Legal status of transgender people

The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transgender individuals face discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, and other areas of life.

A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establish, a new gender status that accords with their gender identity. Transsexual is generally considered a subset of transgender,^[1]^[2]^[3] but some transsexual people reject being labelled transgender.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Globally, most legal jurisdictions recognize the two traditional gender identities and social roles, man and woman, but tend to exclude any other gender identities and expressions. People assigned male at birth are usually legally recognized as men, and people assigned female at birth are usually legally recognized as women, in jurisdictions that distinguish between the two. However, there are some countries which recognize, by law, a third gender. That third gender is often associated with being nonbinary. There is now a greater understanding of the breadth of variation outside the typical categories of "man" and "woman", and many self-descriptions are now entering the literature, including pangender, genderqueer, polygender, and agender. Medically and socially, the term "transsexualism" is being replaced with gender incongruence^[8] or gender dysphoria,^[9] and terms such as transgender people, trans men, and trans women, and non-binary are replacing the category of transsexual people.

Many of the issues regarding transgender rights are generally considered a part of family law, especially the issues of marriage and the question of a transgender person benefiting from a partner's insurance or social security.

The degree of legal recognition provided to transgender people varies widely throughout the world. Many countries now legally recognize sex reassignments by permitting a change of legal gender on an individual's birth certificate.^[10] Many transsexual people have permanent surgery to change their body, gender-affirming surgery or semi-permanently change their body by hormonal means, transgender hormone therapy. The legal status of such healthcare varies. In many countries, some of these modifications are required for legal recognition. In a few, the legal aspects are directly tied to health care; i.e. the same bodies or doctors decide whether a person can move forward in their treatment and the subsequent processes automatically incorporate both matters. In others, these medical procedures are illegal.

In some jurisdictions, transgender people (who are considered non-transsexual) can benefit from the legal recognition given to transsexual people. In some countries, an explicit medical diagnosis of "transsexualism" is (at least formally) necessary. In others, a diagnosis of "gender dysphoria", or simply the fact that one has established a non-conforming gender role, can be sufficient for some or all of the legal recognition available. The DSM-5 recognizes gender dysphoria as an official diagnosis. Not all transgender or transsexual people feel gender dysphoria or gender incongruence, but in many countries a diagnosis is required for legal recognition, if transgender people are legally recognized at all.

^ Transgender Rights (2006, ISBN 0816643121), edited by Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, Shannon Minter
^ Thomas E. Bevan, The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism (2014, ISBN 1440831270), page 42: "The term transsexual was introduced by Cauldwell (1949) and popularized by Harry Benjamin (1966) [...]. The term transgender was coined by John Oliven (1965) and popularized by various transgender people who pioneered the concept and practice of transgenderism. It is sometimes said that Virginia Prince (1976) popularized the term, but history shows that many transgender people adovcated the use of this term much more than Prince. The adjective transgendered should not be used [...]. Transsexuals constitute a subset of transgender people."
^ A. C. Alegria, Transgender identity and health care: Implications for psychosocial and physical evaluation, in the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, volume 23, issue 4 (2011), pages 175–182: "Transgender, Umbrella term for persons who do not conform to gender norms in their identity and/or behavior (Meyerowitz, 2002). Transsexual, Subset of transgenderism; persons who feel discordance between natal sex and identity (Meyerowitz, 2002)."
^ Valentine, David. Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category, Duke University, 2007
^ Stryker, Susan. Introduction. In Stryker and S. Whittle (Eds.), The Transgender Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2006. 1–17
^ Kelley Winters, "Gender Madness in American Psychiatry, essays from the struggle for dignity, 2008, p. 198. "Some Transsexual individuals also identify with the broader transgender community; others do not."
^ "retrieved 20 August 2015: " Transsexualism is often included within the broader term 'transgender', which is generally considered an umbrella term for people who do not conform to typically accepted gender roles for the sex they were assigned at birth. The term 'transgender' is a word employed by activists to encompass as many groups of gender diverse people as possible. However, many of these groups individually don't identify with the term. Many health clinics and services set up to serve gender variant communities employ the term, however most of the people using these services again don't identify with this term. The rejection of this political category by those that it is designed to cover clearly illustrates the difference between self-identification and categories that are imposed by observers to understand other people."". Gendercentre.org.au. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
^ "Gender incongruence. ICD-11 – Mortality and Morbidity Statistics". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
^ American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 451–459. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596. hdl:2027.42/138395. ISBN 978-0-89042-554-1.
^ Taylor, J.K.; Haider-Markel, D.P. (2014). Transgender Rights and Politics : Groups, Issue Framing, and Policy Adoption. University of Michigan Press.

[TR2006-1] Transgender Rights (2006, ISBN 0816643121), edited by Paisley Currah, Richard M. Juang, Shannon Minter

[Bevan-2] Thomas E. Bevan, The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism (2014, ISBN 1440831270), page 42: "The term transsexual was introduced by Cauldwell (1949) and popularized by Harry Benjamin (1966) [...]. The term transgender was coined by John Oliven (1965) and popularized by various transgender people who pioneered the concept and practice of transgenderism. It is sometimes said that Virginia Prince (1976) popularized the term, but history shows that many transgender people adovcated the use of this term much more than Prince. The adjective transgendered should not be used [...]. Transsexuals constitute a subset of transgender people."

[Alegria-3] A. C. Alegria, Transgender identity and health care: Implications for psychosocial and physical evaluation, in the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, volume 23, issue 4 (2011), pages 175–182: "Transgender, Umbrella term for persons who do not conform to gender norms in their identity and/or behavior (Meyerowitz, 2002). Transsexual, Subset of transgenderism; persons who feel discordance between natal sex and identity (Meyerowitz, 2002)."

[Valentine-4] Valentine, David. Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category, Duke University, 2007

[Stryker-5] Stryker, Susan. Introduction. In Stryker and S. Whittle (Eds.), The Transgender Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2006. 1–17

[6] Kelley Winters, "Gender Madness in American Psychiatry, essays from the struggle for dignity, 2008, p. 198. "Some Transsexual individuals also identify with the broader transgender community; others do not."

[7] "retrieved 20 August 2015: " Transsexualism is often included within the broader term 'transgender', which is generally considered an umbrella term for people who do not conform to typically accepted gender roles for the sex they were assigned at birth. The term 'transgender' is a word employed by activists to encompass as many groups of gender diverse people as possible. However, many of these groups individually don't identify with the term. Many health clinics and services set up to serve gender variant communities employ the term, however most of the people using these services again don't identify with this term. The rejection of this political category by those that it is designed to cover clearly illustrates the difference between self-identification and categories that are imposed by observers to understand other people."". Gendercentre.org.au. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2017.

[8] "Gender incongruence. ICD-11 – Mortality and Morbidity Statistics". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2020.

[DSM-5-9] American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 451–459. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596. hdl:2027.42/138395. ISBN 978-0-89042-554-1.

[10] Taylor, J.K.; Haider-Markel, D.P. (2014). Transgender Rights and Politics : Groups, Issue Framing, and Policy Adoption. University of Michigan Press.

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