An introduction to
transgender issues
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Inequalities
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Harry Benjamin 1966
“For the simple man in the street, there are
only two sexes; a person is either male or
female, Adam or Eve.
The more sophisticated realise that every
Adam contains elements of Eve and every
Eve contains traces of Adam, physically as
well as psychologically.”
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Definitions…
Transgender is an umbrella
term used to describe people
whose gender identity does
not match their birth gender
‘label’.
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Definitions…
Transsexual people experience
strong, ongoing cross-gender
identification, and an overwhelming
desire to live and be identified as a
member of the opposite sex. Often
described as feeling they have been
‘born into the wrong body’.
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Definitions…
Transvestites (or cross-dressers)
dress in clothes society considers to be the
“opposite gender” for a range of reasons,
including; emotional satisfaction or comfort,
erotic pleasure or simply that dressing
allows them to express femininity, or an
aspect of their personality. Cross-dressers
are generally content with their birth gender
and have no wish to alter the physical
characteristics of their bodies.
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Definitions…
Intersex is a generalised term that
describes a wide range of conditions
in which people are born with a
reproductive or sexual anatomy that
doesn’t fit with typical definitions of
female or male.
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Definitions…
Gender Queer (or third gender) people
feel that they do not fit – or wish to fit - into
society’s traditional gender binary (male
and female) system. Gender queer
perspectives are in part a reaction to
societal pressures to conform to certain
types of male or female behaviour in order
to be accepted or to feel ‘acceptable’.
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Definitions…
Drag is essentially about
entertainment through portrayals of
the opposite gender with an emphasis
on performance and fun.
Although Drag is often included under
the ‘transgender umbrella’, many drag
artists would not define themselves as
transgender.
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Legal protections include
The Sex Discrimination (Gender
Reassignment) Regulations 1999
The Gender Recognition Act 2004
Transsexual people will have legal
protection in the provision of goods,
facilities and services no later than
December 2007.
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Gender Identity clinics in Scotland
Dr Susan Carr
The Gender Clinic
The Sandyford Initiative
6 Sandyford Place
Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
Dr Lyndsey Myskow
Sexual Problems Clinic
Reproductive Health OP
Dept
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
51 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh
Dr John S. Callender
Royal Cornhill Hospital
Block A
Clerkseat Building
Aberdeen
Dr Gordon McKenna
Highland Sexual Health
Raigmore Hospital
Old Perth Road
Inverness
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Addressing LGBT Health
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Further information
Press for
Change
www.pfc.org.uk
Gender Trust www.gendertrust.org.uk
Depend
www.depend.org.uk
FTM Network www.ftm.org.uk
Mermaids
www.mermaidsfreeuk.com
Beaumont
Society
www.beaumontsociety.org.uk21
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