Transsexual People are Valid and Here to Stay
- Trans Health Research team
- Nov 6
- 8 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
Authors: Leon (community member), Julian Grace (researcher), and Sav Zwickl (researcher).
Content Note: This blog post contains quotes from people who identify themselves using reclaimed slurs.
As trans communities are increasingly finding a voice and being heard, the language we use to describe ourselves on both individual and collective levels is ever-evolving. By its very nature, this is an organic, community-led, and ground-up process, which comes with many nuances and complexities.
Practitioners, researchers, and community members may find themselves feeling unsure about a particular term and if, or when, it’s appropriate to use. One term that attracts a wide range of perspectives and misunderstandings is the term "transsexual", which we’ll be exploring in this blog post.
This post is an exploration drawing from research findings, personal lived experience, and experiences published by other trans people. The intention is to explore perspectives that people may not have had the opportunity to delve into before. Trans Health Research supports transsexual self-identification, and advocates for the inclusion of transsexual people in research, policy, and community spaces.
What does transsexual mean, and why might people use that term?
As with any identity term, there are as many definitions for transsexual as there are transsexual people, and there isn’t one perfect or immutable definition.
One common understanding is that the "sexual" refers to sex characteristics and anatomy, indicating that a person has, or wishes to, medically alter their physical sex characteristics to affirm a gender identity which does not match their presumed gender at birth. Unlike the terms homosexual, heterosexual, and bisexual, the "sexual" in transsexual isn’t referring to someone’s sexual orientation or attraction to others.
However, this isn’t exclusive, and people who wish to medically affirm their gender may also identify as transgender, non-binary, or other identity terms.
"For me, the term captures my trans identity/history and simultaneously validates my current-day experience of being a man with non-typical sex characteristics. My journey has been about altering my sex to better represent the gender which always existed within me, and to alleviate my dysphoria. I am incredibly proud of my body, I love being a man, and transsexual captures that entirely for me." –Leon, co-author and transsexual man.
Because of this close association with medical gender affirmation, the term transsexual is often associated with pathologisation, and is commonly described as outdated or offensive (GLAAD’s language guide is one example of this).
Unfortunately, the mischaracterisation of transsexual as an inherently offensive term has led to the erasure–and even ostracisation–of trans people who use it to describe themselves. This means that there are transsexual people experiencing exclusion, and therefore trans voices that are not being heard or represented in research, policy, and community spaces.
This conversation about terminology can be traced back decades, a glimpse of which can be seen in this 1996 interview with iconic trans activist Leslie Feinberg, who was instrumental in popularising the word transgender. Feinberg’s nuanced exploration of language and identity is also reflected in trans male trailblazer Jamison Green’s 2004 book Becoming a Visible Man, where he explained that transsexual is traditionally a term for those who "seek hormonal and surgical assistance to change the sexual characteristics of their body, to bring their gender and their body into alignment". He also noted, however, that, "not all people who identify as transsexual actually seek medical assistance, and not all who experience a medical sex transition identify as transsexual."
This complexity is reflected in an interview by Jess T Dugan in their confronting, but incredibly beautiful, photography series titled To Survive On This Shore, where one community pioneer shared the following:
"I identify as an FTM, non-hormone, non-op, transsexual heterosexual man. That’s the whole string of it... I always felt some resistance to the fact that I didn’t transition medically, but over time I started to find transsexuals who had not transitioned medically, or who had transitioned partially and then stopped, like my friend Leslie Feinberg." -Ben.
Countless people, all over the world, treasure the term transsexual, and there is huge diversity among transsexual journeys. Every person’s journey looks different in terms of hormone therapy, surgeries, gender expression, and their relationship to language and identity. So, rather than mischaracterising transsexual as an inherently offensive term, it’s imperative that we allow space for, and include, this diversity of self-identified transsexual experiences.
How many people identify as transsexual?
As part of the TRANSform research project, Trans Health Research asked just over one thousand trans and gender diverse people (aged 16+ and living in the country now known as Australia) to select the terms that best describe their gender, with 30+ terms available to choose from.
Overall, 1 in 14 (7%) survey respondents described themselves as transsexual. These people were diverse in age, with the youngest being 18 and the oldest being 81.
The label was more commonly used by trans people with a binary gender identity; 1 in 9 (12%) trans women and 1 in 15 (6%) trans men, compared to only 1 in 100 (1%) non-binary people.
While many transsexual participants used multiple identity terms, this TRANSform survey found that 1 in 4 transsexual participants specifically did not use the term transgender to describe themselves. Therefore, if transgender was the only trans identity field available (for example, in a research survey or clinical intake form), this group would be (and commonly is) excluded.
Anecdotally, it is also worth noting that many transsexual people may prefer to live their lives without disclosing their trans status (sometimes referred to as “stealth”). This may make it more difficult for them to access and participate in trans health research, which could be further compounded by previous experiences of not being included, leading to reduced representation in data and policy.
How can research, policy and community spaces be more inclusive of transsexual identities?
The terminology we use to describe groups of people can have a big impact on who feels represented or included within that group – be that in research, policy, or community spaces.
Because not all transsexual people use the term transgender to describe their experience, Trans Health Research tries to intentionally use the term trans rather than transgender in our research and advocacy. This subtle difference makes for a more inclusive umbrella term; one that encompasses both transgender and transsexual people.
Our Including Trans People in Research materials include written guidelines, a three-minute video, and a recording of the launch webinar.
"The release of Trans Health Research's guidelines on inclusive research meant a great deal to me. It was the first time I had ever seen my label included in a modern list of community terminology, in a positive way which acknowledged that many of us do identify as transsexual. To my relief and delight, Trans Health Research has continued to acknowledge and research people like me." -Leon.
These recommendations around language can be adopted beyond research, such as in policy documents, and by organisations and support groups.
However, when it comes to trans and gender diverse people as individuals, it is always best practice to use the language that the individuals uses for themselves. This applies to both healthcare settings and everyday interactions.
"I am not offended when someone says that, in their life, transsexual has been a harmful or unwelcome label. After all, trans and gender diverse people are not a monolith; we do not all have the same experiences. The onus is on healthcare providers to respect their patients as unique individuals, to refer to each person according to their identity, and to avoid assuming which medical interventions an individual desires. The onus is not on transsexual people to identify differently." -Leon.
Leon’s story: The lived experience of a transsexual man
"My name is Leon, and I am a trans man.
"The earliest years of my intentional gender exploration were chaotic, thrilling, and often exhausting. I knew that I was trans but hadn’t yet found a gender label which fit. That changed when I befriended a wonderful woman who shared her story with me. Thanks to her, I found the internal peace and contentment which all of us deserve.
"When I first met Sofia, she introduced herself as a trans woman. As our friendship deepened, I learned more about the way that she viewed her identity, and she inadvertently guided me toward the one label which, to this very day, is the only trans term I deeply identify with.
"Sofia explained that the concept of a male-to-female transsexual journey was very important to her, and she was proud to claim it. That language reflected the steps she had taken, in a way that she found accurate to her experience. She also revealed to me that, while she lived as a woman and wished to be perceived as one in society, she also felt non-binary in her heart. During our friendship, she had facial surgery, bottom surgery, and began using she/they pronouns. Sofia explained to me that sex and gender are quite different. Transsexual was a term that she used to describe her sex, while “non-binary woman” described her gender.
"I had never met a transsexual-identifying person before. I had to learn what the term even meant, because all I had previously been told was that it was a bad word which should never be used, even for self-identification. While educating myself and unlearning that rhetoric, I found myself. I found my most authentic identity.
"I am so grateful that Sofia came into my life. The years that we knew each other changed me profoundly. My gender is binary, and in many ways Sofia and I were quite different, but we both found a home in the same label.
"Unfortunately, when I tried entering trans and gender diverse spaces as a transsexual man, I often encountered hostility. Despite only ever referring to myself as a transsexual, and never anybody else (unless they identified that way too), I was invalidated by the very people I hoped to be safe with. Most hurtful was the common mindset that, if transsexual folks do exist, we ought to never use our label, because others will be offended by how we refer to ourselves. “Everyone is valid,” never seemed to extend to transsexual people.
"My hard-won, beautiful masculinity was unacceptable unless I used the terms others deemed correct; terms which invalidated my gender experience and erased my transsexual joy. My identity was being excluded from support programs, research, advocacy, and affirming discourse. It was (and still is) typical to scroll through a list of identities and see transgender as an option, but not transsexual. The exhaustion and sadness became too much, and I accepted being alone.
"I eventually found a progressive group for people further along in their transitions, many of them older or transsexual like me, and now I can finally be accepted. My hope is that, with widespread education and acceptance, more mainstream groups/organisations can become similarly safe for transsexual-identifying people."
More stories from the community
Transsexual people have existed for many, many generations, and will continue to exist with pride. Transsexual self-identification, joy, and advocacy is baked into the very foundations of our history.
"My first true love as Monica came only five months after kissing that woman on the dance floor. She, too, was a post-op MTF transsexual, having had her surgery eight years earlier... What made me so lucky to get kissed by such a gorgeous woman? They say that what comes around goes around. Whatever I did to deserve such good karma, I needed to keep doing it." -Monica Helms, creator of the trans flag, Trans People in Love (2008).
"As I’m approaching my fifth year of (genderqueer) womanhood, I feel as though I’ve come full circle, and fully embrace my butch clothing, stance, and swagger. Sometimes I don’t even think the term male-to-female transsexual woman is accurate. It feels much more appropriate to identify with something like male-to-butch transsexual dyke." -Kay, BUTCH: Not Like The Other Girls (2014).
"I view trans as a broad umbrella term that can include many kinds of identifications and experiences, including transsexuals (including non-binary/genderqueer people who use that term)." -TRANSform participant, when asked about community terms.
"Progress has been made, but visibility remains a conflicted aspect of transsexual lives. How do we manage visibility? If we are visible, we risk being mistreated; if we are invisible, nobody will understand what our social or medical needs are. If we are visible, we risk being judged inferior or unreal, inauthentic; if we are invisible, we risk being discovered and cast out, again because no one is educated." -Jamison Green, Becoming a Visible Man (2004).
"I am a transsexual... Legally male, a happily married husband, I ask only to be accepted now as an average man... I am no longer a man searching for himself. My search ended in finding that man I always knew myself to be." -Mario Martino, Emergence: The First Complete Female-to-Male Story (1977).