Transgender 101:

Creating an Educational Space for

Support, Change, and Empowerment

By Pepper Michaela Lopez, M.S.

Student Affairs Professional and Marginalized
Transsexual Woman of Color
 The “T” in My Alphabet Soup

LGBTQIA
 Lesbian
 Gay
 Bisexual
 Transgender
 Queer
 Intersexed
 Asexual
 Transgender is
an inclusive
umbrella term

 Transgender is an umbrella term

which serves to identify a variety of
gender variant identities.
 Individuals who could be
considered transgender might
identify with a more specific identity
with the transgender umbrella.
 Although all transgender these
identities are distinct from one
another.
 The Transgender Umbrella: Identities

 Crossdresser
 Drag King or Drag Queen
 Genderqueer or Gender Fluid
 Neutrois
 Transgender
 Transsexual
 Trans Man (FTM)
 Trans Woman (MTF)
 The Transgender Umbrella
 Crossdresser: Someone  Drag: A theatrical
who wears clothes
traditionally associated
with the opposite sex in
relation to the gender
binary. Crossdressers do
not desire to transitions
genders medically or
surgically. They typically
identify with their gender
assigned at birth.
presentation of gender,
and often associated with
performance. A drag
queen is person that
portrays femininity
theatrically, and a drag
king is a person who
portrays the theatrical
presentation of
masculinity.
 The Transgender Umbrella
 Genderqueer or Gender
Fluid: Someone who is
gender variant; and
identifies with masculine,
feminine, and/or
androgynous aspects of
gender; none, or varying
balances of some or all;
and is not contained by
the traditional rigidity of a
the dominant culture’s
gender binary system.
 Neutrois: A person who
identifies as being beyond
the dominant culture’s
traditional interpretation
of gender, or the concept
of being gendered itself.
Those who identify as
neutrois vary in their
aspects of gender identity.
They may be neutral-
gender, null-gender,
genderless, or agender.
 The Transgender Umbrella
 Transgender: is an
inclusive term; abbreviated
as “trans;” used to refer to a
gender variant individual, or
the gender variant
community as a whole. The
term can describe those who
transition their assigned
birth genders, those who
move fluidly between
genders, and those who do
not identify as with the
tradition with any gender.
 Transsexual: identify
intently as not being the
gender with which they
were assigned at birth.
Transsexuals intensely
desire to align their gender
identities with their bodies,
and specifically seek to
varying personal degrees
medical, hormonal, or
surgical interventions as
well as legal recognition of
their authentic genders.
 The Transgender Umbrella
 Trans Woman: is an identity
which describes the transitory
movement of an individual’s
assigned “male” at birth to
their articulated “female”
gender. The term is used by
both transsexuals and
transgender individuals who
have transitioned genders,
those who seek or have
surgical resolution in relation
to their experience of gender
dysphoria, and those who do
not.
 Trans Man: is an identity
which describes the transitory
movement of an individual’s
assigned “female” at birth to
their articulated “male”
gender. The term is used by
both transsexuals and
transgender individuals who
have transitioned genders,
those who seek or have
surgical resolution in relation
to their experience of gender
dysphoria, and those who do
not.
 Cisgender describes an individual whose gender identification matches the gender
which they were assigned at birth; or, specifically, someone who is gender normative.
Examples of Cisgender
Privilege
The following two images may be considered graphic in nature, and have
been added as a protest to the concept that gender is inherently genital
based. It is designed to hint at the specific transgender experience to
cisgender individuals regarding the invasive inquiry into the anatomy of
one’s genitals as the sole basis of providing validity to one’s gender identity.
 1. Strangers don't assume they can ask me what my genitals look
like, and how I have sex.
Examples of 2. My validity as a man, woman, or human is not based upon
how much surgery I've had; nor measured by the degree to
which others perceive me as gender normative.
Cisgender 3. When initiating sex with someone I do not have to worry that
they won't be able to deal with my genitals, nor that having sex
with me will cause my partner to question their own sexual
Privilege 4.
orientation.
I am not excluded from events which explicitly restrict
participation to “men-born-men” or “women-born-women.”
5. My politics are not questioned based on the choices I make
with my body.

6. My politics are not questioned based on the choices I make

with my body.
7. I don't have to hear, "So have you had THE surgery?" or "Oh,
so you're REALLY a [incorrect gender]?"
8. I am not expected to constantly defend my medical decisions.
9. People do not disrespect me by using incorrect pronouns , nor
after being corrected adopt a righteous, unapologetic posture
regarding their behavior.
10. I do not have to worry that someone might want be my friend
or lover because it is “exotic,” “lends multicultural
creditability,” or is the “politically correct” trend of the day.
 11. I do not have to worry about whether I will be able to find
a safe and accessible bathroom or locker room to use.
Examples of 12. If arrested I do not have to worry about being held with
others whose gender differs from my own.

Cisgender 13. My experience of gender is not viewed as offensive,

inconvenient, nor a presence that must be tolerated by
others.

Privilege 14. I do not have to choose between invisibility, or being

"othered" as a result of articulating my authentic gender.
15. When I go to the gym or a public pool I can use the
showers without fear of violence, harassment, or arrest.
16. If I end up in the emergency room I do not have to worry
that my gender will keep me from receiving appropriate
treatment , nor that my medical issues will be dismissed as
self-inflicted because of my hormones or gender.
17. My health insurance provider does not specifically exclude
me from receiving benefits or treatments available to
others because of my gender.
18. When I express my internal identities in my daily life, I am
not considered "mentally ill" by the medical establishment.
19. I am not required to undergo extensive psychological
evaluation in order to receive basic medical care.
20. The medical establishment does not serve as "gatekeepers"
which disallow self-determination regarding my body.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
 Coming Out as Transgender within
the Dominant Cisgender Culture
 Gender policing is the imposition or enforcement of normative gender
expressions on an individual who is perceived as not adequately
performing, through appearance or behavior, the sex that was assigned
to then at birth specifically reinforcing the gender binary.
 Femaleness and maleness both enforced by culturally. Those assigned
female at birth are given a greater degree of freedom to transgress
gender norms as children than their male counterparts, but at puberty
are expected to stringently adopt the expected norm of femininity.
 Maleness is culturally policed more aggressively than femaleness, and it
is believe that the cultural superior value placed on masculinity serves
as the foundation for this greater degree of policing.
The Transgender Need for Cisgender Allies:
The Quantitative Statistics of Transphobia

“Injustice at Every Turn:

A Report of the National
Transgender
Discrimination Survey”
 Published in 2011
 Final Study sampled
6456 transgender and
gender variant
respondents of various
ethnicities and levels of
educational achievement
from fifty states
  63% of participants had experienced a
The Impact of serious act of discrimination defined as
an event that could have a major
Marginalization on impact on a person’s quality of life, and
the ability to sustain themselves
Transgender Lives financially or emotionally.
 23% of participants experienced
catastrophic levels of discrimination as
 Loss of job defined by the experiencing of three or
more major life disrupting events listed
 Eviction and homelessness adjacently.
 School harassment causing drop outs  41% have attempted suicide compared
 Teacher bullying to 1.6% of the cis-gender population.
These rates increase for those losing a
 Physical assault job to transphobic bias, 55%; for those
 Sexual assault who are physically assaulted because of
gender bias, 61%; and for those of are
 Denial of medical services sexually assaulted because of their
 Incarceration transgender identity, 64%.
California 44th District U.S. Congressional
Candidate Jazmina Saavedra: May 15, 2015
 Transphobia in Education:
K-12 Discrimination
 78% harassed or bullied
 35% physically assaulted
 12% sexual assaulted
 15% forced to leave school
 6% expelled
 31% harassed by teachers or staff
 5% assaulted by teachers or staff
 3% sexually assaulted by teachers or staff
 Male to female trans* students experience
higher rates of sexual and physical assault than
any gender non-conforming or female to male
trans students
 Multiracial trans* students experience the
highest rates of any type of assault
 Transphobia in Education:
Post-Secondary Discrimination
 35% harassed or bullied  32% of those verbally or physically
assaulted in school turn to the sex or drug
 5% physically assaulted trade as a means of financial self-support
 3% sexually assaulted  15% of those who are harassed or
 20% denied gender appropriate housing assaulted in school report having been
incarcerated
 5% denied any form of on campus housing
 15% denied or lost scholarships
 61% who lost financial aid unable to complete college
 19% of those who leave school due to harassment
experience unemployment
 25% of those experiencing verbal or sexual
harassment at school or expulsion experience
homelessness
 Transphobia in Relation to
Employment
 100% or double the unemployment rates  57% are forced to delay transitioning because of the
compared to the general population work environment
 400% Trans people of color experience  16% are support themselves by working as sex
unemployment rates four times the workers or selling drugs
national average
 90% experience harassment,
mistreatment, or discrimination at work
 47% experience being negative job
outcomes such as denial of promotions,
being fired, or not being hired
 50% experience harassment due to non-
conforming gender identity
 26% have lost a job due to being
transgender
 71% are forced to hide their gender
identity or transition in the work place
 Transphobia in Relation to
Housing
 19% have been refused a home or apartment  29% have been harassed by law enforcement
due to gender identity
 22% have been denied equal treatment by a
 11% have been evicted because of their government agency or official
gender expression
 12% have been denied equal treatment by a
 19% have experienced being homeless court or judge
 55% have been harassed by staff or
residence accessing to a homeless shelter
 29% have been refused admittance to a
homeless shelter
 22% have been sexually assaulted by
residence or staff of homeless shelter
 32% or half the rate of the general
population (64%) own a home
 53% have been verbally harassed or
disrespected in public accommodations such
as hotels, restaurants, or airports
The Transgender Need for Cisgender Allies:
A Qualitative Understanding
 An African American transgender woman arrested by the LAPD, and taken
to county jail reported that the police “wanted to see if I had tits or not.”
The officers came to her cell compelling her to remove her shirt.
 A transgender man was arrested during a political protest in San Francisco.
He showed an officer a driver’s license that identified him as legally a man.
The transman was placed in a holding pen with other male detainees. An
officer at the jail entered the cell, pushed the trans activist around, and
dragged him out of the cell accusing him of having a false identification. A
second officer joined, asking the transman if he had a “dick.” The officer
then groped the transman’s crotch and chest to verify the activist’s gender.
 A black transwoman in Memphis refused to respond to an officer calling her
a “he-she” and “faggot.” During this confrontation she was viciously beaten
by the officer while a second officer restrained her. Other officers on the
scene failed to intervene to stop the assault on her by fellow officers.
The Transgender Need for Cisgender Allies:
The Case of Christina Sforza
 The Syliva Rivera Law Project in New York City has organized around the case of Christina Sforza, a transgender
woman of color who went with two friends to a McDonald’s in New York City in 2006. When Ms. Sforza went to
use the bathroom the men’s toilet was out of order, and a McDonald’s employee told her to use the women’s.
While she was inside, someone began yelling and banging on the door “I’m going to kill you, faggot. I’m going to
kill you.” When she opened the door a man in a blue McDonald’s shirt hit her repeatedly on the face and body
with a lead pipe, and choking her shouted, “I’m going to kill you, you fucking fag. I don’t want any fags in here.”
A crowd of McDonald’s staff and customers cheered yelling, “Kill the fag!” Fearing for their safety one of Ms.
Sforza’s friends called the police for help. When the police arrived, and after an inquiry with the McDonald’s
employee who had beat Ms. Sforza, the victim of the beating was placed in handcuffs, refused medical care, and
ultimately arrested for assault with intent to cause physical injury. After the attack she has attempted to file a
criminal complaint unsuccessfully against the man who beat her on six different occasions. On her final attempt
she was threatened with arrest for attempting to file a false report.
The April 18, 2011 assault of Chrissy Polis, a white transwoman with epilepsy, by two cis-gender women
of color over the use of a Maryland McDonald’s women’s restroom was videoed by a McDonald’s
employee who was subsequently terminated. The video is disturbingly graphic in nature.
 My Story of Becoming Better:
Coming Out as a Transgender Student Affairs
Professional within the University Setting
 Why does a student affairs professional chooses to come out?
 Where’s my celebration for overcoming the constraints of the gender police, articulating my
authentic self, or have I been betrayed by my ideals
 When he missed me he jumped out of his car screaming, “I’ll cut your fucking throat!”
 Transitioning with Evangelical Christians
 If I met the Buddha on the road would he have demonstrated transgender inclusiveness?
 Cultural disenfranchisement, or what’s in your wallet?
 Children without a home
 Her authentic transsexual voice recognized for its value in a cis-gender world
 Mediation made possible
 Advocacy for one, or proving it’s not impossible
 "The journey is solely yours to
define. The [re]assembly of your
ideology, possible disassembly, and
merited reconstruction of the cultural
constructs that have shaped you thus far
are voluntary. However, it cannot be
shouldered by anyone else. No one else
can experience or explore this dynamic
intimacy of self-hood for you.”
– Pepper Michaela Lopez

Questions
Pepper Michaela Lopez, M.S.
909-260-3245
peppermlopez@gmail.com
www.peppermlopez.weebly.com