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What It Means to Be Trans

LGBT leadership just went on record in a big way by insisting that ENDA should be trans-inclusive. Maybe now it's important to know what "transgender" really means
An Advocate.com exclusive posted October 9, 2007
What It Means to Be Trans

For months now, an amazing coalition of LGBT organizations has worked tirelessly toward passage of the first transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act bill in Congress. Yet in a weak moment at the very end of September, key legislators got cold feet and threw us out. Reaction was immediate and overwhelming. Almost all of the country’s LGBT organizations -- the list continues to grow -- spoke out loud and clear in opposition to this ejection. Legislators had no choice but to give a trans-inclusive ENDA another chance.

If the developments of the last few days have you wanting to know more about what “transgender” really means, you’ve come to the right place. In the next 800 words I’ll cover the key things you need to know. You may not be aware that I’ve actually written 20 Advocate.com columns over the past two years on transgender awareness -- you can find links to all of them on my own Web site. But no matter; I’ll include links below where my back columns provide more information on particular topics.

Let’s start with terminology. The trans-inclusive ENDA covers employment discrimination based on sexual orientation (who you love), gender identity (who you are), and gender expression (how you look and act). The last two are a bit of a mouthful, so they often get referred to as the “transgender-inclusive” parts for expediency.

Unfortunately, because of the stigma associated with any adjective beginning with “trans,” many people affected by issues related to their gender identity or expression also deny being transgender and could be missing the fact that this bill is for them too. These people include the man or woman who occasionally dresses in drag, the intersex person born with any one of a number of conditions that make their sex inconsistent or ambiguous, the swishy man whose feminine behavior provokes catcalls, and the masculine woman who gets harassed when she uses the ladies’ room. 

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Herman is the first transgender member of the boards of the Point Foundation and Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, and is a member of the advisory board of the National Center for Transgender Equality. Links to all of her previous Advocate.com columns can be found on her Web site. Photo: Marilyn Humphries Photography. Copyright Joanne Herman 2007

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