Transexual/Transgender rights

druscilla. you liar.:

And also the fact that a mental illness means there's something wrong with your brain, something wrong with you mentally. And with trans issues, it's more that there's something wrong with the body, no?

But if being transgendered entails having something wrong with the body, then how do you reconcile this with the disease = bad/ transgender = good mentality? I'd accept that having a disease means there's something wrong with your body, but then that would be really problematic reconciling that to all of the earlier statements.

elizabeth gaskell:

But if being transgendered entails having something wrong with the body, then how do you reconcile this with the disease = bad/ transgender = good mentality? I'd accept that having a disease means there's something wrong with your body, but then that would be really problematic reconciling that to all of the earlier statements.

I think it was said in much more vague terms than it was probably meant.

I get really annoyed when people think transsexuals and transvestites are the same thing.

They're not!

fool's paradise:

I get really annoyed when people think transsexuals and transvestites are the same thing.

They're not!

Isn't transvestites a non-PC term that's kind of diregatory? I was under that impression...

dru is a pirate.:

Isn't transvestites a non-PC term that's kind of diregatory? I was under that impression...

i thought transvestitism just meant crossdressing.

dru is a pirate.:

Isn't transvestites a non-PC term that's kind of diregatory? I was under that impression...

To answer both things;
Eddie Izzard referrs to himself as a transvestite, both on-stage and in real life (and whether he's wearing women's clothes or not). If it's a derogatory term then he clearly missed the memo since his multiple stand ups and whatnot suggest he's very confident of who he is and has no problem identifying himself as a transvestite.

Secondly, he also identifies as a transgendered person (see the podcast/interview Rachael pointed out on the other page). So for him there seems to be a link between his transvestism and his gender identity and that includes being both a transvestite and a transgendered person.

Matt Smith:

To answer both things;
Eddie Izzard referrs to himself as a transvestite, both on-stage and in real life (and whether he's wearing women's clothes or not). If it's a derogatory term then he clearly missed the memo since his multiple stand ups and whatnot suggest he's very confident of who he is and has no problem identifying himself as a transvestite.

Yeah, but, some Africa Americans refer to themselves as the n-word. That doesn't make it less diregatory when I say it.

dru is a pirate.:

Yeah, but, some Africa Americans refer to themselves as the n-word. That doesn't make it less diregatory when I say it.

It's not the same thing. If people use 'transvestite' as a derogatory word, then that's their problem. It's offensive to call people going through, have gone through or require a sex-change if you're using it to diminish them and imply their identity is somehow fake or drag queenish. This is why some prefer the term cross-dresser because it doesn't have those connotations. As far as I know, transvestite never has been derogatory on its own as long as you're applying it accurately.

Matt Smith:

It's not the same thing. If people use 'transvestite' as a derogatory word, then that's their problem. It's offensive to call people going through, have gone through or require a sex-change if you're using it to diminish them and imply their identity is somehow fake or drag queenish. This is why some prefer the term cross-dresser because it doesn't have those connotations. As far as I know, transvestite never has been derogatory on its own as long as you're applying it accurately.

Okay. That last is what I didn't know. I'd heard from someone it was diregatory.

A transvestite is someone who enjoys dressing in clothing of the opposite gender. They do not identify as the opposite gender, nor do they even have to be gay. Ed Wood was a transvestite, and he had a wife and thought of himself as male. He just liked to wear ladies clothes sometimes.

A transsexual/trans-gender person, however, is someone who feels as if they were born the wrong gender all together.

fool's paradise:

A transvestite is someone who enjoys dressing in clothing of the opposite gender. They do not identify as the opposite gender, nor do they even have to be gay. Ed Wood was a transvestite, and he had a wife and thought of himself as male. He just liked to wear ladies clothes sometimes.

A transsexual/trans-gender person, however, is someone who feels as if they were born the wrong gender all together.

And that I knew. I just thought a transvestite was the equivalent of calling a gay kid a faggot.

^ Oh! Sorry. I've never heard that before, though.

I didn't know transvestite was a derogaroty term. What's the appropiate term, cross-dresser? I thought it was wrong if used to address a transsexual, not altogether.

pierrot the clown.:

I didn't know transvestite was a derogaroty term.

I think we've discovered it's not and that I was misinformed.

This is Eddie Izzard. I post these videos, not just because me and Meg have insanely big crushes on him (as you may have guessed from our previous posts ), but because it describes transvestitism very well.

so, I made a thread about Transgenderism and Transsexualism without the "rights" part before remembering this thread existed. There is a thread for homosexuality and one for gay rights, though, so...

I thought maybe this thread could start focusing on laws and such that affect trans people, like the fact that discriminating someone because of their gender identity is only illegal in some places. Or that in most countries/states you need to have undergone sugery in order to legally change your gender. Or hate crimes. Or... stuff like that. And discuss terms and opinions on trans people on the other thread.

I don't know. If you still think they'd be the same thread, just lock the other one.

I hate to be rude, but you spelled Transsexual wrong in your topic title.

Malchick Gay:

I hate to be rude, but you spelled Transsexual wrong in your topic title.

This thread's 3 years old...

Your Mom:

This thread's 3 years old...

Even so, can't the title be edited?

Matt Smith:

...Simon Amstell iTunes thing?! I don't know what this is, but I must have it

--

I think the thing with Eddie is that he's always described himself as a transvestite and emphasised that how even when he dresses in 'boy mode' (like on the latest tour) he's still always a transvestite, that's just who he is. He even mentioned in the first episode that he was an action transvestite and this is why he was running all those marathons. I had always thought of transvestism as another facet of transgendered identity, I don't know whether this is right or not but Eddie seems to be saying the same thing.

On this note, I recently came across this.

That does not mean, however, that he would have a sex-change operation. Izzard reveals that, "If I looked more girly or beautiful, like Julian Clary, I would do it. But the way I look, everyone would know I was a bloke who had had a sex change. Besides, it would confuse things because I do fancy women, so I would change from a straight male transvestite into a lesbian."