trans awareness month

Being a volunteer at the Queer Resource center not only allows me to help make a difference (however small it might be) with LGBTQ rights but it also allows me to stay informed on the happenings out there in the world of sexuality.

For trans awareness month the QRC is hosting a variety of different events and workshops to help educate people and promote awareness.

In honor of this I thought I would pass along some definitions I was given when I started volunteering. While these might be obvious to some of you, there are many people out there who have no idea what they mean. Some people just confuse them.

Thanks for reading, and pass on the knowledge!

Cross Dresser: Cross dressers periodically dress up as members of the “other” sex, but do not desire to change their birth sex. They dress up for a variety of reasons including self expression, personal enjoyment, and/or sexual gratification. Many cross-dressers are heterosexuals, but cross-dressers can be of any gender identity or sexual orientation.

Trans: An inclusive term that describes a gender identity and/or gender expression that is outside of social norms.

Transgender: Describes individuals who cross-over gender identities without necessarily changing their bodies. This includes individuals who identify as a gender different than their assigned sex at birth as well as those who experience themselves as being genderless. People of all sexual orientations can be transgender.

Transsexual: A person whose gender identity does not match the culturally assigned gender identity for their anatomical sex and who generally desire a physical transition that includes hormones and/or surgery. People of all sexual orientations can be transsexual.

Transvestite: A person who derives sexual pleasure from dressing in the clothes of the opposite sex.

Queer: Having a sexual orientation, sex, or gender identity expression different from that of deemed respectable by mainstream society. A term that was originally derogatory but as been transformed within the LGBTQ community to be more inclusive of various identities.