Transidentity: discrimination and education

"You can not really to be a woman / a man ”,“ You have a mental illness ”or“ How do you have sex? ”are questions and condemnations with which transidentitarian people are still confronted in everyday life.

According to the Deutsches Ärzteblatt, around 2,000 to 6,000 people in Germany "have the safe and unwavering feeling of being trapped in the wrong biological body" (as of 2008). So transidentity describes a natural phenomenon in which the gender identity does not match the gender assigned to the birth. Although trans-identity can be clearly described, there is still too little education and too much intolerance and discrimination.

• Transidentity is not something that a person can think up or choose - Due to the developments in history and the image conveyed by transsexuals, many people had no description of what they felt. Some realize their transidentity in the first years of their lives and others find their identity when they are a little older - there are no rules and, above all, no norm. The newly released Netflix film version shows how our previous picture about transsexuality was mainly shaped by Hollywood: “Disclosure”. Here stars talk about their own experiences and clarify about transidentity.

Disclosure | Official Trailer | Netflix

According to a study from GLAAD, over 80% of Americans don't personally know someone who's transgender. That means most people learn about trans people from ...

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• Transidentity has nothing to do with a mental illness! For this reason, transidentity is not "treatable away"! However, the classifications in the ICD-10 are out of date and transidentity is still incorrectly associated with a "disorder".
• Questions and behavior towards transidentitarian people are often inappropriate. A distinction should be made here between who, for example, addresses people incorrectly from ignorance and who acts out of intolerance. In conversations, the simple ulterior motive is usually enough: "Would I want someone to ask me this question?" So, frequent questions about genitals or sex life should be superfluous. There are many on this Videos, Podcasts and articles that explain which questions are appropriate and which are not.
• Discrimination against transidentity is still a problem! The fact that "divers" can be given as the third gender in Germany since 2018 has been one of the many important steps. However, there is still a lot to do, because people today are not only faced with insults and intolerance (even in their own families), but also afraid of losing their lives because of their identity - this is absolutely unacceptable. Murder of transidentitarian people is not uncommon - the Netflix documentary shows thatThe Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, A black trans woman who was probably murdered and whose cause of death has not been determined to date.

Transidentity can be part of a person's identity - but man consists of so much more. Do not reduce anyone to gender, because they are one thing above all: people!

Find out more about the topic: LGBTQ * A brief explanation

GALLERY: Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

CONTRIBUTION TO OPTION GERMANY