LGBT

PSYCHOLOGY
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
•Understanding Transgenderism;
•Who is Transgender?; and
•The Transitioning process.
 Understanding Transgenderism

Society attaches a lot of meaning to our biological

sex or physical sex. Parents unknowingly set up a
gender-based pattern or raising their children upon
knowing the biological sex their babies.
Pink for girls and blue for
boys is a reflection of our
heteronormative culture
wherein we expect females
to be feminine and males to
be masculine.
This limited view on sexuality makes it harder for those
who do not fit in the box of masculinity and femininity,
like lesbians, gays and bisexual. However, it makes it so
much more difficult for the transgender people, those
who fell like they were born in the wrong body or given
the wrong biological sex.
 Understanding Transgenderism
Example:
Who is a transgender?

The APA(American Psychological

Association) defines transgender as “an
umbrella term for person whose gender
identity, gender expression, or behavior
does not conform to that typically
associated with the sex to which they
were assigned at birth”.
This “feeling” or gender identity is not
something that changes through time, but is a
feeling that they have since childhood.
There are people who lived their life expressing a
gender that is different from their biological sex.
This gender nonconformity or gender crossing
were celebrated by the native Americans through
the “berdache” or the two-spirited people. We
also have our own “Babaylan” or “catalonan”,
precolonial priest who are mostly females but
some are males who lives as female priests.
Pictures of our babaylans that are men
but lived and dressed as woman:
The word transgender is also used as an “umbrella term”,
this means that there are many identities under this term.
Transsexuals, for example , is often used in the medical
field to refer to people whose gender identity is different
from their biological sex and they may want to change
their body, so it resembles how they feel about their gender
identity.
A biologically male person may feel like she is a women
since she was just a child and in adulthood, she may
choose to have a “hormonal replacement therapy or sex
re assignment surgery”.
Example:
Other sexualities under the transgender umbrella term includes;

• FTM-female to male, a
person whose biological
sex is female and has
transitioned to living his
life as a male;
• MTF-male to female, a
person whose
biological sex is male
and has transitioned
to living her life as a
female;
• Crossdressing- some
people want to dress as
the opposite gender from
time to time, however,
unlike the transsexual,
they are comfortable
identifying with their
biological sex;
• Drag kings and
queens- these are
people who dress as
the opposite gender for
entertainment which
they do out of passion
or for work; and
• Gender queer- these
are people who feel like
their gender does not
fit the gender binary
view that is limited to
the male or female
category because they
feel that these are too
restrictive.
 The transitioning process:
When a person realizes that he or
she may be a transgender, a
psychologist can guide the person
through the transition especially
when a person wants to go through
permanent changes like sex
reassignment surgery.
In some countries,
transitioning is covered by
their medical insurance,
and they get support from
their employers and families
which is very crucial during
transitioning because it
takes years to fully
transition.
 Countries that open the sex
reassignment

Sweden became the first country in the world to allow

transgender people to change their legal gender after
"reassignment surgery" and provide free "reassignment"
treatment in 1972.
Austria, Czechia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Italy,
Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Spain and etc.
There are transgender people who
cannot have or do not want to have
hormonal replacement therapy or
sex reassignment surgery because
of personal, economic, or cultural
reasons.
Transitioning to another gender is
very challenging process for many
transgender people because of the
social stigma, discrimination,
medical cost, accessibility of
medical treatment and support,
oppressive laws in each country,
and the threat of violence from
prejudiced people.
Some countries allow for
transgender people to change their
legal gender from male to female or
female to male.
However, Philippines still lack the
laws and the medical capacity to
support transgender people In
living their full potential.
The proper use of pronouns, he or she,
should be observed when talking to a
transgender person to show respect as a
decent human being.
When a person is clearly presenting
herself as female, they want to use “she”
and “her”.
And When a person is clearly presenting
herself as male, you may use “him” or
“her”.
However, it is always a good practice to
respect them for their preferred pronoun
instead of assuming but do so in a polite
way.
 Summary

Labels are important especially in the acceptance and promotion

of human rights. The evolution of the terms used to describe
people who are emotionally and sexually attracted to the same
sex have evolved through time. From homosexuality, to gay, and
to LGBTQA+, let us remember that we are all humans, born free
and equal.
 Assessment
1.Write a reflection paper on what you think and
how you feel about the LGBTQ+ Portrayed in your
favorite TV show or series. Share why you think or
feel that way.
 References

The human rights campaign foundation.(2019).

Welcoming Schools. Retrieved February 14,2019 from
http://www.welcomingschools.org/resources/definitio
ns/youth-definitions/gold,M (2018). The ABC’s of
LGBTQIA+.
The New York Times. Retrieved February 14,2019
from
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/style/lgbtq-
gender-language.html