Lots Of People Don’t Understand
dys-pho-ri-a [dis-fawr-ee-uh, -fohr-]
noun Pathology
a state of dissatisfaction, anxiety, restlessness, or fidgeting.
Above is dictionary.com’s definition of dysphoria.
If you add the word “body” or “gender” to that definition, it becomes “body dysphoria” or “gender dysphoria”. That then turns the definition into:
a state of dissatisfaction, anxiety, restlessness, or fidgeting to do with one’s body or sex.
This means that people who do not identify as male or female(genderqueer, nonconforming) can feel dysphoria. If they choose to identify as trans* but not on either side of the spectrum, and areunsatisfied, anxious, restless, or fidget with their physical attributes, they feel dysphoria.
Dysphoria is a term for everyone. Just because someone doesn’t identify as either male or female doesn’t mean that they don’t feel it, and doesn’t mean that they are comfortable with their body.
Trans* is a crime in Canada
Under Sec 5.2(1)(c) of the ID screening regs of Aeronautics Act:
“An air carrier shall not transport a passenger if the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents.”
This means that anyone who is a post-op or non-op trans* person can be turned away from getting on flights in Canada. This is blatant discrimination towards the trans*community. Sign Below and tell Harper that Canadians won’t stand for this type of oppression.
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2007-82/FullText.html
Sign the petition: http://www.petitiononlinecanada.com/petition/tell-harper-to-allow-trans-people-to-fly-on-airplanes/758
Don’t Use The Terms If You’re Not Sure of Them
I’ve come across people using derogatory terms, not to be hurtful, just because of being uneducated. For instance, one of my friends used the term “shemale” around me to describe a trans woman sitting across from us on the bus(I’m not out to him, but he knows my views on transgender issues.) and I kind of freaked out a little bit. After my slight freakout, he said he only used it because there was no other word.
Since I surround myself with people from the queer community, I’m used to people just knowing correct terminology. The term “shemale” just seems very, very offensive to me, and probably is to those who are trans women. Some may have reclaimed the word as a positive label for themselves, but that does not give people the right to call any trans woman a “shemale”.
My point is, if you’re going to use a term to describe somebody who’s transgender, I would highly recommend not using a term other than their preferred pronouns, “they”, or “male/female at birth”.
It would just be nice if people outside the queer community were educated on matters like this.
note: I do not use the term ‘queer’ in a derogatory term, as many of us have reclaimed the term as a positive label. Although I discussed that earlier in this post, I feel it is okay as an umbrella term for LGBT individuals as LGBT may leave some people out.
