2. What is being transgender?
Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal
identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.
According to medical theory being transgender is a genetic
component that doesn't form correctly during the
early stages of pregnancy. This means while in the womb the
baby forms a different body than brain, or vise versa.
3. Statistics
There is about 1.4 million people who identify as transgender across the
Untied States
About 0.7 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds living in the United
States identify as transgender
42 percent of teens who identify as transgender have had
thoughts of suicide
55% of all reported LGBT homicide victims were transgender
women, and 50% were transgender women of color.
20% of respondents reporting that they were evicted or denied
housing simply for being transgender
4. Symptoms and Behaviors
Ask yourself why you are curious. If it's persistent discomfort
with your assigned gender, or attraction to the image of
yourself as a different gender, you may be transgender.
Consider the possibility that your gender is nonbinary: if you
don't feel like you are exactly a man or a woman, you could be
something else.
If you feel comfortable with your assigned gender but you
notice yourself acting out of step with other cisgender people,
that doesn't necessarily mean you're transgender. You could
just be a feminine man, or a masculine woman.
5. Strategies
Find a gender therapist
Explore the internet
Dress to express yourself
Ask questions
Acknowledge being curious
7. Support groups
National Center for Transgender Equality
1325 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 700 Washington, DC 20005 202-903-0112
202-393-2241 (fax) www.nctequality.org
