There are many of us out there, who have no vested interest in this, other than the general direction of humanity, but support trans people through all the shit they're currently being targeted with. It can be a little tricky as a white cis man to avoid statements that will be used by those whose position we oppose, but I at least will try to provide what positive support I can. Please try to take strength in that.
I hope that I always respond quickly and appropriately to requests to review posts that appear on our forum. In this case I did not receive any such requests, but I happen to follow this thread to improve my understanding of the issues that trans people face.
Accordingly (with no previous issues from the poster), I’ve made a polite announcement explaining what is expected from participants on this thread. If anyone persisted in contravening this expectation, I would have no qualms in enforcing it.
On another note, when someone closes their account, it goes into a dormant state for seven days before it is deleted. This policy is in place for the folks who delete their accounts and then change their minds a few days later. But if anyone had a reasonable request for immediate removal, I would always attempt to sort this as quickly as possible.
The help link on every page leads to a page where you can contact me directly. There is no call centre or AI robot responding to these requests, there’s just me, but I do my best to be available at all reasonable times of the day or night.
Truly heartwarming scenes today in Lincoln after word went out that there was an anti trans demo outside Primark. 3 people turned up for the demo with around 4-500 for the counter demo. I went down with my son as an ally and was amazed at the scale and breadth of people who had turned out to suport the trans community. Fortunately it was all peaceful and the TERFs cleared off after and hour and fory five minutes, leaving behind a carnival atmosphere. I always have Lincoln down as being a bit intolerant and really didnt know what to expect, but I was very proud of the reaction of the city today.
A thread about how we can encourage and include people in whatever exercise they are interested in and removing barriers to participation.
Glossary -------------------- Amendments/Corrections/Requests just ask for a sidebar edit. This is NOT comprehensive, just some helpful shorthand. ---------------------
Gender Identity ≠ Gender Expression ≠ Anatomical Sex ≠ Sexual Orientation
Anatomical sex = The physical aspects that make you fit into a category based on genitals, chromosomes etc i.e. Intersex, Female, Male... Gender identity = The internal view of gender, the way you see yourself. Gender expression = The way you present to others externally through clothing, behaviours, language and other social signals.
Sexual orientation = Who you are attracted to.
None of the above are dependent on any of the others, individuals may relate one to another in their specific case, but assuming what one might be based on observation of another is not a sound basis for determination.
Transgender (Trans) = When your gender identity does not match your identity assigned at birth based on anatomical sex. Cisgender (Cis) = When your gender identity matches your identity assigned at birth based on anatomical sex. Non Binary (Enby) = When your gender identity doesn't fall into either of the female/male choice. It may exist somewhere on the spectrum between woman and man, either stable of fluctuating between woman-ness and man-ness. This may encapsulate those that may use terms such as genderfluid, agender, demigender et al.
Pronouns = she/her, him/his, them/they etc... How to refer best to someone else. Really simply, follow their lead. Ask if unsure, be polite. If corrected, it's not a problem unless you repeatedly ignore correction.
Transition = The process somebody goes through to alter their physical attributes to better match their gender identity and expression.
Dysphoria = The distress a person feels due to a mismatch between their gender identity and their sex assigned at birth. Can fluctuate and be experienced at varying degrees. Dysmorphia = Discomfort with the shape/form of the body. Present in eating disorders and the like, but can often effect transgender people, with triggers such as body hair presence/absence, chest/genital presentation etc. Deadname - The name a person is assigned at birth, that they no longer use.
Triggers = Things that are known to cause an effect. Typically, X causes a person to experience dysphoria/dysmorphia. Sometimes these can be managed/avoided, other times they are inevitable.
Acronyms: amab = assigned male at birth (originally born anatomically male)
afab = assigned female at birth (originally born anatomically female)
ftm = female to male transitioner mtf = male to female transitioner egg = state of somebody before becoming aware they were transgender i.e. "their egg cracked when they realised and began to emerge" GIC/GIS = Gender Identity Clinic/Service, providing transition services GRS = Gender Reassignment Surgery
General notes: * Not everyone will be comfortable talking about their situation, depending on where they are. * Not everyone has the language to articulate how they feel, what they want to say. Be patient. * These things are NOT static, what you encounter in a person today may evolve into something else later. * Am I trans/cis/enby etc... Frankly, you tell us. Whatever YOU are comfortable with at the time is what we will adopt. It is YOUR identity. * This language is weird. Yup, and we (CreatureOfTheHill) as a plural system talk strange too, it's OK. We (CreatureOfTheHill) are not "normal", never have been. * Am I weird/abnormal? Possibly, but it has NOTHING to do with being here or being trans/enby or whatever. People just are in general, and that is OK, we love you for your quirkiness.
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Gender identity, please help change
Jun 2021
