[I want to acknowledge that my voice is that of a white, cisgender female and as such my understanding and articulation of the issues this article will discuss are necessarily limited.]
You wake up, and it begins. You attempt to put on the clothes you want to wear—they stretch and sag in all the wrong places. You go out for breakfast, and need to use the public bathroom—you don’t, or rather, you can’t. You go to work—you get fired. Why? There’s been a ‘cultural difference.’ You want to go swimming—you don’t. You want to get on a plane, and go on a trip—you can’t. If these realities sound familiar to you, it is likely that you or someone close to you identifies as transgender, gender-neutral, genderqueer, or any one of the terms that falls under the umbrella term of trans*. It is also possible that you do not feel comfortable identifying with any of these—all you know is that you’re not cisgender, and that this has presented an astounding array of difficulties for you.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term ‘cisgender’, TIME magazine defined it in 2014 as a term used to refer to someone who was proclaimed either male or female at birth, by a doctor who made this judgement based on their biology, and who then went on into adult life to identify as the gender they were assigned. Being cisgender also means you are a lot less likely to run into the difficulties described above, which may have resulted in gender being a concept you have largely taken for granted as a clear-cut, determined part of your life. It is painfully obvious to people who identify as transgender that this is not the case.
Realising that you do not identify with the gender expression associated with the sex that was assigned or designated to you at birth brings with it a host of issues, with perhaps one of the most immediate being the ‘wrongness’ of your physical body. The term ‘gender dysphoria’ is used to refer to the emotional and mental conflict and discomfort felt when there is a dissociation between one’s physical body and assigned sex, and one’s gender identity. Gender dysphoria is crippling and alienating—how can you escape from a problem when wherever you go, you bring it with you? Who do you go to for support when the vast majority of those around you seem scared, or even repulsed, by your struggles? One option is to undergo the process of physically transitioning into a body that more accurately represents your identity. This process is rarely smooth—transphobia runs rampant in healthcare systems across the globe, and it can take years to find a clinic that is willing and able to administer hormone therapy, or perform surgery. In many places, gender confirming surgery is regarded as ‘cosmetic surgery’, inferring that the surgery is being performed based on a ‘want’, not a need, for it, and as such may not always fall under health insurance. With certain procedures costing $3,500 to $9,000, and others running into the tens of thousands of dollars, the chance that an individual coming from a group that is marginalised, stigmatised, and discriminated against will be able to afford surgery is slim. Increasingly, trans* people who decide to undergo these procedures are appealing to their loved ones and their wider communities to help their cause. Jasper Smith, a loving member of the Guelph community, who uses they/them pronouns and identifies as transgender, did just this on Oct. 2 of this year. Jasper’s ‘TITS OUT/TITS OFF’ fundraiser was not only one of the most magical, heartwarming and inclusive nights I can remember experiencing, it was also a huge monetary success. Having raised just under $5,000 from the event alone puts Jasper that much closer to ending their days of dysphoria and pain, living a life which for too long included experiences such as being fired from workplaces, and feeling as though the articulation of their gender identity in some way encroached on peoples’ space.
This being said, it is important to remember that a trans* person’s choice not to undergo medical procedures does not delegitimise their identity. Similarly, if someone has decided to take that route, bear in mind that whilst the results of transitioning are publicly visible, the process is extremely private. Steer clear of intrusive questions—be receptive and tolerant, but do not pry.
While Guelph displayed overwhelming amounts of love and acceptance on Oct. 2, it seriously let the trans* community down only two weeks later. The Aggie Pub, an event run for OAC students to socialize and relax, has a new theme every week—last week’s theme of “Miss Aggie” was inappropriate. I spoke to Sam Ranger, a U of G student and member of the queer community who uses he/him pronouns, on why not. Sam explained to me that, while most of his experiences in Guelph regarding his gender expression have been positive, the Aggie Pub theme “was degrading because the primary attraction was the concept that men dressing in feminine clothing is comical. This perpetuates the idea that gender identity is a ‘costume’ and trivialises the representation of transwomen. A bunch of young guys dressing up in awful stereotypes of femininity and making it into a spectacle is not harmless. The dangerous lives that trans* people face as a result of trying to find peace within themselves and connect with a body that doesn’t always feel like home is NOT something to laugh at, drink to, or have a dance themed after.” It is very possible that a cisgender, heteronormative person may not have given this issue much thought and thereby acted in an intolerant and offensive manner without realising it. Here are some ways this can be prevented in the future:
Never assume
Assumption is the fertiliser of miscommunications and ignorance. When in doubt—ask. If you fear your question may be intrusive, ask yourself if you really need to know the answer, or if you can try and accept the human you are interacting with regardless of their gender or sexuality. If you can, then the question of asking becomes a non-issue.
Use gender-inclusive language
This means not mis-gendering people by assuming, but instead, asking which pronouns they prefer, advocating for gender-neutral bathrooms, and referring to trans* people by the name they go by at the point in time, not any other name you may have associated with them before. ‘Dead names’ are just that—dead.
Remember that gender expression and sexual identity are independent of each other
Being trans* does not make you gay, just like being blonde does not mean you have impaired cognitive abilities.
There are many important trans* issues that I regrettably have not been able to address in this article, such as the issue of how disproportionately higher the risk of murder and transphobic violence is for trans* people of colour, or how to lobby for the government to add a third gender so as to combat identification and other legal issues faced by trans* people. This article is intended as a stepping stone into the discussion on trans* issues for those who have not yet given them much thought—use it as such, and together we can cultivate a tolerant and educated community equipped to combat discrimination in its many forms.