Whose Trans And Whose Not Trans. – Results

Okay here are my answers to yesterday’s pop quiz.

A commenter wrote,

Not enough info on the last two questions - Does the individual say they identify as trans? Gender Expression does not equate to Gender Identity. Can't guess at Identity with the only info available is on how they dress. If they say they identify as Trans, then yes, otherwise no.

They were right they were trick questions, because the answer to all the questions is to ask the person, they are the only ones who really know. And thank you to all of you who racked me over the coals for having only two choices. I purposely had only "Yes" and "No" to force this discussion.

My thoughts on all the questions is that the answers to all the questions is yes. I see being trans as a spectrum, a continuum, that the range of trans people goes from occasional crossdressing to full time with or without medical intervention. Anyone who crosses the gender norms.

I see someone who has detransitioned as trans because there could be other reasons why they detransitioned like family intervention, spiritual intervention, or they couldn't get a job, or they could see that going full time was not for them, so they’re only occasionally crossdress. There are many reason someone detransitions and some them are from trying to find their place in society. So once again, only they know if they're trans.

 

And for Drag Queens, they cross the gender norms, but not every Drag Queen identify as trans so again... ask!

 

Okay, here are the results from the questions from  yesterday...

Notice that the lasts questions, “A person transitioned and then detranistion. Are they trans?” and “A person crossdresses to do drag. Are they trans?” both had more “Nos” than “Yeses” and that the question about crossdressing also had a numbers of “Nos” and that is telling.

Some people believe that you have to have transitioned to be trans, while some believe that the only true trans person are on hormones and have had surgery. My definition if anyone who crosses the gender norms and all those who self-identify as trans. Some of us believe that there is a pecking order with post-ops on top, followed by the pre-ops, crossdressers and on the bottom drag queens.

I have a very wide umbrella. As Richard Nelson wrote about Leslie Feinberg defining "transgender" as a very broad umbrella, including all "people who cross the cultural boundaries of gender" The bottom line, it is the individual who determines if they are trans. As another commenter wrote,

A person is trans if they identify as trans. Who are we to decide whether or not someone is trans based on the above scenarios without knowing the subject's identity?

Exactly!

When you stop and think about it, what difference does it make how a person identifies? Just treat them as a person just like everyone else.