11.1.2

Gender Identity Disorder

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Gender Dysphoria

Sex is what a person is born biologically and gender is the norms/behaviours a person acts and identifies as. If there is a disconnect between a person’s sex and their gender and this causes them distress, there are said to have gender identity disorder.

Gender non-conforming

Gender non-conforming

  • Certain people feel that their biological sex does not match with their identity in terms of gender.
  • For example, a person who is born biologically female may feel mentally/psychologically male.
  • They can be referred to as gender non-conforming, gender expansive or commonly, transgender.
Gender dysphoria

Gender dysphoria

  • When this disconnect between sex and gender causes a person distress and anxiety, it is labelled as gender dysphoria.
  • The DSM-5 refers to this as gender dysphoria which some believe has less stigma associated with that term.
Transgender and GID

Transgender and GID

  • It is important to note that being transgender does not necessarily mean a person has gender identity disorder.
  • GID is the result of the distress and anxiety caused by the incongruity between their sex and gender.
Transsexual

Transsexual

  • Another term that is often used is transsexual.
  • This term, currently, can be considered a subset of transgendered as those that have been ‘transsexed’, i.e. have undergone gender-reassignment surgery.
  • However, some transgender individuals reject the term transsexual and some transsexual individuals reject transgender. Use discretion while using these terms.
Transvestism

Transvestism

  • It is also important to note that GID is different from cross-dressing (this is referred to as transvestism). People can cross-dress without wanting to change their sex and those who have GID may or may not enjoy cross-dressing.
  • Some people with GID live full-time as their identified sex while some do not.
  • Some may choose to undergo hormonal treatment or surgery to change their physical sex.
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