Transman

Transmen or trans men are transgender or transsexual people who were assigned female gender at birth (or, in some rare cases of intersexuality, later) and who feel that this is not an accurate or complete description of themselves. They therefore assume a male gender identity and/or strive to present themselves in a more male gender role.

Transmen can come from the whole of the female-to-male side of the transgender spectrum, from female-to-male transsexual persons to drag kings (female cross-dressers or transvestites are very rarely used designations) who consider themselves transgender.

Many transmen however do not use this particular word to describe themselves. Some transmen, who consider their change of gender to be completed, prefer to be called simply men. Others do not consider their gender identity to be the same as that of cisgendered men, do not wish to live in a traditional male gender role or they have other, individual reasons to prefer a different self-identification. The American Boyz, a transmale support organization, lists the following self-descriptions for some transmale-identified people:

"FTM/F2M (Female-To-Male), Butch, Trans man, FTV (Female TransVestite), Gender Outlaw, Genderqueer, Transsexual, Drag King, New Man, Boychick, She-Bear, Shapeshifter, Transfag, Tomboy, Passing Woman, Two-Spirit, Amazon, Tranny Boy, Intersexual, Female Guy, Tranz, Boss Grrl, Bearded Female, Transgenderist, Sir, Kurami, Hermaphrodite, Questioning".

Please note that many of these previously listed designations are considered wrong or sometimes offensive to those transmen who identify in with another self-description, and should not be used unless specifically requested.

The sexual orientation of transmen is very varied. Based on observations from many groups, the following applies: Approximately, one third prefers male partners and identifies as gay, one third prefers female partners and identifies usually as straight, and the last third either identfies as bisexual, pan- or omnisexual, undecided, or asexual. These are approximations due to the lack of accurate scientific statistics.

People who identify as lesbian and queer transmen who prefer female partners are also known, these are transmen who do indeed changed their gender role, but do not want to leave the lesbian community they were part of for a long time entirely behind them.

A list of "famous" transmen includes:

• Billy Tipton (1914-1989), jazz musician
• Alan Hart (1890-1962), physician
• Louis Graydon Sullivan (1951-1991), writer, biographer and founder of FTM International
• Reed Erickson (1917-1992), Businessman and founder of Erickson Educational Foundation [1] (http://web.uvic.ca/~erick123/)
• Robert Eads (1945-1999), died of ovarian cancer, subject of documentary Southern Comfort
• Alexander John Goodrum (1960-2002), founder of TGNet Arizona
• Meryn Cadell, writer and musician [2] (http://www.meryncadell.com/)
• Patrick Califia, writer [3] (http://www.sexuality.org/l/transgen/scpc.html)
• Loren Cameron, photographer [4] (http://www.lorencameron.com)
• James Green, writer & educator [5] (http://www.jamisongreen.com)
• Stephen Whittle, lawyer, writer and educator [6] (http://www.pfc.org.uk/campaign/people/swhittle.htm)
• Del Lagrace Volcano, performer and photographer [7] (http://www.disgrace.dircon.co.uk/) [8] (http://www.sexmutant.com/del.htm)
• Stephen Thorne, police officer [9] (http://www.ftma.net/lib/94/0110.html)
• Mauro Isaac Cabral, educator [10] (http://www.intersexualite.org/Mauro_Bio.doc)[11] (http://www.figinternet.org/Sections-index-req-printpage-artid-9.html)
• Aaron H. Dover, writer and educator [12] (http://web.uvic.ca/~ahdevor/)
• Leslie Feinberg(1949), writer and activist [13] (http://www.transgenderwarrior.org)
• Jacob Hale, philosopher [14] (http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/lgbts/people/hale.htm)
• David Harrison, actor, performer and playwright[15] (http://www.peterpants.net/)
• Mike Hernandez, writer and activist
• Andreas Krieger, athlet [16] (http://www.ftmaustralia.org/media/04/0207.html) [17] (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/26/sports/othersports/26STER.html?ex=1390453200&en=bc039fed4c6ea23a&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND)
• Daniel Van Oosterwijck, lawyer
• Blaine Paxton Hill, physics
• Mark Rees, activist
• Max Valerio, poet, writer and performer

See also:

• List of transgender-related topics

Links

• FTM International (http://ftmi.org)