...ACT for Youth Center of Excellence A collaboration of Cornell University, University of Rochester, and New York State Center for School Safety ACT for (Trans) Youth, Part 1 March 2008 Growing Up Transgender: Research and Theory by Seth T. Pardo As transgender identities become increasingly visible, those who work with and those who love trans youth seek resources to understand what it means to grow up “trans.” With little to guide us, adults may fall back on outdated theories or confuse transgender and gay identities. This article offers an introduction to current research and theory behind transgender identity formation, and suggests a framework for understanding gender that moves beyond a rigid binary system. Part two of this series will focus on moving from risk to resilience with trans youth. Gender is one of the few characteristics we are conditioned to see as a binary construct; height, weight, IQ, and hair length, for example, are all perceived along continuums. Also, because Western society is deeply rooted in the notion that there are only two sexes, our language keeps us trapped in a binary discourse about gender. At birth we are named and identified by our external sexual (genital) features; soon after, we develop sexspecific behaviors or gender roles based on our social experiences as males and females. But sometimes a child demonstrates cross-gendered behaviors, or thinks s/he should have been born (or even is) the opposite sex. Cross-gender identification...
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...Sociology June 10, 2014 David Underwood Transsexuals When asked about transsexuals, Mildred Brown, author of True Selves quoted that is a dilemma of feeling trapped in the wrong physical gender. Transsexuality is a phenomenon, which really has not been scientifically examined. Through talk shows such as Jerry Springer, the Maury show, society tends to see a one-sided view on this matter. While watching the Maury show “man or woman”. The audience’s reaction to the transsexuals on stage was not of disgust but more of awe. They were in awe that a man could look so much like a woman and how some women can show very masculine features. The guests on this show were inevitably labeled as “freaks” regardless of whether it was verbally spoken or not. The talk show was a brief one. The host introduced 12 beautiful women on the stage. There were two black women, five Hispanic and five white women on stage. They all flaunted their beautiful bodies. Some were voluptuous, others were more on the thinner side, yet none of them seemed to be any different than any other model. All the guest on the show were in their mid-Twenty’s to their mid- Thirty’s. The theme of the show was for the audience to see if they could tell the difference between a man and a woman. Watching the faces in the audience. I noted that each and every one of them was judging all the guests. Some were 100% men, some were 100% women. They all stood in a line and for each one, the cross...
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...I was heading towards my university when I saw a group of people cursing and harassing Hermaphrodites group.Ladies dressed up in colorful outfits, wearing lipsticks and heavy jewellery, with a lot of kajal and makeup on. It was very heartbreaking for me to see how these people were being tortured physically, verbally and mentally. Moreover I could see no one around to stop this harsh treatment. "There are an estimated 500,000 ‘third-gender’ citizens in Pakistan, including cross-dressers, transsexuals, eunuchs, hermaphrodites, and transvestites" who see Karachi as their homeland. While they dream to live in their beloved homeland they are being pushed to the margins of city. The main reason of their problems is that the society is not even ready to accept the third gender existing in our society. They are not considered as humans, they have no rights and they are not even protected. This is evident from the fact that they are not registered in NADRA and doesn’t even hold an identity card. Due to job and educational deprivation these people are pushed to dance, sing and beg on the streets of Karachi, even if they are educated and qualified as it is the only source of earning for them. However, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2007) in Article 23 says that "every individual has a right to work, regardless of their sexual orientation." Hermaphrodites are also excluded from the family. Labeled as useless creatures and taken as ridicule objects, without considering...
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...Dehumanization and civil rights are incompatible with each other, then why do we continue to take transgender’s rights. Transgenders are tipping the civil rights frontier, and they are not alone. Many countries define gender based on the physical and genetic sexuality at birth. Transgender and Gender non-conforming people fall victim to bias, who are against equality, therefore they face dehumanization. This topic needs more attention since it affects on average 3.5% of people. It may not seem like a large percent but when you are dealing with people and their lives even a small percent matter. 41% of transgenders or gender-nonconforming people have attempted suicide. (Reyes 1) The national average for suicide attempts is nine times in their...
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...This research has determined a gap relating to equality and other issues that transgender currently face due to the inconsistence laws across the state, jurisdiction or workplace. Transgender individuals are not protected under Title VII (the law which makes sex discrimination illegal) as the term sex did not include being transgender (EEOC, 2016). The only transgender which may have some protection are those employed by federal government and there are currently 38 states that can denied employment to transgender individuals. As there are some states such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington,...
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...Transgender Students on College and University Campuses Across America According to a survey of 75 undergraduate and graduate students from 61 different college and universities across the United States zero students indicated that their college or university included gender identity or expression in its non-discrimination policy (McKinney). Transgender individuals are treated unfairly on college and university campuses. Most campuses have ways for the lesbian and gay students to feel safe but schools are often forgetting the 'T' in LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning). The value of this issue is that is affecting more people than ever before. Twenty years ago most people didn't think that transgender was a thing you could be or it was misinterpreted into a bad thing. Now that people understand it and they feel comfortable as identifying under that umbrella, they should be able to express themselves in a place where they pay a lot of money to attend. Earlier this year the Huffington Post did a live video interview with four college students that identified as transgender. Jay Fondin a sophomore at George Washington University said “It's a very difficult environment to navigate because I find myself having to explain a lot of what trans is on daily and weekly interactions to live comfortably on campus. Like I said, it's not unfriendly but it's difficult because no one knows anything”. Susan Marine, an assistant professor at Merrimack College, analyzes...
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...Key Facts and Legal Issues The main legal issue in this situation is defined as infringement of the Human Rights Code by discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression. Gender identity is linked to a person’s sense of self, and the sense of being male or female. A person’s gender identity is different from their sexual orientation, which is also protected under the Code. Gender expression is linked to how individuals express and portray themselves for others to view them. The first important piece of information we are given about Kimberly was that she was born a male but started living as a female at the age of 29 therefore she is transsexual, which introduces another legal concern of whether or not Kimberly is a man or a woman. We also know Kimberly was let go from her position at the rape crisis center and had discriminated against her during her volunteer training. As we know based on the situation, the rape crisis center that Kimberly was volunteering at only hired women; which may be not be discrimination because of the bona fide occupational requirement. Formally in Kimberly’s past she had experienced emotional abuse in a relationship, and she was referred to an organization that assists battered women. With her previous experiences in mind, she reached out to the rape crisis center to volunteer. Kimberly was asked to leave the premises after someone identified her as a person who had not always been a woman, solely based on her appearance. Because...
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...Transgender Rights I have been drawn to the moral and social issue of transgender rights from suicides like Leelah Acorn to the outing of celebrity Bruce Jenner, the awareness has raised a dream of equallity for the gender as any other, including being a female or male as desired and getting treated as one (such as bathrooms, marriege, adoptions, etc.). According to research, only 22 states have taken action for the transgender citizens of America by passing LGBT laws. These states even have health care options for treatments for those feeling they know they aren't meant to be the sex they were born and stamped to. Therefore, the health care offers hormone pills for those in need, and certain procedures for conversion. Although LGBT laws are passed in 22 states only 15 have states have placed laws for harrassment or any kind of discrimination in public and 19 states consisting of school safe laws, allowing transgender children to enter shool as the sex they truly feel. I propose seeking more support by government by allowing a trial of some sort to pass federal laws in favor to the transgender community, and raising community awareness with events and websites, all for the beautiful transgender people of america. I will be interviewing Bruce Jenner if things go through and ask him thoroughly about the life of a person who has to be hidden from society due to the brutality of people and those in unsupport of transgender men and women in America. If not, I will survey people...
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...A time-line of transgender identities. © 1999 Drs. Arianne van der Ven Contents Summery 2 Introduction: The development of gender as we know it How does history relate to us? 3 From a one-gender system to a two-gender system, and on to ‘third sex’ categories. 3 Some specifics of gender transitions. 5 Part I: Sexology begins. Transgender Identities before the 19th century 7 The early 19th century: Enters forensic psychiatry 7 The late nineteenth century: Inverts turn to Experts. Enters sexology and the empirical case history. 8 Part II: Early 20th century The rise of Psychoanalysis and it's denial of transgender identities Developments in Medical technology. 10 Psycho-analysis’ erasure of transgender 11 The sixties and seventies: routine treatment of the empty transsexual 12 Part III: Transgender becomes Real. The emergence of transgender. 15 De-constructing gender, from gender identity to “freedom of gender expression”. 15 Changes in transgender care. 17 The lack of transgender in Continental Europe. 18 References 19 Summery This paper was originally written for the “Sex, Gender and Identity” program of The School for International Training (SIT) in Amsterdam. SIT is an US university and specializes in study abroad programs for students from American universities. This paper discusses transgender identities during the last...
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...not even an element of it. Transgender is actually when somebody is born into what they recognize as the wrong body. They feel as if they identify with the opposite sex rather than their own. This essay will focus on only one side, the trans-masculine side, which is usually assigned female at birth people identifying as transgender. It will talk about physical and mental struggles, social relations, and supporting transgender people. Initially, there are several struggles we face, physical...
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...Transgressions of Transgender, A reading of I Am vidya: A Transgenders Journey by Living Smile Vidya Sajna Hameed Assistant Professor, Dept. of English St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth Introduction “There exists no prohibition that cannot be transgressed.” - Georges Bataille “Concern over a rule is sometimes at its most acute when that rule is being broken, for it is harder to limit a disturbance already begun.” - Georges Bataille Blurring the boundaries of race, gender, nationality, and sexuality has become a common denominator in defining personal identity in the twenty-first century. Exploding previous notions of these categories as fixed and static, artists today are taking an active role in exposing them as mere constructions. Nevertheless, transgressing these boundaries is still a delicate dance, and individuals who succeed in walking the line between identity categories occupy a precarious position. The purpose of this study is to explore the resistance strategies that trans-genders utilize when met with adversity and the ways that trans-genders see their trans identity as providing them with a form of strength and resiliency. Trans-genders are often analyzed from a pathologizing lens within the sociological and psychological literature. I wish to investigate the ways that trans-genders are currently pushing back against the oppressive forces that they encounter every day in hopes of increasing awareness of trans-genders resiliency and strength...
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...Transgender Rights, Equality, and Respect Jamie Hogan Transgender issues and rights seem to be at the forefront of media for the first time ever. While Caitlyn Jenner has been met with excessive criticism, she is the main reason this topic is so popular in the media this year. Many people seem to be frustrated with hearing about her, but I will use her as an example to make the topic more easily understood. Every time I see an article about her, it is followed by countless comments calling her “Bruce” and using the incorrect pronoun. This also happens on every other article I have seen about anyone who is transgender. While some people are doing this intentionally, there are many people that identify transgender people inaccurately simply due to lack of knowledge. It is not a common topic and so I wanted to help educate as many people as I could about what it means to be transgender. Transgender rights were already an important part of my life. I was friends with three people that are transgender. My best friend from high school is one of those people. I remember when she told me she wanted to become a girl. I did not react in a surprised way. I just told her “Do whatever you need to do to make you happy. That’s the only thing that matters.” She told me she loved my reaction because I did not act like it was a crazy idea. She said it was like she told me she like pasta, like it was a totally normal thing to say. Although she was my first transgender friend...
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...representation in media and pop culture, visibility of the transgender (trans) community has been steadily increasing over the last decade (Roberts & Fantz, 2014). Until recently, transgender-related issues have often been loosely addressed under the umbrella of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues. Upon isolating investigation to the T (trans) portion of the population, research has shown that the transgender community faces stigma and discrimination at alarming rates across numerous areas of life (Cruz, 2014; Grant, Mottet, & Tanis, 2011). This population is met with systemic discrimination in women’s shelters that refuse to help male-to-female transsexuals (MTFs), attaining surgery because many states...
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...Enlgish 101A Mary Jaffe- Sullivan 1/19/2011 Laura Klein Let him Dance The word transgender seems to have stirred a whirlwind of controversy that has everyone burning up the phone lines, blogging, tweeting and using every form of media to argue whether or a not a man should be able to dance with a woman on a national dance competition. Chaz Bono should be able to partake in Dancing with the Stars without ridicule and be judged solely on his dancing technique. Activists are calling for boycotts of this number one rated show because Chaz Bono is one of many contestants this season. The controversy here is Chaz’s right to compete in peace on the show so that he will be judged by his dancing abilities only and not by his transgender identity. What is it that has everyone scared? Is it the fear of the unknown and lack of understanding of what being transgendered means? Transgender by definition is a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the persons sex at birth according to Webster’s, or simply put the inside doesn’t match the outside appearance of a man or women. There are a multitude of debates circulating around Chaz Bono dancing on this season’s Dancing with The Stars that it needs to be addressed. The “anti-Chaz” organizations state “he could be contagious to our children”, also that it will affect children negatively and is anti-Christian. These reasons are simply invalid and uneducated. Therefore Chaz Bono should...
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...ARGUMENT AND CITATIONS OF AUTHORITY I THIS COURT SHOULD AFFIRM THE DISTRICT COURT’S ORDER AND JUDGEMENT BECAUSE THE APPELLANT FAILED TO SHOW THAT THERE WAS A GENIUINE DISPUTE AS TO ANY MATERIAL FACT THEREFORE FARM TOWN MORTGAGE IS ENTITLED TO JUDGEMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW. TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 DOES NOT INCLUDE TRANSSEXUALS AS A PROTECTED CLASS FROM DISCRIMNATION IN THE WORK PLACE THUS, THE APPELLANT’S APPEAL FOR SEX DISCRIMINATION SHOULD BE DISMISSED. The district court’s holding in Lopez v. Farmtown Mortgage Services (FMS) that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not protect transgendered or transsexuals was correct and should be affirmed on appeal. The district court’s grant of summary judgment to FMS demonstrated the plaintiff Veronica Lopez’s (VL) lack of sufficient evidence to prove that there was a genuine dispute as to any material fact for a Title VII discrimination claim. (R. 1.) This Court of Appeals reviews a district court’s grant of motion for summary judgment pursuant to federal rule 56(c) de novo. (R. 1.) According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964(Title VII), it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color...
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