how it works.
First of all, the word is spelled 'transsexual', and it is an adjective that describes a person who suffers from a natural, congenital birth condition known as Transsexualism. Second, we all either have a male gender identity, or a female gender identity, and this identity is permanently set in the womb by a hormonal wash of androgens on the developing fetal brain around the 12th-14th week of pregnancy. What your body looks like, how people treat you, how you choose to express yourself, how society expects you to be, are all irrelevant to your internal gender identity. A transsexual person is either a person born with a male brain and a female anatomy, or a female brain and a male anatomy. Because the brain cannot be changed (nor would we want to change it) the only way to treat Transsexualism is to correct the body as much as we can using surgery and hormonal replacement therapy so it matches the brain. This process is known as Gender Transition. Depending on the individual, their response to hormones, their access to surgery, and their willingness to do the work necessary to overcome the condition itself, Transsexualism can, for all practical purposes, be completely corrected via Transition so that it does not negatively affect a person's life. Once corrected, most people who were born suffering from Transsexualism blend back into society as their identified gender, and live relatively normal lives. The few who do not usually fall into one of three categories. 1) Activists/Advocates - These are people who have chosen to let the world know they were born Transsexual, and dedicate themselves to educating the public, petitioning for anti-discrimination laws, assisting other transpeople in Transitioning, and so on. The trade-off for performing this important public service is that these people end up adopting the identity of "transsexuals" in the eyes of the media and general public. 2) Transsexuals - some people choose to allow Transsexualism to supersede their own identity, and willingly let society label them "Transsexuals." Most of the time, these are older transwomen who are either unable to pass convincingly (unfortunate), or unwilling to do the work required to pass convincingly (pitiful.) Transmen rarely identify as "Transsexuals" because virtually all Transmen are able to pass after Testosterone Therapy. As it stands today, with available therapies, there really is no reason why anyone need be labeled a "Transsexual" unless they desire it. 3) Sex workers - these people are not suffering from Transsexualism in the true sense because they rarely seek to Transition fully. Most are gay men who've feminized their bodies with hormones, and gotten breast implants and other cosmetic surgeries in order to appear female for the purpose of performing in pornographic films, or engaging in prostitution. The majority keep their male genitals intact, and use them in the course of their chosen work, something most Transsexual women would find abhorrent. Unfortunately, this image was representative of the typical Transsexual person for many years. In the last decade, this has finally started to change, although many people still offensively refer to Transsexual women as "shemales", "trannies", "chicks with d*cks" and so on. Last, beware of anyone who tries to convince you that Transsexualism isn't a medical condition, or that there is some virtue in calling ones self "a transsexual", or worse, embracing this condition as a desirable identity. People who advocate we take pride in a correctable medical condition like Transsexualism are ludicrous, and their thinking is hypocritical, since ostensibly a person who is proud of being born like this would not seek to change themselves in any way. Transsexualism is a tragic, life-robbing condition that causes tremendous misery, pain and often death, in those who suffer from it. The gender dysphoria caused by Transsexualism can overshadow everything in a person's life, often for decades. It destroys families, marriages, costs people their friends, and often everything else they have as well. Like a tornado, it leaves a wake of destruction behind, so the sooner a person can address it, and put it behind them, the better. Fortunately, now that the public and the medical community are being educated properly, Transsexualism is being diagnosed and treated at younger ages, so passing becomes far less of an obstacle to a successful Transition.
Gender Identity Disorder SymptomsGender DysphoriaThe diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder is a controversial one, not unlike the controversy that arose in the 1970s regarding the DSM's inclusion of homosexuality as a diagnosable mental disorder. For this reason, the criteria and name of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) will likely be changed in the upcoming revision to the DSM.In order for someone to be diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder today, they must exhibit a strong and persistent cross-gender identification (not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex). In children, the disturbance is manifested by four (or more) of the following:repeatedly stated desire to be, or insistence that he or she is, the other sexin boys, preference for cross-dressing or simulating female attire; in girls, insistence on wearing only stereotypical masculine clothingstrong and persistent preferences for cross-sex roles in make-believe play or persistent fantasies of being the other sexintense desire to participate in the stereotypical games and pastimes of the other sexstrong preference for playmates of the other sexIn adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptoms such as a stated desire to be the other sex, frequent passing as the other sex, desire to live or be treated as the other sex, or the conviction that he or she has the typical feelings and reactions of the other sex.Persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex.In children, the disturbance is manifested by any of the following: in boys, assertion that his penis or testes are disgusting or will disappear or assertion that it would be better not to have a penis, or aversion toward rough- and-tumble play and rejection of male stereotypical toys, games, and activities; in girls, rejection of urinating in a sitting position, assertion that she has or will grow a penis, or assertion that she does not want to grow breasts or menstruate, or marked aversion toward normative feminine clothing.In adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptoms such as preoccupation with getting rid of primary and secondary sex characteristics (e.g., request for hormones, surgery, or other procedures to physically alter sexual characteristics to simulate the other sex) or belief that he or she was born the wrong sex.The disturbance is not concurrent with a physical intersex condition.The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.Gender Identity Disorder SymptomsGender DysphoriaThe diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder is a controversial one, not unlike the controversy that arose in the 1970s regarding the DSM's inclusion of homosexuality as a diagnosable mental disorder. For this reason, the criteria and name of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) will likely be changed in the upcoming revision to the DSM.In order for someone to be diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder today, they must exhibit a strong and persistent cross-gender identification (not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex). In children, the disturbance is manifested by four (or more) of the following:repeatedly stated desire to be, or insistence that he or she is, the other sexin boys, preference for cross-dressing or simulating female attire; in girls, insistence on wearing only stereotypical masculine clothingstrong and persistent preferences for cross-sex roles in make-believe play or persistent fantasies of being the other sexintense desire to participate in the stereotypical games and pastimes of the other sexstrong preference for playmates of the other sexIn adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptoms such as a stated desire to be the other sex, frequent passing as the other sex, desire to live or be treated as the other sex, or the conviction that he or she has the typical feelings and reactions of the other sex.Persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex.In children, the disturbance is manifested by any of the following: in boys, assertion that his penis or testes are disgusting or will disappear or assertion that it would be better not to have a penis, or aversion toward rough- and-tumble play and rejection of male stereotypical toys, games, and activities; in girls, rejection of urinating in a sitting position, assertion that she has or will grow a penis, or assertion that she does not want to grow breasts or menstruate, or marked aversion toward normative feminine clothing.In adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptoms such as preoccupation with getting rid of primary and secondary sex characteristics (e.g., request for hormones, surgery, or other procedures to physically alter sexual characteristics to simulate the other sex) or belief that he or she was born the wrong sex.The disturbance is not concurrent with a physical intersex condition.The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.Gender Dysphoria SymptomsThese are the proposed criteria for adults and teenagers for the upcoming DSM-V.A. A marked incongruence between one's experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender, of at least 6 months duration, as manifested by 2 or more of the following indicators:A marked incongruence between one's experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics (or, in young adolescents, the anticipated secondary sex characteristics) [13, 16]A strong desire to be rid of one's primary and/or secondary sex characteristics because of a marked incongruence with one's experienced/expressed gender (or, in young adolescents, a desire to prevent the development of the anticipated secondary sex characteristics) [17]A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other genderA strong desire to be of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one's assigned gender)A strong desire to be treated as the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one's assigned gender)A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and reactions of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one's assigned gender)B. The condition is associated with clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning, or with a significantly increased risk of suffering, such as distress or disability**SubtypesWith a disorder of sex development [14]Without a disorder of sex developmentSpecifierPost-transition, i.e., the individual has transitioned to full-time living in the desired gender (with or without legalization of gender change) and has undergone (or is undergoing) at least one cross-sex medical procedure or treatment regimen, namely, regular cross-sex hormone treatment or gender reassignment surgery confirming the desired gender (e.g., penectomy, vaginoplasty in a natal male, mastectomy, phalloplasty in a natal female).