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Picture is AI generated from Image Masters
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October 27, 2026, 10:24 am
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...October 5, 2026, 4:22 pm
I find myself working with many more people who identify as transgender in my practice. They are faced with prejudice and misinformation from the people around them. So, I want to just dispel a few things about transgender in this blog.
Sex and gender are not as simple as we might think – sex is allocated at birth based on our genitals or what the doctors feel are our genitals. Gender is how we present our sex and sexual orientation is who we sleep with. Transgender describes people who do not identify, in some way, with the sex assigned to them at birth.
It's not a new thing or just fashion, archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old skeleton which they believe may be the remains of a transgender person. The male skeleton was found in a suburb of Prague and is buried in a manner previously only seen for female burials. The body is believed to date from between 2900 and 2500BC and is from the Corded Ware culture of the Copper Age.
Throughout history there have been transgender people, we just did not think of them with that title. Think about Joan of Arc born female, presented as a man and desperately wanted to die was a man. April Ashely, Caroline Cossey (Tula), Sir Ewan Forbes and Christine Jorgenson were all transgender.
Around the world, the way gender is understood differs, Native Indians had two-spirit people - people who had both female and male characteristics were viewed as gifted by nature, and therefore, able to see both sides of everything. all native communities acknowledged the following gender roles: “female, male, two-spirit female, two-spirit male and transgendered.”
Within the Dagaaba tribes of Ghana, Burkina Faso, and the Ivory Coast, gender identity was determined differently. gender to the tribe is not dependent upon sexual organs, it depended on the energy the person gave out.
In the Indian subcontinent, the Hira are a recognized caste made up of eunuchs, intersex people, and transgender people. They are recognized as a third gender. Sadly, they are of low caste. Usually poor as they have been rejected by families.
People who come out as transgender face huge stigma and discrimination, in areas like health care, employment, and education. Their mental health can be affected with 84% of transitioning people have thought of ending their lives. Most young people know they are transgender by the time they are 13 years and many struggle to tell parents and friends about what is happening.
To be an ally for transgender people is easy, just common sense. Don’t misgender, ask what pronouns they want to use and respect that, just apologize if you get it wrong. Don’t ask about their birth gender or reassignment, let them tell you if they want to. Don’t reduce them to body parts or believe that some sections of the transgender community are ‘lesser’ than others. Its all just based on respect.
https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/ are there for young people and parents dealing with trans issues, https://www.transunite.co.uk/ help adults in the same situation