Transcript www.ee.cityu.edu.hk

Discrimination and
transgender
Dr Robin S Bradbeer
Department of Electronic Engineering
City University of Hong Kong
What this lecture IS NOT about
Sexual deviance
What this lecture IS about
Dispelling misunderstanding, ignorance and
prejudice
Outline
Definitions
Sex
Gender
Transgenderism
Transvestites
Drag queens
Transsexuals
Aetiology
Transsexualism
Discrimination
References
Definitions
Before embarking on a detailed discussion of
transgenderism, it is important to define some
terms;
Sex and Gender are two important and
different concepts that are frequently confused.
Sex
Sex refers to someone's anatomical sex --- in
other words, which type of genitals they
possess. Except in very rare cases of
hermaphroditism, anatomical sex is welldefined and easy to interpret.
Gender
Gender refers to the person's own self-identity as a
male, female or something else. The
overwhelming majority of the population have a
gender that accords with their anatomical sex.
Gender is less clearly defined than anatomical sex,
and does not necessarily represent a simple binary
choice: some people have a gender identity that is
neither clearly female nor clearly male. (Gender is
a spectrum)
Gender identity and gender role
Gender consists of two related aspects:
Gender Identity, which is the person's internal
perception and experience of their gender, and
Gender Role, which is the way that the person
lives in society and interacts with others, based on
their gender identity.
Transgenderism
A 'transgendered' person is someone whose gender
identity differs from conventional expectations of
masculinity or femininity. Their gender identity
differs from their physical sex as assigned at birth.
Transgendered people are born this way and have
no choice in who they are. They are generally
referred to as ‘gender dysphoric’.
Who are Transgendered People?
Trangendered persons can be female-to-male
(transsexual or transgendered men) as well as
male-to-female (transsexual or transgendered
women).
Are Transgendered People Gay?
Most transgendered persons identify themselves
as heterosexual. Their intrinsic difference is their
gender identity, not their sexual orientation: these
are two different things altogether. However,
transgendered people are perceived by most
people as homosexuals, and thus are
discriminated against in similar ways.
Transvestites
Apart from their occasional crossdressing, they
lead lives that are quite ordinary in all other
respects. Most crossdressers are married and many
have children, so they have much to lose from their
transgendered state being revealed. They also wish
to remain in the sex they were born, unlike
transsexuals.
Transvestites
Transvestites are relatively common: some
estimates would have several percent of
the male population showing some degree
of transvestite behaviour
Homosexuality and Bisexuality.
This has little or no connection at all with
transgenderism --- gay men and lesbians are
generally totally happy with their anatomical sex,
and their gender identity is in accordance with it.
They are merely attracted to persons of their own
anatomical sex, or to both sexes in the case of
bisexuals. However, some gay men and lesbians
may exhibit gender dysphoria.
What about the Transsexuals?
Transsexual persons differ from the majority of
transvestites in that they come to feel they can
no longer continue to live their lives in the
gender associated with the sex they were
assigned at birth.
Why do they feel that way?
The overall psychological term is called gender
dysphoria, an intense feeling of pain, anguish, and
anxiety from the mis-assignment of a transgendered
person's sex at birth. All transgendered people suffer
from it, but the feeling becomes more acute for
transsexuals, usually in the middle of their lives.
These feelings lead many transgendered people into
depression, anxiety, chemical dependencies,
divorces and other family problems, even
suicide.
Gender dysphoria
It is now accepted by all reputable
professionals in the field that gender
dysphoria stems from a physiological cause,
and is in no way a mental illness, perversion
or 'lifestyle choice'. The consensus of opinion
is that gender identity is determined before
birth and is unchangeable thereafter.
Aetiology
All human foetuses start off in a female
configuration, and in the absence of
biochemical instructions to the contrary, will
develop into baby girls --- irrespective of their
chromosomal sex . This 'female by default'
development is overridden in normal male
foetuses by a complex sequence of hormonal
processes.
Aetiology
Some weeks later, the primitive testes start
working, and secrete a large dose of
testosterone (the principal male hormone),
which causes the foetal brain to differentiate
into the male pattern.
Aetiology
At this point the brain structure responsible
for gender identity, as well as all the other
well-known (and measurable) brain
differences between men and women, is
laid down.
Aetiology
Gender dysphoria is caused by that second
burst of hormones failing to happen, or only
happening very weakly (many male-to-female
transsexuals do exhibit some masculine mental
tendencies, but retain the feminine gender
identity, suggesting that the masculinisation of
the brain went part of the way and then failed).
Transsexualism
Transsexualism is the most pronounced form
of Gender Dysphoria.
Transsexualism
A transsexual is someone who experiences a
deep and long-lasting discomfort with their
anatomical (genital) sex, and wishes to change
their physical characteristics, including
genitals, to the opposite of those usually
associated with their anatomical sex, and to
live permanently in the gender role opposite to
that normally associated with their anatomical
sex.
Transsexualism
Transsexualism is a fairly rare condition.
About one person per thousand is gender
dysphoric to some extent, although around one
person per 25,000 (some research indicate 1 in
10,000) is a transsexual.
After genital reassignment surgery (sex-change)
most, but by no means all, transsexuals are
heterosexual, although the usual spectrum of
human sexuality can be found.
Social and cultural differences
In ‘the West’ ratio of FtM:MtF having SRS is
1:10
In Hong Kong it is 60:40
In China it is 10:1
WHY???
It is not easy to have gender reassignment
surgery
Time from initial
assessment (months)
Assessor
Assessor
1
3
4
5
Psychiatrist
Psychologist/Surgeon/Gynaecologist
Social worker
13
14
15
16
17
6
7
26
27
28
Surgeon/Psychologist/Gynaecologist
(Post surgical service)
8
9
10
Geneticist
18
11
12
Lawyer
19
Psychiatrist/social-worker/psychologist
(Start Real Life Test)
25
Assessor
2
20
21
22
23
24
Psychiatrist/ social-worker /psychologist/surgeon
(PreOperative assessment)
GRS
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
How are Transgendered People
Discriminated Against?
Transgendered people
housing discrimination.
face
employment
and
They are also potential targets for hate crimes:
verbal harassment, hate mail, harassing telephone
calls and acts of violence committed by the same
persons who hate homosexuals and bisexuals.
How are Transgendered People
Discriminated Against?
Unlike gay men, lesbians and bisexuals,
transgendered people are much more likely to fall
victim to discrimination and hate crimes, because
most of them possess physical or behavioural
characteristics that readily identify them as
transgendered.
What about their Privacy?
The majority of transgendered persons
strongly desire to keep their transgendered
states secret.
Transgendered people are vulnerable to their
sexual minority status being revealed against
their will, i.e., being "outed".
What about Hong Kong?
Post-op transsexuals cannot marry ‘opposite
sex’, (e.g. domestic violence debate – see SCMP articles, BA
complaint etc.)
Passport and HKID can be reissued with new
name and sex,
New sex recognised for identity reasons but still
‘legally’ pre-op sex. (TS women could
theoretically be put in men’s prisons!)
Birth certificate cannot be changed.
What about Hong Kong?
Hospital Authority has closed Gender Identity
Clinic at Queen Mary Hospital.
No more Specialist Clinic with Gender Identity
Team consisting of psychiatrists, psychologists,
social workers, surgeons, lawyers etc.
Sex reassignment surgery carried out at public
hospitals at low cost, but may be cut in future.
References
Sunday Morning Post 30.5.99
http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~rtbrad/tgif/scmp.html
South China Morning Post 25.1.03
Article
http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~rtbrad/tgif/scmp article.html
Editorial
http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~rtbrad/tgif/scmp editorial.html
Letter from Prof Ng, QMH
http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~rtbrad/tgif/GITHK.html
And others on web site login page
Youtube videos