In the past few years, American popular culture has witnessed various manifestations of transgender identities and gender variance, from the musical Kinky Boots performed on stages around the country, to the portrayal of Caitlyn Jennerâs post-transition life on reality television, to the Oscar-winning performance of Laverne Cox in the Netflix show Orange is the New Black . These events constituted a departure from traditional representations of gender and gender identity as fixed and based on physical appearance. However, the histories of cultures around the globe mention transgender people. Even in the United States there had been sporadic news stories, such as the reporting of Christine Jorgensenâs sex reassignment surgery in the early 1950s and of tennis pro RenĂ©e Richardsâ 1977 court case allowing her to compete as a woman following a sex change operation. Less well-known to the American public have been many activists who pushed the gender envelope, often advocating for other social justice causes as well: Sylvia Rivera and Marsha Johnson (co-founders of the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries in New York City in 1970), Anne Ogborn (who started Transgender Nation in 1992), Riki Wilchins (author, and co-founder of The Transexual Menace in 1993 and founder of Gender PAC in 1995), author Leslie Feinberg, author and performance artist Kate Bornstein, and biologist/author/artist Julia Serano. In addition, academic scholarship (see Chap. 2) has helped accelerate changes in perspectives on gender, ultimately prompting Time magazine, featuring a picture of Laverne Cox on the cover, to proclaim âthe transgender tipping pointâ in 2014 (Steinmetz, 2014).
It may be assumed that the âcoming-outâ of many in the transgender community has had much to do with the spread of the Internet. People who previously were afraid to disclose their gender identity or who lived isolated lives on the margins of society were able to connect with one another and find validation and acceptance. There has also been a shift in attitudes toward transgender people. According to a 2019 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, 62% of all Americans expressed that they had become more supportive of transgender rights over the previous five years, with those between the ages 18â29 showing the greatest proportion of respondents (68%) reporting this change (Jones , Jackson, Najle, Bola, & Greenberg, 2019). While this attitudinal shift has been dramatic, it has only been achieved due to the persistent efforts by transgender activists, often at a significant personal cost. Also, in spite of the positive developments, transgender people continue to be part of a population at risk of marginalization and discrimination. Because of this, the transgender community shows high rates of attempted suicide (Haas, Rodgers, & Herman, 2014) and victimization (Human Rights Campaign, 2018). Lethal violence perpetrated against trans women of color is of particular concern (Martinez & Law, 2019). According to a report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), 27 transgender or gender-nonconforming individuals were victims of hate-violence-related homicides in 2017 (52% of all anti-LGBTQ homicides); 22 of these homicides (or 40% of the total) were perpetrated against trans women of color (Waters, Pham, & Convery, 2018). The NCAPV also reported that during the two-month period of May 15 till July 15, 2019, coinciding with celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Stone Wall uprising, there were 14 homicides of LGBTQ persons (including 7 Black trans women), while 2 more trans women of color died in detention (National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 2019).
Transgender persons who pursue a transition do so because of a profound mismatch between their own sense of gender identity and the gender identity given to them at birth based on genital appearance. This characteristic sets them apart from cisgender people, who experience congruence between gender identity and gender assigned at birth. A transgender person assigned male at birth identifies as female, and vice versa. In many instances, this cross-identification happens very early, sometimes as early as age 3. Transgender people transition because they feel they have to, even though this process can be costly, both financially and in terms of social acceptance. A gender transition allows them to bring their appearance in line with how they experience their identity. Transitions may involve hormonal therapy and sometimes include surgery.
Not all segments of society have bought into the idea that a transgender identity can be ârealâ, a manifestation of biological diversity. This is especially true for those who believe that gender is fixed as female or male, and has been divinely ordained, based on genital anatomy at birth. However, a review of the relevant research, published in 2015, concluded: âCurrent data suggest a biologic etiology for transgender identityâ (Saraswat, Weinand, & Safer, 2015, p. 202). Also, research has shown the benefits of medical interventions for gender dysphoria. For example, researchers in the Netherlands found that puberty suppression in adolescents (a reversible treatment) ârelieves the acute distress accompanying gender dysphoriaâ (de Vries, Steensma, Doreleijers, & Cohen-Kettenis, 2011, p. 2282), while a Belgian study of people with gender dysphoria showed a âsignificant reductionâ on measures of psychological variables, like anxiety and depression, after diagnosis and the start of hormone therapy (Heylens, Verroken, De Cock, TâSjoen, & De Cuypere, 2014, p. 122) Also, a meta-analysis of 28 studies conducted by Murad et al. (2010) tentatively suggested positive social and psychological outcomes for transgender persons following hormonal therapy as part of their treatment. Moreover, researchers at Cornell University conducted a comprehensive review of the literature (a total of 73 articles, published up to June 2017) and concluded that âgender transition is effective in treating gender dysphoria and can significantly improve the well-being of transgender individualsâ (âWhat does the scholarly research sayâ, n.d.). Research has changed clinical views as well, leading to the replacement of âgender identity disorderâ with the newer diagnosis of âgender dysphoriaâ in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, pp. 451â459). This change acknowledges that clinical symptoms are not inherent in being transgender, but are the result of being marginalized and discriminated against.
The importance of new scientific knowledge about gender identity and the danger of ignoring this knowledge cannot be stressed enough, as suggested by parallel developments in research about homosexuality. Thus, it is now firmly established that the practice of conversion therapy, advocated by some conservative Christian denominations to change the sexual orientation of gay people, in fact harms the persons who are subjected to it in regard to mental health, educational achievement, and spiritual well-being (Ryan, Toomey, Diaz, & Russell, 2018). The same can be said about various forms of conversion therapy with respect to gender identity, all of which, according to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, are neither effective nor ethical (WPATH, 2012, p. 16).
While a transgender person takes on her/his new identity within a binary framework of gender (female or male), there are other, nonbinary forms of gender variance. Nonbinary or genderqueer (both terms will be used interchangeably in this book) identities and issues became prominent given theories of social construction and third-wave feminism, as will be elaborated on in the next chapter. Also, it is worth noting that a recent scientific study from Israel supports a nonbinary model of gender, finding that human brains are like complex âmosaicsâ which cannot be categorized as just male or female (Joel et al., 2015).
In the context of a discussion about gender diversity and faith, mention should be made of Virginia Ramey Mollenkottâs book titled Omnigender: A Trans-Religious Approach, first published in 2001, in which she described a nonbinary paradigm of gender from a religious perspective (Mollenkott, 2001/2007). At this moment in time, many young people, particularly those from Generation Z, born after 1996, seek to define their individuality outside the normative parameters of gender. They identify as genderqueer or nonbinary, but also as gender fluid, gender nonconforming, bigender, agender, or just queer. They queer stereotypes of femininity and masculinity (see, for example, Sanchez, 2017). They gather in sc...