A transsexual is a person with the deep and permanent conviction of belonging to a gender different from that of their genitalia.
If no one asks to be born with the attributes of a man or a woman, how can we believe that someone assumes that ambivalence “just because” or to “annoy others” as is sometimes heard on the street? It is not about breaking norms established in society for men and women. This is not the desire of those who live such an experience by the will of nature, not their own. When feeling inside a “wrong body”, they need to modify it, adjust it to their identity, just as other people try to adjust their body weight or those areas of their body that make them feel dissatisfied, and for this they invoke their right to adequate self-esteem and better mental health. It is all that these people claim. Life is too precious a gift. If the envelope in which it has been given us is a cause of conflict,there is nothing wrong with trying to harmonize it with our feelings and needs. What we are will always be worth more, and it must be respected.
Anonymous article published in the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (Havana)
Definitions
The Transsexualism is a condition that causes the gender identity of the individual does not match the sexual identity attached to it from biological criteria. The desire to modify external sexual characteristics that do not correspond to the gender with which they feel identified, leads these people to try to adapt their body to the self-perceived gender, to live and be accepted as people of the gender to which they feel they belong. The fitness of the body involves going through hormone replacement therapy and even surgery.
Some specialists characterize transsexuality as a discordance between gender identity and biological sex.
A transsexual male is that person whose brain was formed properly masculine unlike the rest of the body. Therefore a transsexual male is a male. [4] A transsexual woman is a person whose brain was formed properly feminine unlike the rest of the body. Consequently, a transsexual woman is a woman.
One in 30,000 people born with male genitalia and one in 100,000 people born with female genitalia are transsexuals. So far the reason why there are more transsexual women than transsexual men is unknown. The very cause of transsexuality is not known either.
Scientific studies
A study by several experts from the University of Amsterdam (Zhou, Hofman, Gooren and Swaab) is rated as the best evidence that the brain of transsexual people and the brain of people of the sex with which they identify is structurally already identical neurochemical level. [4] There is evidence in numerous studies on animals that shows that exposure to hormones of the opposite sex during pregnancy can produce behaviors related to the opposite sex, from which it is deduced that the origin of this condition could be generated during the gestation of the fetus .
Be that as it may, long gone are the old ideas that transsexuals behave reprehensibly or worthy of being rejected. Transsexuality, gender dysphoria or Benjamin syndrome, is a question of identity, never related to crime or ” vices “, nor is it related to the sexual life of the person. [4] The issue of transsexuality has evolved in recent years, modifying many concepts that refer to sexual identity.
The real problem with the transsexual today is not that he is trapped in the wrong body. The real problem with the transsexual today is that he is trapped in the wrong social mentality.
Yliana Sánchez
In 1950, the psychiatrist and endocrinologist Harry Benjamin (1885-1986) decided to apply his two specialties to the treatment of the transsexual: if the mind could not change to adapt to the body, then the body would have to be changed to adapt to the mind. He subjected his patients to a test – which is still called RLT (Real Life Test: real life test) – over a period of approximately two years, the supposed transsexual must observe if he is able to adapt to the social mold set, set roles, set behaviors, set responses, set image, set wardrobe, etc.
Nomenclature
A “transsexual” is a man who feels like a woman. A “transsexual” is a woman who feels like a man. A ” transvestite ” is a woman who dresses in men’s clothing. A “transvestite” is a male who dresses in women’s clothing.
The Student Dictionary , of the Royal Spanish Academy , defines “transsexual” as a ‘person who feels of the opposite sex, dresses and behaves accordingly and aspires to acquire or has acquired the corresponding physical characteristics through hormonal treatment or surgical intervention’ .
A transvestite, according to the same dictionary, is a ‘person who – by natural inclination or as part of a show – dresses in clothes of the opposite sex’. The Dictionary of Sex and Eroticism , by Félix Rodríguez , specifies that it is generally about men who disguise themselves and adopt the gestures of a woman.
That same dictionary defines “transformista” as the artist ‘who changes clothes and adopts gestures of the opposite sex in a show’ so that he ‘transforms’ into another person:’ into a character that he imitates or into another of his own creation ‘.
The Pan – Hispanic Dictionary of doubts notes that apply to both the acute form “Travest í ” (used in parts of Spain, and is consistent with the original pronunciation in French), as the flat “transvestite”, which is the majority now. He points out that the term “transvestite” and “transvestite” is also used – although less so. He adds that, although it is generally used in reference to men, it is common in terms of gender (“a transvestite” and “a transvestite”).
The word “transsexual” is linguistically common in terms of gender (the transsexual). The organizations that defend this group consider that it is appropriate to refer to transsexuals with the gender corresponding to the sex with which they identify. Thus, to refer to a person born with a male biological sex, but who feels like a woman (whether or not she has undergone a gender reassignment process), it is appropriate to use the feminine “the transsexual” or “the transsexual woman “And vice versa: a person born with a female biological sex, but who feels male (whether or not he has undergone a gender reassignment process), it is appropriate to use the male” the transsexual “or” the transsexual male. ”
The concept of transgender does not refer to a transsexual who is physically transgender and who has not made certain changes. The concept of transgender is a different concept that does not refer to the physical aspect of sex but refers to the social aspect of gender, in the sense of how sex manifests itself. Sex does not manifest itself physically. Yes there are organs, but that is not sex. A person may be lame, however “handicapped” is made him socially. A person can have certain sexual organs but they are made a man or a woman socially. Sex is a social construction. And transgender is a concept whereby there are certain individuals who by ho by b, because they don’t want to, because they can’t, because they like it, because they are rare, because they claim it that way, etc.they live a life that escapes the easy classification of what sexual behaviors are and what the sexes are. That’s what transgender is. It can obviously imply that it is operated or that it is not. For example, I could be a transgender person and have surgery or not. I believe that it is a concept totally alien to the physical or material processes that a person can carry out and that it enters the field of personal decisions and how the person considers that they should move around sex. That is why the transgender thing is so well seen. While transsexuality seems to be a forced thing, you have a transsexuality as you could have the mumps or as you could be a man or a woman: you do not choose. The transgender gives an air of freedom, that the person is transgender because he chooses in a certain way to be.I feel comfortable playing that transgressive and mold-breaking role. That is fantastic because you have a positive contribution from you.
State Policies
In July 2016, 23 European countries included sterilization among the requirements to legally recognize a person as a transsexual. Transgender men born to women often receive hormone treatments, but recent studies show that this does not deprive them of getting pregnant in the short or long term.
In Cuba the sex change operation is free.
In 2011, the right-wing newspaper ABC (Madrid) wrongly reported that the Government of Cuba would pay for a gender change operation for the first time.
This was false, since up to that moment 15 people had already been operated free of charge, from the programs of the Ministry of Health and Cenesex ( National Center for Sex Education ).
Recognized transsexuals
The first known pregnant transsexual man is Thomas Beatie, from Arizona in the United States. In 2008 he had his first child and is currently the father of three. [10]
Sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski (formerly called Brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski) became world famous thanks to The Matrix , the sci-fi trilogy starring Keanu Reeves. In 2012, Larry announced that he is transsexual and changed his name to Lana. In 2016, her brother Andy announced the same thing, and adopted the name Lilly.
Being a transsexual is not easy. We live in a world forced to be dual on gender issues. That means that if you are transsexual, you have to face the harsh reality of living the rest of your life in a world openly hostile to you. I feel lucky because I have the support of my family and I have the possibility to pay for the doctors and the necessary therapies that this process entails. Transsexuals who do not have support, means or privileges do not have this luxury. And many do not survive. When you are transsexual, it is difficult to hide. I just wanted and needed some time to collect my ideas, to feel comfortable. But apparently I have not been able to decide.
Lilly Wachowski
Diane, born Luis, was looking for someone to build a family with. He wanted that person to also support his career as an activist. Fernando was born in Venezuela under the name of María: «A few days after chatting with her, I took a bus to Ecuador. After three weeks living together, I got pregnant. Neither of them have undergone sex reassignment surgery and were able to conceive a baby like any other couple. They did not need special medical intervention.
Article of the ACN (Cuban News Agency)
WHO and transsexuality
The World Health Organization ( WHO ) has excluded transsexuality as a mental illness in the first update of its International Classification of Diseases in almost three decades published. After eleven years of work, the WHO has decided that transsexuality, which is a disorder of gender identity, leaves the section of mental illnesses, and enters that of sexual behaviors.