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Introduction to Transgender & Gender Identity      Many people admit to feeling confused about transgenderism, including often people who themselves identify as transgender. Briefly stated transgender means that the person does not feel that they fit into the confines of the male or female "box" that they have been placed in. Sometimes this means that they identify as transsexual and which to have their sex "reassigned" to the "other" sex and sometimes they identify as cross-dressers, people who do wish to change their bodies, but enjoying dressing in the clothes assigned to the "other" sex. Often they identify simply as "transgender" -- an umbrella term that signifies a crossover or transgression of accepted gender norms.      Although the mental health field has pathologized transgender people, there is little evidence to prove that transgender people have more significant mental health problems than the rest of the population. However, the distress of living with being "differently gendered" within a culture with limited and proscribed acceptable gender roles can, indeed, be crazy-making.      As a therapist I work with many transgender people, including MtF and FtM transsexuals -- pre- and post-operative, crossdressers and butch lesbians, as well as many people struggling with their gender identity and gender expression. It is my contention that transgender people are moving through a developmental process of coming to terms with themselves and their own authenticity. It is an honor to work with people so determined to live out their own truths.      I also work with many family members of transgendered people, including the wives of crossdressers, the lesbian partners of FtM transgendered people, femme partners of butches, wives of MtF transsexuals, and the children of these couples. It is exciting to work with families committed to their own psychological well-being who are willing to face themselves and their loved ones with compassion and honesty.      A few points to consider: Gender identity is not the same as sexual identity. Transgenderism is not a "gay" issues, although some transgender people do identify as gay. Gender dysphoria -- feeling unhappy or uncomfortable in one's gender -- does not mean you are transsexual. It means simply that your gender may be more complex than you realize, and as Gary Bowen has said, "People can park anywhere along the gender highway and stay there as long as they like." All gender expressions are potentially healthy and valid and as Les Feinberg once taught me, "Everyone has a right to their own gender expression -- Everyone!" The male/female system of gender that we have been raised with is limiting to many people's sense who they are. Alternative gender expressions have existed in all cultures and epochs. The "problem" is not gender difference, but a rigid and confining social system. Copyright ©1999, Arlene Istar Lev

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