Transgender is the state of one's gender identity (self-identification as woman, man, neither or both) or gender expression not matching

one's assigned sex (identification by others as male, female or intersex based on physical/genetic sex).[1] ransgender is independent of sex!al orientation" transgender people may identify as heterosex!al, homosex!al, bisex!al, pansex!al, polysex!al, or asex!al" some may consider con#entional sex!al orientation labels inade$!ate or inapplicable to them. he precise definition for transgender is changing b!t ne#ertheless incl!des%

&'f, relating to, or designating a person whose identity does not conform !nambig!o!sly to con#entional notions of male or female gender roles, b!t combines or mo#es between these.&[(] &)eople who were assigned a sex, !s!ally at birth and based on their genitals, b!t who feel that this is a false or incomplete description of themsel#es.&[*] &+on-identification with, or non-presentation as, the sex (and ass!med gender) one was assigned at birth.&[,]

- transgender indi#id!al may ha#e characteristics that are normally associated with a partic!lar gender, identify elsewhere on the traditional gender contin!!m, or exist o!tside of it as other, agender, gender$!eer, or third gender. ransgender people may also identify as bigender or along se#eral places on either the traditional transgender contin!!m or the more encompassing contin!!ms that ha#e been de#eloped in response to recent, significantly more detailed st!dies.[.] /!rthermore, many transgender people experience a period of identity de#elopment that incl!des better !nderstanding one's self-image, self-reflection, and self-expression. 0ore specifically, the degree to which indi#id!als feel gen!ine, a!thentic, and comfortable within their external appearance and accept their gen!ine identity is referred to as transgender congr!ence. 1arry 2en3amin in#ented a classification system for transsex!als and trans#estites" he called his system the 4ex 'rientation 4cale (4'4). 5n the 4'4, 2en3amin assigns transsex!als and trans#estites to one of six categories based on their reasons for crossdressing, and the relati#e !rgency of their need (if any) for sex reassignment s!rgery.[16] 0any transsex!als belie#e that to be a tr!e transsex!al, a person needs to ha#e a desire for s!rgery.[17] 1owe#er, 2en3amin's moderate intensity &tr!e transsex!al& needs either estrogen or testosterone as a &s!bstit!te for or preliminary to operation.&[16] here are also people who ha#e had sex!al reassignment s!rgery (484), b!t do not meet the definition of a transsex!al,[19][1:] while other people do not desire 484, yet clearly meet 2en3amin 4cale definition of a &tr!e transsex!al&, s!ch as 0iriam 8i#era. 5n addition to the larger categories of transgender and transsex!al, there is a wide range of gender expressions and identities which are contrary to the mainstream male-female binary. hese incl!de cross dressers, drag $!eens, drag ;ings, trans#estites, gender$!eer, etc. 4ome people ta;e iss!e with transsexual beca!se <irginia =harles )rince, who started the maga>ine Transvestia and b!ilt !p the cross-dressing organi>ation ri-?ss, !sed transgender to disting!ish cross-dressers from gay, bisex!al and transsexual people.[(@] 5n &0en Aho =hoose to 2e Aomen,& )rince wrote &5, at least, ;now the difference between sex and gender and ha#e simply elected to change the latter and not the former.&[(1] here is ample academic literat!re on the difference between sex and gender, b!t in pragmatic ?nglish this distinction is often ignored,

so that &gender& is !sed to describe the categorical male/female difference and &sex& is !sed to describe the physical act of sex!al interco!rse.[((] here is political tension between the identities that fall !nder the &transgender !mbrella.&[(*] /or example, transsex!al men and women who can pay for medical treatments (or who ha#e instit!tional co#erage for their treatment) are li;ely to be concerned with medical pri#acy and establishing a d!rable legal stat!s as their gender later in life. ?xtending ins!rance co#erage for medical care is a coherent iss!e in the intersection of transsex!ality and economic class.

Transgender identities
Ahile people self-identify as transgender, the transgender identity !mbrella incl!des sometimeso#erlapping categories. hese incl!de transsex!al" trans#estite or cross-dresser" gender$!eer" androgyne" and bigender.[(,] Bs!ally not incl!ded are trans#estic fetishists (beca!se it is considered to be a paraphilia rather than gender identification), and drag ;ings and drag $!eens, who are performers who cross-dress for the p!rpose of entertaining. 5n an inter#iew, celebrity drag $!een 8!)a!l tal;ed abo!t society's ambi#alence to the differences in the people who embody these terms. &- friend of mine recently did the Oprah show abo!t transgender yo!th,& said 8!)a!l. &5t was ob#io!s that we, as a c!lt!re, ha#e a hard time trying to !nderstand the difference between a drag $!een, transsex!al, and a transgender, yet we find it #ery easy to ;now the difference between the -merican baseball leag!e and the +ational baseball leag!e, when they are both so similar.&[(.] he c!rrent definitions of transgender incl!de all transsex!al people, altho!gh this has been critici>ed. (4ee below.) 5ntersex people ha#e genitalia or other physical sex!al characteristics that do not conform to strict definitions of male and/or female, b!t intersex people are not necessarily transgender, since they do not all disagree with their assigned sex at birth. ransgender and intersex iss!es often o#erlap, howe#er, beca!se they both challenge the notion of rigid definitions of sex and gender. he term trans man refers to female-to-male (/t0 or /(0) transgender people, and trans woman refers to male-to-female (0t/ or 0(/) transgender people. 5n the past, it was ass!med that there were more trans women than trans men, b!t a 4wedish st!dy estimated a ratio of 1.,%1 in fa#o!r of trans women for those re$!esting sex reassignment s!rgery and a ratio of 1%1 for those who proceeded.[(6] he term cisgender has been coined as an antonym referring to non-transgender people" i.e. those who identify with their gender assigned at birth.[(7] CD--E notes that, when referring to a transgender person, !sing that person's preferred name and prono!n regardless of their legal gender stat!s (as not all transgender people can afford s!rgery or other body modifications) is respectf!l. Bnli;e 'transsex!al', the word &transgender& sho!ld be !sed as an ad3ecti#e rather than a no!n F for example, &0ax is transgender& or &0ax is a transgender man& rather than &0ax is a transgender.&[(9]

1ealth-practitioner man!als, professional 3o!rnalistic style g!ides, and DC2 ad#ocacy gro!ps ad#ise the adoption by others of the name and prono!ns identified by the person in $!estion, incl!ding present references to the transgender person's past.[(:][*@][*1][*(][**][*,][*.][*6][*7][*9][*:][,@]

Transsexual
0ain article% ranssex!alism ranssex!al people identify as a member of the sex opposite to that assigned at birth, and desire to li#e and be accepted as s!ch.[,1][,(] ranssex!al people may !ndergo gender transition, the process of aligning one's gender expression or presentation with their internal gender identity. )eople who ha#e transitioned may or may not necessarily identify as transgender or transsex!al any longer, b!t simply as a man or a woman. hose who contin!e identifying as transsex!al men or women may not want to ignore their pre-transition life, and may contin!e strong ties with other trans people and raising social conscio!sness.[,*] he process of transition may in#ol#e some ;ind of medical gender reassignment therapy and often (b!t not always) incl!des hormone replacement therapy and/or sex reassignment s!rgery. 8eferences to &pre-operati#e&, &post-operati#e& and &non-operati#e& transsex!al people indicate whether they ha#e had, or are planning to ha#e sex reassignment s!rgery, altho!gh some trans people re3ect these terms as ob3ectifying trans people based on their s!rgical stat!s and not their mental gender identity.

Transvestite or cross-dresser
0ain article% rans#estism - trans#estite is a person who cross-dresses, or dresses in clothes of the opposite sex.[,,][,.] he term &trans#estite& is !sed as a synonym for the term &cross-dresser&,[,6][,7] altho!gh &crossdresser& is generally considered the preferred term.[,7][,9] he term 'cross-dresser' is not exactly defined in the rele#ant literat!re. 0ichael -. Cilbert,[,:] professor at the Eepartment of )hilosophy, Gor; Bni#ersity, oronto, offers this definition% &[- cross-dresser] is a person who has an apparent gender identification with one sex, and who has and certainly has been birthdesignated as belonging to [that] sex, b!t who wears the clothing of the opposite sex beca!se it is that of the opposite sex.& his definition excl!des people &who wear opposite sex clothing for other reasons,& s!ch as &those female impersonators who loo; !pon dressing as solely connected to their li#elihood, actors !nderta;ing roles, indi#id!al males and females en3oying a mas$!erade, and so on. hese indi#id!als are cross dressing b!t are not cross dressers.&[.@] =rossdressers may not identify with, or want to be the opposite gender, nor adopt the beha#iors or practices of the opposite gender, and generally do not want to change their bodies medically. he ma3ority of cross-dressers identify as heterosex!al.[.1] )eople who cross-dress in p!blic can ha#e a desire to pass as the opposite gender, so as not to be detected as a cross-dresser, or may be indifferent.

he term &trans#estite& and the associated o!tdated term &trans#estism& are concept!ally different from the term &trans#estic fetishism&, as &trans#estic fetishist& describes those who intermittently !se clothing of the opposite gender for fetishistic p!rposes.[.(][.*] 5n medical terms, trans#estic fetishism is differentiated from cross-dressing by !se of the separate codes *@(.*[.*] in the E40 and /6..