NOTE: I am not transgender, but in this response I am trying to fulfill my ongoing ally duty to boost the opinions and experiences of the actual community I am serving as an ally for (in this case, the trans community). The points in this response are not coming from me, they are coming from trans people who have kindly educated me and written material that I have used to educate myself. Thank you.
This was a well-written, informative piece, and thank you for writing it. I would like to offer a response. The article makes mention of the use of the terms “transsexual” and “transgender”. I would like to comment on that, based on what I have been taught by trans activists and the younger (and some older) members of the trans community (which seems to make up a majority of the trans community at large, but that could be down to who I have been able to interact with).
Today’s trans activism and community seems to be in agreement that the term “transgender” can apply (if one chooses to identify using that term) to individuals who transition from the gender they were assigned at birth to the gender or lack thereof that they are currently, while “transsexual” can apply (if one chooses to identify using that term) to an individual who transitions from the sex they were born with to the sex they currently have. These terms are not mutually exclusive. This hinges on a distinction between sex and gender. The term “transsexual” was often used historically in the medical field, and has connotations of the violent “treatment” transgender people were forced to or coerced into undergoing in order to try and “correct” their gender, which is why it is not in widespread use today, however it is still a valid term to identify as and should one do so and make such identification known to people, it would be respected, acknowledged and used when relevant by any decent, informed person, but it would not be assumed to be one’s term of identification if meeting someone for the first time.
This may be different to how these terms used to be used, but it is not an incorrect use, as a wide portion of the modern trans community agrees with these definitions, and the English language is ever-changing. This is simply the modern use and level of acceptance of these terms. Now, defining these terms as they used to be defined is not necessarily wrong either, however to use the term “transsexual” to refer to people who do not identify as such will likely be met with disapproval, due to the connotations the term has. Clarifying how one means to use the term may or may not resolve the disapproval, depending on who one is talking to or about.
To summarize: People today are not incorrectly using the term “transgender”, and are not incorrectly avoiding use of the term “transsexual”. Attitudes have simply changed. The article mentions how the term is being used, and so has taken some steps to negate disapproval from trans people who accept the modern definitions and uses of the terms, but would likely raise objections from trans people who would rather not be referred to in any capacity using the term.
This response is primarily intended for the reference of allies and other non-transgender people who may not have been aware of the reasoning behind the modern use of the terms, not to attack or scold the author or people who identify as transsexual. Thank you.
