How to deal with Transgender issues - for media 1.

A short guide to the what - not s NO - Never ever use the words Tranny, Trassie, She-Male, Hermaphrodite or any other slang words when reporting on Trans people. Yes Always use Trans man, Trans woman for people who have transitioned or are in the
process of transitioning. See list below for extended terminologies.

No Never call Trans men and Trans women by the popular reference -Transvestite.
Transvestites do not change their gender. They are people who dress in clothes of their opposite sex.

NO Never, under any circumstance, refer to Trans people under the blanket term Gay.
Transgender is not about sexual preference, it is about gender. Trans people run the gamut of sexualities - gay bisexual and heterosexual. Calling them gay would be like assuming and asserting that all feminists are lesbians.

2. He or She?
When writing about transgender people, the correct way to refer to them is by their chosen gender. When talking or reporting about a person who has transitioned from female to male, the correct pronouns would be the masculine form like for any other kind of male. E.g. He realized that his female body did not match his sense of self E.g.: Robert Hamblin used to be a woman but has transitioned to a man, thus one now refers to him as him and he. Of course the same transition applies to people who have transitioned from male to female. With intersex people and gender queer people it would be best to ask how they would like to be referred to.

3. Terms
a. A Trans man s chosen gender is male; he starts out with a female body. b. A Trans woman's chosen gender is female; she was born with a man's body. (The Tans man and Trans woman issue seems to be confusing for people. In a review of the film Trans America a well-known journalist referred to the transsexual character that Felicity Huffman portrays as a Trans Man. This was incorrect . The trans part of the word is the adjective and the man/woman part of the word is the noun. Thus when someone has become a woman it would be rather stupid to use a masculine noun when referring to this woman.

Executive Director: Liesl Theron | Tel. 083 320 7691 Fax 086 614 2298 | info@genderdynamix.org.za | www.genderdynamix.org.za Registered Non Profit Organisation in South Africa 052-178-NPO

c. MTF - (male to female) are people who were born in a male body, and whose gender identity is female d. FTM - (male to female) a person who was born in a female body, and who s chosen gender is male e. Transgender: Broadly speaking, transgender people are indivaduals whose gender expression and/or gender identity differs from conventional expectations based on the original sex they were born into. Transgender can include a number of sub-categories, which, among others, include transsexual, cross-dresser, transvestite, consciously androgynous people, people who are gender queer, people who live cross-gender, gender blenders, butch women, effeminate men, drag kings and drag queens, among many others. f. Transsexual: is a medical term describing people whose gender and biological sex are not the same. Transsexual people may seek medical treatment to bring their body and gender identity into alignment. There are several terms used to commonly describe transsexual people, including Male to Female , Female to Male and trans woman and trans man. g. Intersex: Intersex people are born with chromosonal anomalies or ambiguous genitalia. Intersex infants are often asshgned a gender by doctors soon after birth, and subjected to surgical procedures some intersex people develop gender identity issues later on in life. Do not refer to intersex people as hermaphrodites. It is an Offensive outdated term and incorrect in it s assumption that intersex people posses genitalia of both sexes. h. Transition/ing: Trans-people may choose surgery or hormone treatment to more align their bodies to their gender - the process is referred to as transitioning. NONE OF THE ABOVE HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH SEXUAL PREFERENCE. Trans people have the gamut of sexualities that does not necessarily play itself out in a predictable way before or after their transitions. i. Cross Dresser/Transvestite: A person who dresses in the clothing of the opposite sex. Generally, these persons do not wish to alter their biological gender. Being a transvestite does not mean that you are gay. Sometimes it has to do with sexual fetish but most often not. j. LGBTI: Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, intersex

Final note:
Please note that referring to transgender people by the wrong terms or with the incorrect pronouns is offensive and hurtful to most. To call Robert Hamblin she is offensive to him or to call him a trans woman because he was born with a female s body is incorrect. He is a trans man. The guidelines above are internationally accepted standards - medical, legal and social. If one believes that journalism is a pursuit of truth without fear or favour then using the correct terms supplied by an appropriate source would surely just be informative good journalism and not a weighing up of whether one should personally indulge a sexual minority group. Gender DynamiX is a registered N.P.O. who is committed to education on Transgender issues. Please feel free to request any information or assistance from us about these issues. Source: www.genderdynamiX.org.za

Executive Director: Liesl Theron | Tel. 083 320 7691 Fax 086 614 2298 | info@genderdynamix.org.za | www.genderdynamix.org.za Registered Non Profit Organisation in South Africa 052-178-NPO