Fine. 