Transcend FAQ

What does Transgender mean?
Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender identity (sense of themselves as male or female) or gender expression differs from that usually associated with their birth sex. Many transgender people live part-time or full-time as members of the other gender. Broadly speaking, anyone whose identity, appearance, or behavior falls outside of conventional gender norms can be described as transgender. However, not everyone whose appearance or behavior is gender-atypical will identify as a transgender person.

What is the difference between sex and gender?
Sex refers to biological status as male or female. It includes physical attributes such as sex chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, internal reproductive structures, and external genitalia. Gender is a term that is often used to refer to ways that people act, interact, or feel about themselves, which are associated with boys/men and girls/women. While aspects of biological sex are the same across different cultures, aspects of gender may not be.

What is the relationship between gender identity and sexual orientation?
People generally experience gender identity and sexual orientation as two different things. Sexual orientation refers to one’s sexual attraction to men, women, both, or neither, whereas gender identity refers to one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender. Usually people who are attracted to women prior to transition continue to be attracted to women after transition, and people who are attracted to men prior to transition continue to be attracted to men after transition. That means, for example, that a biologic male who is attracted to females will be attracted to females after transitioning, and she may regard herself as a lesbian.

Where can I find more information about transgender issues?

American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington DC, 20002
202-336-5500
www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/transgender

The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, Inc.
World Professional Association of Transgender
1300 South Second Street, Suite 180
Minneapolis, MN 55454
612-624-9397
612-624-9541 (fax)
hbigda@hbigda.org (e-mail)
www.hbigda.org

Gender Public Advocacy Coalition
1743 Connecticut Ave., NW
Fourth Floor
Washington, DC 20009
202-462-6610
www.gpac.org

National Center for Transgender Equality
1325 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
202-903-0112
202-393-2241 (fax)
www.nctequality.org

Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Transgender Network (TNET)
1726 M Street, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
202-467-8180
www.pflag.org/TNET.tnet.0.html

Sylvia Rivera Law Project
322 8th Avenue
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10001
212-337-8550
212-337-1972 (fax)
www.srlp.org

Transgender Law Center
870 Market Street
Room 823
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-865-0176
www.transgenderlawcenter.org