Transman
Transmen or trans men are transgender or transsexual people who were assigned female gender at birth (or, in cases of intersexuality, later) and who feel that this is not an accurate or complete description of themselves. They therefore have a male gender identity and/or present themselves as men and desire to live in a male gender role. Some employ testosterone therapy to meet this goal or have mastectomy, hysterectomy, metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, urethraplasty, scrotoplasty, vaginectomy, and/or other surgeries performed, while some transmen do not make any physical changes to their bodies.
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 rarely used designations) who consider themselves transgender.
Many transmen however do not use this particular word to describe themselves. Some prefer to be called simply men, either because their gender change is complete, or because they feel that they have always been 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 have other, individual reasons to prefer a different self-identification. American Boyz, a transmale support organization, lists on their website 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 offensive or illegitimate to those transmen who identify with another self-description, and should not be used unless specifically requested.
The sexual orientations of transmen are obviously varied. Some have extrapolated data observing that approximately one third prefer male partners and identify as gay, one third prefer female partners and usually identify as straight, and the last third either identify as bisexual, pan- or omnisexual, undecided, or asexual. These are necessarily approximations, due to a lack of accurate scientific statistics about such matters.
Sometimes, people who identify as lesbian and queer transmen who prefer female partners are also represented in an FTM community.
A list of "famous" FTMs includes the following:
- Alan Hart (1890-1962), physician
- Michael Laurence Dillon (1915-1962), author
- Billy Tipton (1914-1989), jazz musician
- Louis Graydon Sullivan (1951-1991), writer, biographer and founder of FTM International [1]
- Reed Erickson (1917-1992), Businessman, philanthropist and founder of Erickson Educational Foundation [2]
- Brandon Teena (1972-1993), murdered, subject of the film "Boys Don't Cry"
- Robert Eads (1945-1999), subject of documentary Southern Comfort
- Alexander John Goodrum (1960-2002), founder of TGNet Arizona
- Spencer Bergstadt, attorney
- Kylar Broadus, attorney
- Meryn Cadell, writer and musician [3]
- Patrick Califia, writer [4]
- Loren Cameron, photographer [5]
- Mauro Isaac Cabral, educator [6][7]
- Aaron H. Devor, writer and educator [8]
- Leslie Feinberg, Author
- James Green, writer & educator [9]
- Jacob Hale, philosopher [10]
- David Harrison, actor, performer and playwright[11]
- Mike Hernandez, writer and activist
- Andreas Krieger, athlete [12] [13]
- Del Lagrace Volcano, performer and photographer [14] [15]
- Shannon Minter, attorney
- Blaine Paxton Hill, physics [16]
- Martin Rawlings-Fein, editor, writer and activist [17]
- Mark Rees, activist
- Stephen Thorne, police officer [18]
- Max Valerio, poet, writer and performer
- Daniel Van Oosterwijck, attorney
- Stephen Whittle, attorney, writer and educator [19]
See also
External links
- FTM International
- Men's Ts Resources, Australia (previously FTM Australia)
- Transster.com This website is a photo repository of female to male (FTM) gender reassignment surgeries. A login ID and password are required.
- Loren Cameron The website of Loren Cameron, FTM photographer and author.
- Michael's Page The website of Michael, a transman, filled with useful information.
- Project XY The website of Bryan, an asian FTM.
- ftmtransition.com -- Ethan Daniel Ethan's website, which documents his transition from female to male.
- [20] Webside The Transitional Male