Frequently Asked Questions about Transgender People

• People can realize this at any age on the basis of their earlier memories, experiences, or they just know it.
•  The topic of gender identity is associated with a lot of social stigmas, fear, and discrimination, and the fear of non-acceptance by their loved ones.
• Remember transitioning from a gender that was assigned during birth and the gender you feel you identify with requires a lot, and I mean really a lot of self-reflection.

Most of us get confused between the two.

Gender Identity refers to your internal knowledge of your own gender- that is you know whether you are a man, or a woman, or another gender.

Sexual Orientation has to do with whom you are attracted to.

This is where gays, lesbians, or straight couple comes into the category.

A man attracted to a man refers to as gay.

A woman attracted to a woman refers to a lesbian.

A man is attracted to a woman and vice versa refers to as straight.

Notice the difference?

Many of us use the two above words interchangeably without knowing that both the terms are different from each other.

Intersex people have their reproductive anatomy or genes that don't fit typical definitions of male or female which is often discovered at birth.

Transgender on the other hand has to do with your internal knowledge of your gender identity not the orientation of your chromosomes or your external body anatomy.

So you can be an intersex and a transgender 

Or an intersex but not a transgender

Or a transgender but not an intersex person

Some people think that determining who is male or female at birth is a simple matter of checking the baby's external anatomy, but there's actually a lot more to it.

Every year, an estimated one in 2,000 babies are born with a set of characteristics that can't easily be classified as "male" or "female." People whose bodies fall in the vast continuum between "male" and "female" are often known as intersex people.

For example, some people are born with XY chromosomes but have female genitals and secondary sex characteristics.

Others might have XX chromosomes but no uterus, or might have external anatomy that doesn't appear clearly male or female.

So in such conditions on the basis of your anatomy, you are declared as either male or female. But the problem is many families never even become aware that their child's chromosomes are different than expected until much later in life.

Look gender non-conforming may or may not be transgender. Example: A woman raised and identified as a woman presents themselves in ways that might be considered masculine i.e Tomboy.

The same way transgenders may or may not be gender non-confirming too.

Some people's gender fluctuates over time.

People whose gender is not male or female may use many different terms to describe themselves. One term that some people use is non-binary, which is used because the gender binary refers to the two categories of male and female. Another term that people use is genderqueer. 

Counseling aimed at changing someone’s gender identity, sometimes known as conversion therapy, doesn’t work and can be extremely harmful. The belief that someone’s gender identity can be changed through therapy runs counter to the overwhelming consensus in the medical community.

Imagine telling someone the core part of who they are and forcing them to change...Delusional isn't it? That's why a transition requires a really REALLY lot of self-reflection from NONE OTHER THAN YOU.

Many transgender people need to deal with physical and mental health problems because of widespread discrimination and stigma. Transgender children may experience rejection or even emotional or physical abuse at home, at school, or in their communities. But these conditions are not caused by having a transgender identity: they're a result of the intolerance many transgender people have to deal with.