A recent NPR production on Children´s Health by Alix Spiegel dealt with the gender identity disorder sometimes known as transgenderism – a situation where an individual has the physical body of one sex (male or female) but very strongly identifies themselves as being of the gender opposite their body´s physical structure.
While the program made a stab at a balanced presentation, it will no doubt be critiqued from a number of directions – as well it should be. However, in addition to whatever other shortcomings there were in the presentation, I was disappointed that NPR missed an opportunity to further educate a generally confused public regarding the distinctions between transsexual individuals and homosexual ones. If fact, I think the program may have inadvertently added to this confusion by even bringing up the subject of homosexuality in the same context as their report and implying that meaningful comparisons exist between the two conditions. For example: Spiegel, at one point, describes how, over time, cultures change and what was abnormal yesterday is today considered not so abnormal. In paraphrasing (rightly or incorrectly) the beliefs of "some therapists", Spiegel notes that some see "transgenderism as akin to homosexuality" He goes on to describe how years ago homosexuality was considered a mental disorder requiring aggressive treatment but today is considered "a normal variant" of human behavior. The implication he is making, of course, is that some day down the road, transgenderism may (also) be more acceptable than it is now and no longer be thought of as a disorder. But I suspect his subtle implication of hoped for change is outweighed by the more pervasive message some will easily read into his words that homosexuals and transsexuals are cut from the same cloth.
However well intentioned these comments might have been, in my view they simply further add to the incorrect idea that there is some intrinsic connection between transgenderism and homosexuality. After all, didn´t he say that transgenderism is "akin" to homosexuality? And (going back to well established cultural stereotypes) after all, don´t all homosexual males cross dress when they are children, play with the toys of the opposite sex and spend their time decorating tree houses (at least the little gay boys do)? Aren´t all gay men effeminate? And aren´t all lesbians Harley bike riders? And (and here´s the kicker), after all, hasn´t the mysterious gay community itself adopted the group umbrella label "LGBT"....Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered?" So aren´t all these things just versions of the same thing? This, I believe, is how much of the public thinks and this program only added another little bit to the layer of the misinformed. Personally, I suspect that many gay people and transsexuals might very well be insulted by such lines of thinking.
What I´ve written so far and what follows may seen to some to suggest an insensitivity on my part to the civil rights plight of the transgendered community. But please just read this through before clicking up your email program and sending me a bit of your angry or upset mind.
Let me make a point directly and plainly: there is no connection - emotionally or psychologically - between transgenderism and homosexuality. No defining shared dynamics - either at the level of "identity" or sexual orientation. The only communality is that they both represent a sexual minority group – a group that deviates from cultural expectations. Homosexuality is, first of all, not a disorder according to current scientific understanding and not-withstanding the Catholic Church´s misuse of the term "objective disorder" (whatever the heck that means). Homosexuality, bi-sexuality and heterosexuality are variants of sexual orientation. In turn, sexual orientation has to do with the object of ones sexual desire and attention. It has nothing to do with rejecting ones own physical biological sex in favor of it´s opposite gender identity. Homosexuals typically have little desire to "be" the opposite sex. In reality, they only want to bed and love the same sex - and if bi-sexual, desires can be directed at either of the sexes. The bi-sexual and the homosexual are most often accepting and happy to be the sex they are and gender identity follows easily as matched. In addition, odd as it may seem, research suggests that very few transgendered people develop a homosexual orientation. That is to say, they are heterosexual when gauged from the position of their gender identity.
One writer put it well....Being gay (homosexual) or bi-sexual is a matter of hearts, not parts. Transgenderism, on the other hand, is very much about "parts".....The transgendered soul feels trapped in the body of the wrong sex. Their mental gender identity coincides with that of the opposite physical sex. They feel emotionally that they have the wrong parts - that the parts they do have, don´t match their hearts (and minds). Talk seriously to the average gay guy about surgically removing his penis and developing bigger boobs and they most likely will run screaming away from you as quickly as they can manage to go.
At risk of adding to the confusion - while it´s true that some gay men and women enjoy cross dressing (going in drag)....this is still a far cry from loathing their body to the point of yearning for a surgical change. I´ve known a number of male drag queens over the years and the vast majority of them are not body dysphoric (disliking of their biological sex).
One final thought: In my opinion, the "gay community" may have shot itself in one foot and the "transgendered community" in the other when it was decided (without, by the way, asking me) to combine transgenderism and gay rights into a single cause and under a common banner. I know, I know....all the arguments about sexual minorities banding together and all...but still, to the uninformed and slowly educated public the LGBT label is just further confirmation that these things are pretty much all the same. Another point I offer for consideration: just possibly both the homosexual and transsexual civil rights movements may each take negative hits because of the continued confusion between the terms in the minds of average citizens. Whatever prejudices exist towards one may spill over to the other. Such misunderstandings can slow their similar yet separate struggles towards sexual minority equality. The joining of LGB-T may, in fact, be doing no one a service.
The transgendered person´s "dissonance" between gender identity (as male or female) and the mismatch to physical body parts is likely what constitutes the contemporary concept of "disorder". However, like the NPR author, I and many others hope and believe that someday - down the road - when we grow up enough as a culture not to get so idiotically bent out of shape over consensual sexual matters, this "disordered" label will also go by the wayside and be found only in history books. The same I hope will be true of all the variations in sexual orientation. But in the meantime, for the sake of understanding both concepts – i.e. the concept of sexual orientation and the concept of transgenderism, it´s really better to know and appreciate that the two are not dynamically or psychologically related. They are different things. NPR missed a chance to get this idea across. I suspect it won´t be the last time such an opportunity is overlooked.
Old erroneous ideas die a slow death, even on National Public Radio.
While the program made a stab at a balanced presentation, it will no doubt be critiqued from a number of directions – as well it should be. However, in addition to whatever other shortcomings there were in the presentation, I was disappointed that NPR missed an opportunity to further educate a generally confused public regarding the distinctions between transsexual individuals and homosexual ones. If fact, I think the program may have inadvertently added to this confusion by even bringing up the subject of homosexuality in the same context as their report and implying that meaningful comparisons exist between the two conditions. For example: Spiegel, at one point, describes how, over time, cultures change and what was abnormal yesterday is today considered not so abnormal. In paraphrasing (rightly or incorrectly) the beliefs of "some therapists", Spiegel notes that some see "transgenderism as akin to homosexuality" He goes on to describe how years ago homosexuality was considered a mental disorder requiring aggressive treatment but today is considered "a normal variant" of human behavior. The implication he is making, of course, is that some day down the road, transgenderism may (also) be more acceptable than it is now and no longer be thought of as a disorder. But I suspect his subtle implication of hoped for change is outweighed by the more pervasive message some will easily read into his words that homosexuals and transsexuals are cut from the same cloth.
However well intentioned these comments might have been, in my view they simply further add to the incorrect idea that there is some intrinsic connection between transgenderism and homosexuality. After all, didn´t he say that transgenderism is "akin" to homosexuality? And (going back to well established cultural stereotypes) after all, don´t all homosexual males cross dress when they are children, play with the toys of the opposite sex and spend their time decorating tree houses (at least the little gay boys do)? Aren´t all gay men effeminate? And aren´t all lesbians Harley bike riders? And (and here´s the kicker), after all, hasn´t the mysterious gay community itself adopted the group umbrella label "LGBT"....Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered?" So aren´t all these things just versions of the same thing? This, I believe, is how much of the public thinks and this program only added another little bit to the layer of the misinformed. Personally, I suspect that many gay people and transsexuals might very well be insulted by such lines of thinking.
What I´ve written so far and what follows may seen to some to suggest an insensitivity on my part to the civil rights plight of the transgendered community. But please just read this through before clicking up your email program and sending me a bit of your angry or upset mind.
Let me make a point directly and plainly: there is no connection - emotionally or psychologically - between transgenderism and homosexuality. No defining shared dynamics - either at the level of "identity" or sexual orientation. The only communality is that they both represent a sexual minority group – a group that deviates from cultural expectations. Homosexuality is, first of all, not a disorder according to current scientific understanding and not-withstanding the Catholic Church´s misuse of the term "objective disorder" (whatever the heck that means). Homosexuality, bi-sexuality and heterosexuality are variants of sexual orientation. In turn, sexual orientation has to do with the object of ones sexual desire and attention. It has nothing to do with rejecting ones own physical biological sex in favor of it´s opposite gender identity. Homosexuals typically have little desire to "be" the opposite sex. In reality, they only want to bed and love the same sex - and if bi-sexual, desires can be directed at either of the sexes. The bi-sexual and the homosexual are most often accepting and happy to be the sex they are and gender identity follows easily as matched. In addition, odd as it may seem, research suggests that very few transgendered people develop a homosexual orientation. That is to say, they are heterosexual when gauged from the position of their gender identity.
One writer put it well....Being gay (homosexual) or bi-sexual is a matter of hearts, not parts. Transgenderism, on the other hand, is very much about "parts".....The transgendered soul feels trapped in the body of the wrong sex. Their mental gender identity coincides with that of the opposite physical sex. They feel emotionally that they have the wrong parts - that the parts they do have, don´t match their hearts (and minds). Talk seriously to the average gay guy about surgically removing his penis and developing bigger boobs and they most likely will run screaming away from you as quickly as they can manage to go.
At risk of adding to the confusion - while it´s true that some gay men and women enjoy cross dressing (going in drag)....this is still a far cry from loathing their body to the point of yearning for a surgical change. I´ve known a number of male drag queens over the years and the vast majority of them are not body dysphoric (disliking of their biological sex).
One final thought: In my opinion, the "gay community" may have shot itself in one foot and the "transgendered community" in the other when it was decided (without, by the way, asking me) to combine transgenderism and gay rights into a single cause and under a common banner. I know, I know....all the arguments about sexual minorities banding together and all...but still, to the uninformed and slowly educated public the LGBT label is just further confirmation that these things are pretty much all the same. Another point I offer for consideration: just possibly both the homosexual and transsexual civil rights movements may each take negative hits because of the continued confusion between the terms in the minds of average citizens. Whatever prejudices exist towards one may spill over to the other. Such misunderstandings can slow their similar yet separate struggles towards sexual minority equality. The joining of LGB-T may, in fact, be doing no one a service.
The transgendered person´s "dissonance" between gender identity (as male or female) and the mismatch to physical body parts is likely what constitutes the contemporary concept of "disorder". However, like the NPR author, I and many others hope and believe that someday - down the road - when we grow up enough as a culture not to get so idiotically bent out of shape over consensual sexual matters, this "disordered" label will also go by the wayside and be found only in history books. The same I hope will be true of all the variations in sexual orientation. But in the meantime, for the sake of understanding both concepts – i.e. the concept of sexual orientation and the concept of transgenderism, it´s really better to know and appreciate that the two are not dynamically or psychologically related. They are different things. NPR missed a chance to get this idea across. I suspect it won´t be the last time such an opportunity is overlooked.
Old erroneous ideas die a slow death, even on National Public Radio.
