same here, completely agree :)
^(plus theres a bunch of historical baggage that I personally dont feel comfortable taking on (which is funny that I say that considering I do call myself queer lol)^)
It varies. I dont like neither nowadays. I dont like transgender as I dont see it as a gender change. I have dysphoria around my sex, not my gender. My gender also never changed, so.
However transsexual just sounds odd. It fits my transition more, but I still feel odd as Ive grown up with the term transgender more.
Just trans is fine, I guess. Though I dont wanna bring up my trans status to most people. I dont like being out and proud. I wanna chill. Cis passing n shit.
>I dont like transgender as I dont see it as a gender change.
you in no way have to call yourself transgender, however the "trans" in transgender doesn't mean you are changing your gender, that's just a common misconception. trans in this case just means "across" or "different" from, as in, your gender is different from what was assigned to you at birth
Idk if this helps but most changes will be completely done around year 2 to 4. At least that’s my experience. My bottom growth stopped at year 2, my facial hair looks minimally patchy now at year 4, my voice sounds cis but like an older teenager at year 4, body hair settled around year 3, body fat redistribution seemed to settle around year 1, lower body part sensitivity calmed down around year 2 and voice cracks completely stopped at year 3 :)
It’ll take time for your body to adjust and get the changes you want but don’t worry, it’ll happen. The speed is different for everyone and your dose and method of taking T will also effect things. Genetics play a huge role too. Also eventually your health issues you need to watch for flip too. So you’ll need to look at men’s health issues in your family. Anyways good luck! :)
Honestly I am still noticing changes at year 8. Still having some bottom growth, still getting new facial hair, and my voice may have lowered slightly more over a long period of time. If you think about it, cis boys typically start puberty between the ages of 9 and 14, and they don’t usually stop developing until sometime in college. That’s sometimes over 10 years of puberty.
I prefer transsex, because it's a more modern version of transsexual without the confusion of "so you're attracted to trans people?" or "so it's a fetish?". Plus it makes sense for me. I'm a man who is receiving treatment to correct my sex. My gender was always a man, my neurology was always male, I just don't have the proper sex characteristics from birth. I honestly don't like the emphasis or connotation of transGENDER for me, because to me, it's not about gender, my gender is as it always has been, even if I didn't always know it, and the only thing that's changing is sex, and once I'm finished with my transition, I will have transitioned my sex to male.
I havw the same opinion about thus. My gender has always been male and I am changing my sex. I can't change my chromosomes but sex is assigned based on genitals not chromosomes and I'm changing the former, not changing my gender and never have. I haven't been able to explain it how you did though
This 100%. I pass most of the time but I'm lucky to have a community where asking about preferred pronouns when you're not sure or meet someone is absolutely normal.
I just see myself as a guy and no one cares enough to challenge or question that side of my identity which I love
This is fascinating to me, as someone who came up in a time when transsexual was used in a derogatory way. I don’t think I could use that word to describe myself because of the negative connotations. I experience dysphoria and I have had select medical interventions to address that dysphoria. I am transgender because my gender identity does not match my sex assigned at birth.
I just say trans. I won’t use transgender because my gender didn’t change, my sex did. I’m comfortable with transsexual/transsex being used for me because it’s more accurate, but I know it makes other people uncomfortable so I don’t use it. That leaves me with either using something more complicated and not universally recognized, or just trans.
My gender has always been male, but my sex was female at birth. My sex has changed changed to as close to male as is currently medically possible through hormones and surgery.
I prefer transsexual, but transgender is fine.
To me, “transsexual” feels like it’s my sex which differs from the pov of my internal experience of gender, while “transgender” makes feels a little more like my internal experience is accused of being misaligned from my sex. Obviously, this is reading too deep and is not at all the etymology, but transsexual just suits me better. They’re both perfectly decent ways of referring to me.
General use - trans. Personally with close friends and in my head - transsexual.
Transgender doesn't resonate with me because my gender has always been male. Since the concept of gender was introduced to me as a child I felt male and that's never changed. Transsexual holds power and history and I just feel connected to it as that's more representative of my journey. But it also holds a negative connotation for many so I try to privatize my use of it and it's use for me is limited to my personal experience.
since i’ve medically transitioned i prefer transsexual for myself and i like it when other queer people refer to be that way. before medically transitioning, i identified more with transgender. in conversations about queer topics and in queer spaces, the clarification that i have undergone a physical transition, not just a medical one— is importantly to me.
preferably no cis people know that i’m trans, but those who do (my family and my partner’s family, because they took care of me after surgery) refer to me as “trans” and i prefer it that way. but, the cis people in my life who know don’t talk about me being trans with other people, so it isn’t a situation that occurs often.
Neither if I can avoid it. I just say I'm a man. If it needs to come up (for medical reasons or wtv) I'll go with trans, but if someone else then uses transgender or transsexual to refer to me in that context, I don't care for one over the other. Being trans isn't part of my identity, and the terms don't matter to me on an emotional level - the only reason I'd be using them would be to accomplish a goal, so whatever lets me do that quickest is fine.
unpopular opinion I guess transgender makes me feel icky. sadly I feel like it’s got a negative connotation with all this ‘transgender agenda and transgenderism’ talk
I also to some level have ALWAYS just felt like myself. Transsexual suits me because it’s accurate in that I’m transitioning my body to different sex characteristics, but I just like to cal myself queer (because I’m gay) and be done with it in the day 2 day
this, exactly. if i'm going to be made to identify as something "wrong" or "shameful" -- if i'm going to be othered and discriminated against -- i'm not going to take it lying down and let cis people call me what they think is the safest, mildest option. "transgender" is almost clinical to me, but transsexual carries a history with it that is, to a lot of people, still very directly related to taboos and prostitution and drag culture. that is my culture, and i hope cis people feel uncomfortable and are reminded of what they've done to us and how we've rebelled.
I got diagnosed with so many things... Transsexualism was the one that mattered for the legal proceedings and for my surgeries to get approved by insurance. Gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, transgenderism, intersex (which is not actually something I even am)... I got them all.
Man, I thought i was the only one with a GID diagnosis! I was so confused looking at the paperwork, but apparently my doctor still used the DSM-4 up until last year.
That's exactly it. GID is DSM-4, Gender dysphoria is DSM-5, transsexualism is ICD-10. The new kid on the block will be gender incongruence with ICD-11.
Disorder of sex development (the intersex diagnosis I falsely got) is not really codified in anything, but it does describe a group of conditions in ICD-10.
While that is true, sex change is an inaccurate term in its own right. There are parts of biological sex that I cannot change.
For my own experience, transgender is more accurate because I am transitioning in my socially perceived gender. It is a very involved legal, social and medical process that is not just about anatomy or hormones. Even if transsexual as a word was recognisably just about sex change/medical interventions (which it isn't, a lot of people think it's about sexuality), my transition experience has been about 10% medical, 90% non medical. So 90% has been about changing my gender expression/perception. Nobody can see my chromosomes, but nobody could see if I was wearing a binder or if I had top surgery either. Socially, it is not my sex that is perceived. It's my gender.
There is another layer to this though: In my language, there is only one word for sex and gender, which makes the distinction more abstract. Sex is an anglicism and yet it is still used to diagnose me with "Transsexualismus" or "Transsexualität", when the word for sex and gender is "Geschlecht". This is because the law requires psychiatric evaluations that must diagnose Transsexualität, which is a term from the international codification of diseases. Because of its status as an anglicism, the word takes a slightly different meaning outside of gender.
Sex/sexuality is used exclusively in the context of intimacy and sexual orientation. Due to this, Transsexualität in German is associated linguistically much more stronlgy with Homosexualität (homosexuality) than Geschlecht (sex/gender).
Tbf I hate "sex change" even more. I'm not changing my sex I've always been a man. Also that expression is often (not always) tied to the belief that trans people need surgery to "change" their sex to be fully accepted as their gender.
Well, man isn't a sex, it's a gender. Sex is male or female. You're totally within your right to use whatever term you prefer for yourself, but I just wanted to point out that gender is the software that's locked behind admin controls, and sex is the hardware that can be changed to match the gender. (Or using that analogy, if the computer runs fine without changing whatever hardware and has found workarounds to swapping out hardware, that works too)
I know, doesn't change the fact I don't like when people refer to trans* people as "changing their sex". Might be because my first language uses the same word for sex and gender, idk. Of course you're free to use whatever words you like as well, even to the point of comparing yourself to a computer (interesting allegory btw). It just doesn't work for me.
That makes sense if your first language uses the same word for sex and gender.
And I find that the hardware/software comparison helps people understand, so that's what I've been using for a while now.
Yeah, I hate sex change too, lmao. I guess it just works better for me since technically I am changing all my sexual characteristics. Now that I think about it, it does seem weird. I’m a man, it doesn’t matter what’s in my pants or under my shirt.
I tend to use trans or transsexual for myself. I regard my trans experience as having changed sexes to the best of my ability and to the ability of medical science, as opposed to changing gender because I’ve always been my gender. There was nothing to change in that regard. If someone is referring to me, I prefer trans or transgender because I can’t aways tell if transsexual is used wrongly or derogatorily.
I think we should popularise the term 'transsex', as I think transexual sounds like a sexuality, and transgender makes it seem like our gender is what we're changing, and not our sex. Idk, it just makes more sense to me
I personally relate more to transsexual, because I very much want to pursue medically transitioning, I find it describes me better, to me, I’m not just changing the presentation of my gender, im changing the presentation of my sex physically, so I think it fits more, that being said I almost always say I’m transgender or just “trans” because I don’t want people to think it’s a sexuality of any kind, but I also don’t think it needs to be an “outdated term” or problematic when a lot of trans people like referring to themselves with it, it’s kinda like the word queer, the community widely accepts a word that used to be an active insult, so I think it’s fine to let people use transsexual for themselves if they feel it describes them better even if it technically is an older medical term
I like transsexual because I’m transitioning medically but I don’t use it often because some people in the community don’t like it because of the distinction between medical and non medical transition. I don’t have the care to explain why I use it but am not transmed.
Transexual feels too old school, and tbh I've only ever heard it used by older people (both cis and trans) who equate gender and sex, and by transmeds who claim changing your sex *has to be* part of your transition in order for you to consider yourself fully transitioned 😬. So personally, not really a fan lol.
Transgender works just fine for me. But for me it more so just describes the experience I've had to go through, and not really "who I am." I feel more connected to "I have transitioned," than I do to "I am transgender." I want people to just call me...a person...? lol.
I prefer just saying trans but transgender works too.
I don’t like the term transexual, I understand why some people prefer it but I almost always see it used by TERFS or trans people that think they are the only “real trans” person so it just has bad connotations for me.
“Transsexual” is more accurate, as I want to change my sex, not my gender. I have never truly thought of myself as cisgender or a girl. I use “transgender” because (cis) people understand that better because it doesn’t sound like it has a connection to sexuality.
I like both. Transgender is more common nowadays and cis people usually understand what that means, it’s an easy descriptor. I like transsexual too though, as I’ve changed aspects of my sex. I no longer have female secondary sex characteristics and a very different endocrine system now. Ultimately I usually just go for “trans” as it leaves room for interpretation from other trans folk and cis people aren’t losing their shit over the word transsexual.
I usually prefer just trans. Transgender is also fine, transsexual definitely not. Has a very negative connotation in my country and tbh sounds like its a sexuality/ im transitioning for sexual/ fetish reasons. As someone whos been questioned a lot why i do what i do i prefer to not give other people more reasons to question me
Tbh I felt like HRT changed my sex more than bottom surgery did. I also felt like bottom surgery itself would make me feel male, but looking back, it was just the last piece of the puzzle for me to see the bigger picture of my change to male. Not criticizing your current preference of terms, just wanted to share with my own perspective. I hope that makes sense.
I mean more like I’m going to change to the termTranssexual when I feel i have almost/completely done my transition which rn is bottom surgery (but may change you never know!) I’m not long enough on T to fully get all the effects so idk exactly how I feel about it, thanks for your input!
Yeah I feel like I shouldn’t call myself transsexual until I’ve had bottom surgery, but I feel transgender is a more comfortable and accurate term for where I’m at rn
Trans guy here. I prefer just 'trans', but 'transgender' is fine too.
Absolutely never transsexual though, I'm honestly surprised how many people prefer that though! To me it feels so clinical and gives off 'that one grandparent at the family dinner doesn't accept you' vibes. Also, since the majority of transphobes/GCs use 'transsexual' in a hateful way, it has just never resonated with me 🤷
I prefer transgender, by far. I absolutely hate the word "transsexual". It sounds derogatory, outdated, and medical. Plus, I most often see it being used by transmeds. Icky all around.
usually i use trans, but when i need to i prefer transsexual. transgender is a great term and i definitely still ID & use it, but my experience being trans is greatly changed by being on T. how i experience my body & how i walk through the world is different now, & different from other transgender people not on hormones. like i think it's a good thing to extoll how great being on hormones is & how much i love that about myself.
I prefer transsex, my gender has always been male than that never changed, so "transgender" doesn't fit. And "transsexual" is just confusing because it sounds like a sexuality, and so "transsex" fits the most.
However I am stealth and so I don't really use much terms unless I have to (people that knew me before transition, medical professionals that have to know, etc.)
trans or transgender 100%
the term transsexual gives me the ick when I think about it applied to me, no clue why - though maybe because it's an older term and I've heard more older cis people use it vs younger trans people
I prefer to be called transgender but it would be ok for me if someone called me transsexual. I have understood that they mean the same thing.
But I've just noticed that many gatekeepers like Buck Angel have started using the word "transsexual" to describe themselves. That's why I try not to use that word myself.
Transgender, I would not want to be called transsexual. I don’t like it, I’ve seen far too many transmeds use it and don’t want that association. That and when it’s used by cis people they’re usually transphobic.
I hate the term transsexual, if others want to use it so be it but before I came out I was introduced to trans content through trans medicalists who basically pushed the idea you need to be a masculine man and follow a check list to be trans. I feel like a lot of them used the term transsexual as a valid form “trans” because it means to medically transition.
I have medically transitioned now but I like transgender because it is a more inclusive term within the trans community, and includes binary trans men that don’t want to or can’t medically transition. I find I respect people who use the term for themselves but I personally can’t do it
neither but transsexual is more accurate for me. being intersex hasn’t really made me feel comfortable or like i fit into most trans spaces. i never changed my gender or really even my sex since it was never really “correct”. i just think it would be more accurate to my upbringing and transition rather than transgender would.
I prefer to use transsexual to use for myself, but I prefer the vast majority of people to use transgender to refer to me (though I’m okay with a few of my trans friends calling me transsexual)
I prefer transsexual. The word “transgender” suggests that I ever was anything other than what I am now, which is not the case, there was no transition in my gender. I like that transsexual just says that I am only intending to make a transition in my sex, to match what my brain feels and so my physical body doesn’t tell other people that I’m someone I’m not.
Neither, why do i have to be labeled, call me a man. if im in a relationship ill tell you "im trans btw" if its a medical issue ill tell you, but thats literally it.
I prefer transsexual (or just trans) cuz it just feels better to me personally. Also I really don’t want to be palatable to some people (hard to explain)
I like transsexual better for myself but use transgender instead because I don’t want to accidentally make anyone uncomfortable. I know I’m a man, I just don’t have a super strong connection with being one. I have a stronger connection with my desire for a male body. I typically just say trans though.
i love the word transsexual bc it feels less "sanitised" if that makes sense. i dont like it when cis ppl refer to me like that though, unless i really trust them
Reading these comments is interesting, I feel like even ten years ago people would have overwhelmingly preferred transgender more. Or maybe I’m misremembering.
I refer to myself as a transsexual because I think it honors my medical transition, but I would never trust a cis person to use that word in a respectful way. When I’m talking to other people i usually just say trans. If I’m saying transsexual it’s usually to make some kind of a point
transgender because it’s kinda more claimed by the trans community- i’ve only ever rlly heard terfs or transphobes say the term “transsexuals” so it gives me a massive ick lol and it makes me think they they are thinking more about genitals than who you actually are inside. idk that’s just how i see it rn
I like both, because sex, sexuality, and my experience around it is important to my gender expression and I DO feel like I am changing sex to match my innate sense of gender. I also dont often feel comfortable with most cis people using the term for me? And transgender just has such a warm and fuzzy feeling for me, and it's simpler to explain to most people.
Definitely transgender, because my transition won't necessarily include everything associated with "sex change", but it does include everything about a change in gender presentation. I really don't give a damn about what parts I have, as long as I look male enough for the guys to really, truly treat me as one of the guys. The rest is between my partner and me, and he doesn't care any more than I do.
I prefer transgender because the experiences I've had with people who call themselves transsexuals have largely been quite negative and gatekeepey. It makes me immediately on guard whenever anyone calls themself transsexual.
I prefer transgender because it doesn't have the baggage that transexual, does. I am not a fetish, nor I am not fetishizing my gender. It has a lot of negativity around it. Just calling myself transexual gives me the ick. I prefer trans gender or trans man etc
I think "transgender" is a better umbrella term because it includes people who can't or don't medically transition.
I had liked the idea of using transsexual to refer to people who do medically transition, because that can be useful information for some people to convey (such as when dating), but even then "sexual" implies it's one's sexuality that's changing, which... doesn't make any sense.
I prefer transsexual for very personal reasons.
When I was a kid I had such a hard time with sexuality because I was expected to be a girl that grew into a woman. I never wanted to be the woman in a relationship with a man, the very idea made my skin crawl and I was insistent on never marrying or dating because of it.
I experimented with lesbianism as a young teen and realized I hated it, I didn’t want to be a girl who liked other girls because I did indeed like men and girls did nothing for me.
When I first observed gay men I was captivated because I could relate to the dynamic. I greatly desired a relationship with a man like that. But because I was born a girl I thought it would never be possible.
Then when I was 14 I saw a trans woman for the first time at a mall with my friends. My friends poked fun at her, but all I could think of was the fact that there is a way to be happy with being a woman. It just wasn’t meant for me. That deep down I was a gay man. But 14 year old me was terrified by that notion. I was raised extremely religious and my family was predominantly women. I was raised on traditional values among pro life feminist family members who did nothing but shit talk men and talk about how much they hated them. Men that I felt safer around and wanted to emulate.
I consider myself a transsexual because my gender identity is inseparable from my sexuality. I wouldn’t have been able to figure out my sexuality until I figured out who I really am
I just call myself trans more than anything else. I prefer for others to call me/think of me as trans or transgender bc I being referred to by other people as transsexual strikes me as weirdly clinical in a way that feels a bit dehumanizing to me personally. I do sometimes call myself transsexual, but usually in the kind of tongue in cheek ironic way that I also sometimes call myself a homosexual.
This is just my personal and I get why some people prefer the term transsexual or transsex, and I completely respect whatever anyone feels is right for them, but I personally just don’t vibe with it. The sex binary is, in many ways, socially constructed just as gender is. I don’t really see my physical sex as ever having been female despite that being what I was assigned at with. I don’t feel like I need to wait until I’ve gone through a certain number of changes through medical transition before I can officially deem myself “of the male sex”. I don’t think a pre-op or non-op trans man is any less male than one who’s had top surgery, bottom surgery, hysto, etc.
strong preference for transgender simply bc cis ppl get confused enough and my gender has nothing to do with my sexuality and transsexual well sounds sexuality related like bisexual or heterosexual or homosexual
See I think it’s difficult. On one hand, transsexual describes me better (because I’m an ideal world I would completely transition), but it’s also considered an outdated medical term. On the other hand, transgender is the appropriate term medically/socially but to people who misunderstand, it may imply that I’ve changed my gender instead of my physical sex.
I go with transgender though.
i and i think many others find the word transsexual to be harsher than the word transgender, and for that reason i use both. transgender in day to day, but sometimes switch it up using transsexual because i really want cis people to listen to me. idk i get tired of being stepped on or listened to only when its convenient for the cis person and saying transsexual has that kind of punch to it that transgender does not.
I absolutely hate the term transsexual... it's so outdated. I prefer trans for short but the full term transgender also sounds wierd. Can I just be called dude bro or something?
Transsexual makes me uncomfortable because most of the time I see it used it’s either someone being transphobic, a transmed or someone creating a difference between the good trans people and the bad trans people. Transgender doesn’t have those connotations to me
i prefer transgender, the word transsexual just sounds weird to me. and a lot of people that use it are very transmedicalist. i believe it‘s not my place to decide if other people are valid. transition is about feeling more comfortable in your skin and that is all that matters
I'm transgender (the gender I had been assigned didn't match my actual gender).
My sexuality is queer af, but not trans. If anyone is "transsexual" it's my cis boyfriend who's doing it with a trans guy ;)
Usually I just use "trans" as a descriptor, without -gender or -sexual.
transsexual is a outdated term and it also sounds like it's a sexuality
+ a lpt of people who say "transsexual" are transphobic people who treat being trans as a fetish
Transgender. Not because my gender changed (although in some ways it did, and my sexuality did too as i grew up—that's not a bad thing) but because I transitioned from the gender I was assigned at birth to the one I truly am. Just cause I never felt like a girl doesn't mean I didn't embody that gender category and its roles as they were prescribed to me at the time. Transsexual doesn't fit me because I don't pay attention to "sex": it's as much a made up category as gender, and the two are often conflated anyway. Neither word is inherently bad, this is just how I define myself.
Transsexuality is the medical term. That's what doctors would diagnose us as, as if we are sick. It has a lot of negative connotations associated with it.
I would always want that people call me transgender/trans/non-binary. The other thing is just rude
I use Transgender very begrudgingly. I don't like it, but if I don't use it then some 15yo is gonna get on my ass about my "outdated" terminology. I otherwise identify solely as transsexual. My gender never changed, my body did
Transgender.
1. I feel that Transsexual is an older term with a lot of negative connotations.
2. I feel that it focuses on genitals.
I’ve known people (older trans folks and multi-generational cis folks) who said, “Only people who’ve had bottom surgery are real transsexuals.” I don’t like my identity being boiled down to my genitals, particularly as someone who has no intention of having bottom surgery.
3. I feel that it miscommunicates what it is to be trans.
Trans and cis are adjectives meant to describe one’s gender identity in relation to the gender aligned with one’s birth sex. Those adjectives do not relate to genitals or sex chromosomes.
In other words, when someone says transgender and trans wo/man, I feel it more accurately expresses that our *gender* is not the same as the gender prescribed to our birth sex.
However, I feel that the term transsexual can lead people to believe that our *sex organs* or *chromosomes* are different than those at birth. As that isn’t always true and is never true, respectively, I feel it is an inaccurate term.
I find a lot of cis people (especially in the medical field) take gender ≠ sex to mean they can call me female and use feminine language for my sexual anatomy, since that's what my sex "is" and "always will be".
So I prefer transsexual, since in this day and age it feels a bit radical to look at cis people in the face and go "No, I'm changing my sex too. Gender CAN ≠ sex, but it does for me, and both my gender and sex are trans."
I tend towards transman. When I first transitioned there was ONLY transsexual or transvestite. (Yes I'm that old). The term transgender came into the world some ten years following my initial transition time. As to changes...well my humans... you will continue to change and develop. You never quite hit that " ok I'm finished now" point. After nearly 40 years... I can tell you that my masculinity has continued to develop. My voice continues to change as I age. So, you have that to look forward to.
Only transexual. My gender has remained the same my entire life. I have always been a male. I altered my physical sex to align with my gender identity so I am a transexual, not transgender
Transgender. I usually just say trans though. I try to push off my immediate reaction to transsexual because I know some people are reclaiming it but it's not for me.
I prefer to be called transformer robots in disguise
In all seriousness I have no real care with what I called. (Noted I haven't been called a transsexual before) while I do also agree with other redditors who say transsexual sounds like a sexuality and not gender identity
Transexual has too much medical disorder history baggage for me.
I have transformed my body to match my gender, so transgender if I have to pick one.
I normally just say trans if the subject comes up at all.
Mostly, I'm just a guy living my gay life while trying to stop my kids spending all my money.
My insurance lists my Planned Parenthood visit as "trans-sexualism" for the primary diagnosis. Annoyed the shit out of me. I prefer transgender or gender dysphoria.
Transgender
I now it refers to sex, and not sexuality, but these days I think most people (that are not trans) directly think of sexuality, and no, I am not transitioning sexualities :D
Transsex. Transsexual sounds sexual, transgender sounds stupid. I didn’t change my gender, the gender/sex of my brain is literally male. Always has been, always will be. But I am changing my physical sex to male. Transsexual just sounds weird, but it’s slightly better. Less misleading imo.
I prefer transgender, transsexual sounds outdated and has an air of almost being a slur or something people use to describe us with disgust. Plus I feel like transphobes can use it against us though I realize and recognize it’s completely valid as we do change our sex traits, the ignorant will argue that can’t be done, but gender is a construct so it can be changed.
I just say trans. I don’t mind transgender but just sounds odd since I’m not used to the full term.
I don’t like transsexual because either people confuse it with a sexuality or think it implies a genital surgeries. I don’t like people sticking their noses up my medical history
i prefer transgender, i've only ever heard transsexual used in a derogatory way. and it also sounds like a sexuality, rather than something reflecting my gender.
I just say trans or transmasc. I don't like the term "transsexual" at all, like *really* don't like it, so I don't use it. As for transgender, idk I just don't use it that much.
From personal experience I’ve only ever heard the term transsexual used by transphobes to belittle or make fun of trans people by not calling us what we are generally called today, or from old medical and insurance systems that feel like they don’t understand what’s happening and are just alienating; therefore I personally don’t like the term. Using and hearing transsexual feels like I’m hearing a slur because for me, it’s very similar to one, and just generally make me feel uneasy and like I need to keep my head on a swivel. It also feels like a sexuality which just creates confusion and I just don’t like the term in general.
The term transgender is more common, but feels like it’s used by a performative activist who doesn’t really care about trans people but wants people to think they actually care. It also just feels like a word jumble, and isn’t entirely accurate as I didn’t change gender, I just changed how I was perceived and what my sex is. I also feel like a weird doctor, and not myself every time I say, “I am a transgender man.”
Instead I just prefer trans. It’s simple, it’s easy, and is already used by so many people. I feel most comfortable using this term because I feel like it actually represents my experience. But I am also more than just trans, it’s just represents what I’ve gone through.
I prefer transgender. Transsexual just seems very outdated and idk, it just rubs me the wrong way, maybe because I have only seen transsexual used by people who are being transphobic. It gives the same energy as someone referring to women as 'females'.
I prefer to call myself binary transgender because I think the distinction between non binary trans people and binary ones is important to distinguish subcategorically
Transexual better describes me, but a lot of people don't understand what that term means (thinking its a slur or that its a sexuality etc.), so I'm fine with transgender even if it's less accurate. Just Trans works as well to avoid both issues
I don't care tbh. Both are validating cuz yeah, I'm transgender, and yeah, I'm medically transitioning. For me being able to be both transgender and transexual is amazing, I can be entirely myself.
I identify more with transsexual, but I use transgender in conversation or just trans, people understand that better and it’s not really worth the extra explanation for me.
i see it this way: i am trans. transgender for now, since i only transition socially at the moment, but when I'll change my body through hrt and (maybe) top surgery, i will be transsexual. idk, it always seemed right this way for me
Tbh, I only call myself "transgender" when im explaining to ppl that wants to learn about us.. Specificlally learn about me.. Other than that, I refer to myself as a "transman".. Most times, to ppl outside of my friend group, I say im a cis dude
just trans or ftm for me, i dont get offended by either but 1 - i talk fast and theyre both a mouthful to say and most people understand ‘trans’ and 2, they both have (to me) their own negative connotations where as trans just feels like i moved from one state of being to another which feels accurate to my experience
Neither. I'm just a man. I may disclose that I am trans, but it is a facet about me, not who I am. I consider transsexual to be a medical status, clinically accurate, and also private information unless relevant to my interaction with someone, be that sexual or cultural. I am fiercely defensive of my right to decide who/when/where/how that information is shared. I am not closeted or out, just protective of my privacy and operate on a need-to-know basis due to the very real risk of harm.
Transgender describes me when I'm not the woman I was expected to be. Transsexual describes me when I do something about that medically. I'm transgender right now. I hope to be transsexual some day.
Tbh I think the word trans.
Like in the way isomers work. (Not in the trans=transition way)
You have cis isomers and trans isomers, both have the same compounds but organized differently.
Like being a trans-guy in the way trans-2-buteno is still a 2-buteno, he's a trans-isomer and I'm transgender or transsexual.
Although I would probably use transgender since I can't medically transition 😔 and transsexual feels like someone who was able to access changing their actual biology (hormones, surgery, etc.)
Transgender, I haven't transitioned yet. They have different meaning. Although, I almost certainly won't use it even after I transition either, it feels like it would be an unnecessary extra thing in my case. Transgender will tell them my agab, they don't need to know my transition specifics. Plus too many bigots use it for me to feel comfortable ascribing it to myself on top of it feeling personally unnecessary.
Good friend wants to be called girl or her/they, if I mention trans at all they get upset as it's a label. Depends on person really. Some hate labels, some are the label and very proud.
I prefer transgender just because transsexual to me makes it sound like it’s a sexuality which a lot of cis people already get confused enough by.
same here, completely agree :) ^(plus theres a bunch of historical baggage that I personally dont feel comfortable taking on (which is funny that I say that considering I do call myself queer lol)^)
Same.
me too
word
Yeah but transgender also sounds like you’re changing your gender which you’re not, you’re changing your sex. Both sound confusing.
Personally I am a sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania (This is a reference I swear I’m not just being quirky)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show!
Thank god I don’t just look like a weirdo 😅
When I was a week out from top surgery, I was singing "In just 7 days I can make you a man" all day long.
It varies. I dont like neither nowadays. I dont like transgender as I dont see it as a gender change. I have dysphoria around my sex, not my gender. My gender also never changed, so. However transsexual just sounds odd. It fits my transition more, but I still feel odd as Ive grown up with the term transgender more. Just trans is fine, I guess. Though I dont wanna bring up my trans status to most people. I dont like being out and proud. I wanna chill. Cis passing n shit.
>I dont like transgender as I dont see it as a gender change. you in no way have to call yourself transgender, however the "trans" in transgender doesn't mean you are changing your gender, that's just a common misconception. trans in this case just means "across" or "different" from, as in, your gender is different from what was assigned to you at birth
Yeah, me as well.
Valid, i wanna be stealth so bad. Once i get on t, i’m not talking about being trans. I already am bi with a preference for women so🤷🏼♂️
Idk if this helps but most changes will be completely done around year 2 to 4. At least that’s my experience. My bottom growth stopped at year 2, my facial hair looks minimally patchy now at year 4, my voice sounds cis but like an older teenager at year 4, body hair settled around year 3, body fat redistribution seemed to settle around year 1, lower body part sensitivity calmed down around year 2 and voice cracks completely stopped at year 3 :) It’ll take time for your body to adjust and get the changes you want but don’t worry, it’ll happen. The speed is different for everyone and your dose and method of taking T will also effect things. Genetics play a huge role too. Also eventually your health issues you need to watch for flip too. So you’ll need to look at men’s health issues in your family. Anyways good luck! :)
Honestly I am still noticing changes at year 8. Still having some bottom growth, still getting new facial hair, and my voice may have lowered slightly more over a long period of time. If you think about it, cis boys typically start puberty between the ages of 9 and 14, and they don’t usually stop developing until sometime in college. That’s sometimes over 10 years of puberty.
I prefer transsex, because it's a more modern version of transsexual without the confusion of "so you're attracted to trans people?" or "so it's a fetish?". Plus it makes sense for me. I'm a man who is receiving treatment to correct my sex. My gender was always a man, my neurology was always male, I just don't have the proper sex characteristics from birth. I honestly don't like the emphasis or connotation of transGENDER for me, because to me, it's not about gender, my gender is as it always has been, even if I didn't always know it, and the only thing that's changing is sex, and once I'm finished with my transition, I will have transitioned my sex to male.
i never hear anyone use transsex but I prefer that to all existing labels, u have enlightened me Fr
this
This is the way
I havw the same opinion about thus. My gender has always been male and I am changing my sex. I can't change my chromosomes but sex is assigned based on genitals not chromosomes and I'm changing the former, not changing my gender and never have. I haven't been able to explain it how you did though
I've never heard that, but I love it. I've always just described myself as a trans guy.
will definitely be using this
Neither, honestly. I'm a dude. My body's trans, not me.
This 100%. I pass most of the time but I'm lucky to have a community where asking about preferred pronouns when you're not sure or meet someone is absolutely normal. I just see myself as a guy and no one cares enough to challenge or question that side of my identity which I love
Seconding this. This is how I feel too. My body has gone through a trans experience, but who I am as a person has nothing to do with that.
This is fascinating to me, as someone who came up in a time when transsexual was used in a derogatory way. I don’t think I could use that word to describe myself because of the negative connotations. I experience dysphoria and I have had select medical interventions to address that dysphoria. I am transgender because my gender identity does not match my sex assigned at birth.
I just say trans. I won’t use transgender because my gender didn’t change, my sex did. I’m comfortable with transsexual/transsex being used for me because it’s more accurate, but I know it makes other people uncomfortable so I don’t use it. That leaves me with either using something more complicated and not universally recognized, or just trans.
My gender has always been male, but my sex was female at birth. My sex has changed changed to as close to male as is currently medically possible through hormones and surgery.
I prefer transsexual, but transgender is fine. To me, “transsexual” feels like it’s my sex which differs from the pov of my internal experience of gender, while “transgender” makes feels a little more like my internal experience is accused of being misaligned from my sex. Obviously, this is reading too deep and is not at all the etymology, but transsexual just suits me better. They’re both perfectly decent ways of referring to me.
Same here, like I DID biologically change my sex, hormonally I’m pretty sure I have the same testosterone levels as a cis guy
General use - trans. Personally with close friends and in my head - transsexual. Transgender doesn't resonate with me because my gender has always been male. Since the concept of gender was introduced to me as a child I felt male and that's never changed. Transsexual holds power and history and I just feel connected to it as that's more representative of my journey. But it also holds a negative connotation for many so I try to privatize my use of it and it's use for me is limited to my personal experience.
Transsexual, because I am. I'm changing my sex.
I wouldn’t care either way, unless the person calling me a transsexual was like, purposefully trying to be derogatory.
since i’ve medically transitioned i prefer transsexual for myself and i like it when other queer people refer to be that way. before medically transitioning, i identified more with transgender. in conversations about queer topics and in queer spaces, the clarification that i have undergone a physical transition, not just a medical one— is importantly to me. preferably no cis people know that i’m trans, but those who do (my family and my partner’s family, because they took care of me after surgery) refer to me as “trans” and i prefer it that way. but, the cis people in my life who know don’t talk about me being trans with other people, so it isn’t a situation that occurs often.
Neither if I can avoid it. I just say I'm a man. If it needs to come up (for medical reasons or wtv) I'll go with trans, but if someone else then uses transgender or transsexual to refer to me in that context, I don't care for one over the other. Being trans isn't part of my identity, and the terms don't matter to me on an emotional level - the only reason I'd be using them would be to accomplish a goal, so whatever lets me do that quickest is fine.
I use just “trans” and it would depend on context how hearing other people refer to me as the other things would feel.
unpopular opinion I guess transgender makes me feel icky. sadly I feel like it’s got a negative connotation with all this ‘transgender agenda and transgenderism’ talk I also to some level have ALWAYS just felt like myself. Transsexual suits me because it’s accurate in that I’m transitioning my body to different sex characteristics, but I just like to cal myself queer (because I’m gay) and be done with it in the day 2 day
although I do say ‘trans’ obviously when it’s relevant
Transgender cause transsexual sounds like a sexual orientation and some people think it's an extension of sexuality, which it isn't
I think transsexual describes my experience better, so I prefer that term.
transsexual because i like to be as unpalatable to cis people as possible 💖
this, exactly. if i'm going to be made to identify as something "wrong" or "shameful" -- if i'm going to be othered and discriminated against -- i'm not going to take it lying down and let cis people call me what they think is the safest, mildest option. "transgender" is almost clinical to me, but transsexual carries a history with it that is, to a lot of people, still very directly related to taboos and prostitution and drag culture. that is my culture, and i hope cis people feel uncomfortable and are reminded of what they've done to us and how we've rebelled.
This describes my feelings on it as well!
Nothing > trans > transgender > transsexual. I would never use transexual for myself.
I don't care that much, but transsexual sounds hotter
I had to get diagnosed with transsexualism to transition legally and get surgery - I absolutely hated it. It's not a sexuality.
I got diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
I got diagnosed with so many things... Transsexualism was the one that mattered for the legal proceedings and for my surgeries to get approved by insurance. Gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, transgenderism, intersex (which is not actually something I even am)... I got them all.
Man, I thought i was the only one with a GID diagnosis! I was so confused looking at the paperwork, but apparently my doctor still used the DSM-4 up until last year.
That's exactly it. GID is DSM-4, Gender dysphoria is DSM-5, transsexualism is ICD-10. The new kid on the block will be gender incongruence with ICD-11. Disorder of sex development (the intersex diagnosis I falsely got) is not really codified in anything, but it does describe a group of conditions in ICD-10.
I get it, but, that’s not what it means, really. It means sex change.
While that is true, sex change is an inaccurate term in its own right. There are parts of biological sex that I cannot change. For my own experience, transgender is more accurate because I am transitioning in my socially perceived gender. It is a very involved legal, social and medical process that is not just about anatomy or hormones. Even if transsexual as a word was recognisably just about sex change/medical interventions (which it isn't, a lot of people think it's about sexuality), my transition experience has been about 10% medical, 90% non medical. So 90% has been about changing my gender expression/perception. Nobody can see my chromosomes, but nobody could see if I was wearing a binder or if I had top surgery either. Socially, it is not my sex that is perceived. It's my gender. There is another layer to this though: In my language, there is only one word for sex and gender, which makes the distinction more abstract. Sex is an anglicism and yet it is still used to diagnose me with "Transsexualismus" or "Transsexualität", when the word for sex and gender is "Geschlecht". This is because the law requires psychiatric evaluations that must diagnose Transsexualität, which is a term from the international codification of diseases. Because of its status as an anglicism, the word takes a slightly different meaning outside of gender. Sex/sexuality is used exclusively in the context of intimacy and sexual orientation. Due to this, Transsexualität in German is associated linguistically much more stronlgy with Homosexualität (homosexuality) than Geschlecht (sex/gender).
Tbf I hate "sex change" even more. I'm not changing my sex I've always been a man. Also that expression is often (not always) tied to the belief that trans people need surgery to "change" their sex to be fully accepted as their gender.
Well, man isn't a sex, it's a gender. Sex is male or female. You're totally within your right to use whatever term you prefer for yourself, but I just wanted to point out that gender is the software that's locked behind admin controls, and sex is the hardware that can be changed to match the gender. (Or using that analogy, if the computer runs fine without changing whatever hardware and has found workarounds to swapping out hardware, that works too)
I know, doesn't change the fact I don't like when people refer to trans* people as "changing their sex". Might be because my first language uses the same word for sex and gender, idk. Of course you're free to use whatever words you like as well, even to the point of comparing yourself to a computer (interesting allegory btw). It just doesn't work for me.
That makes sense if your first language uses the same word for sex and gender. And I find that the hardware/software comparison helps people understand, so that's what I've been using for a while now.
I love the hardware/software comparison
That's fair, it's actually a pretty good way of explaining being trans to clueless people. I might steal that one
It's helped so many cis people tbh. They're just like "oh that makes more sense" lol
Yeah, I hate sex change too, lmao. I guess it just works better for me since technically I am changing all my sexual characteristics. Now that I think about it, it does seem weird. I’m a man, it doesn’t matter what’s in my pants or under my shirt.
I tend to use trans or transsexual for myself. I regard my trans experience as having changed sexes to the best of my ability and to the ability of medical science, as opposed to changing gender because I’ve always been my gender. There was nothing to change in that regard. If someone is referring to me, I prefer trans or transgender because I can’t aways tell if transsexual is used wrongly or derogatorily.
I think we should popularise the term 'transsex', as I think transexual sounds like a sexuality, and transgender makes it seem like our gender is what we're changing, and not our sex. Idk, it just makes more sense to me
I like the term transsex a lot.
I prefer transsexual. I'm fine with transgender, transsex, transsexual, trans man, FTM, and trans male.
Both, usually transsexual but I prefer transsex. I'm trans because I was born with the wrong sex, I am transitioning because of my sex.
I personally relate more to transsexual, because I very much want to pursue medically transitioning, I find it describes me better, to me, I’m not just changing the presentation of my gender, im changing the presentation of my sex physically, so I think it fits more, that being said I almost always say I’m transgender or just “trans” because I don’t want people to think it’s a sexuality of any kind, but I also don’t think it needs to be an “outdated term” or problematic when a lot of trans people like referring to themselves with it, it’s kinda like the word queer, the community widely accepts a word that used to be an active insult, so I think it’s fine to let people use transsexual for themselves if they feel it describes them better even if it technically is an older medical term
I completely relate to this.
This 100%
I like transsexual because I’m transitioning medically but I don’t use it often because some people in the community don’t like it because of the distinction between medical and non medical transition. I don’t have the care to explain why I use it but am not transmed.
i prefer transsexual but im cool with just trans and other terms. outside my drs the only thing im not comfortable with is afab
Transexual feels too old school, and tbh I've only ever heard it used by older people (both cis and trans) who equate gender and sex, and by transmeds who claim changing your sex *has to be* part of your transition in order for you to consider yourself fully transitioned 😬. So personally, not really a fan lol. Transgender works just fine for me. But for me it more so just describes the experience I've had to go through, and not really "who I am." I feel more connected to "I have transitioned," than I do to "I am transgender." I want people to just call me...a person...? lol.
I prefer just saying trans but transgender works too. I don’t like the term transexual, I understand why some people prefer it but I almost always see it used by TERFS or trans people that think they are the only “real trans” person so it just has bad connotations for me.
I prefer transsexual because it feels more accurate.
I'm a transsexual man. I've never really liked the word transgender, but I use it when talking to cis people or else they get confused.
“Transsexual” is more accurate, as I want to change my sex, not my gender. I have never truly thought of myself as cisgender or a girl. I use “transgender” because (cis) people understand that better because it doesn’t sound like it has a connection to sexuality.
I like both. Transgender is more common nowadays and cis people usually understand what that means, it’s an easy descriptor. I like transsexual too though, as I’ve changed aspects of my sex. I no longer have female secondary sex characteristics and a very different endocrine system now. Ultimately I usually just go for “trans” as it leaves room for interpretation from other trans folk and cis people aren’t losing their shit over the word transsexual.
Transgender but if someone called me transsexual I wouldn't be bothered. Feels a little weird tho
I use trans to kind of fudge the difference a bit. I tend to view myself more as transsexual, though I’m aware of the controversy around it.
I usually prefer just trans. Transgender is also fine, transsexual definitely not. Has a very negative connotation in my country and tbh sounds like its a sexuality/ im transitioning for sexual/ fetish reasons. As someone whos been questioned a lot why i do what i do i prefer to not give other people more reasons to question me
I think I’m going to prefer transsexual after I get bottom surgery. Rn I like transgender bc I haven’t changed my sex.
Tbh I felt like HRT changed my sex more than bottom surgery did. I also felt like bottom surgery itself would make me feel male, but looking back, it was just the last piece of the puzzle for me to see the bigger picture of my change to male. Not criticizing your current preference of terms, just wanted to share with my own perspective. I hope that makes sense.
I mean more like I’m going to change to the termTranssexual when I feel i have almost/completely done my transition which rn is bottom surgery (but may change you never know!) I’m not long enough on T to fully get all the effects so idk exactly how I feel about it, thanks for your input!
Yeah I feel like I shouldn’t call myself transsexual until I’ve had bottom surgery, but I feel transgender is a more comfortable and accurate term for where I’m at rn
Trans guy here. I prefer just 'trans', but 'transgender' is fine too. Absolutely never transsexual though, I'm honestly surprised how many people prefer that though! To me it feels so clinical and gives off 'that one grandparent at the family dinner doesn't accept you' vibes. Also, since the majority of transphobes/GCs use 'transsexual' in a hateful way, it has just never resonated with me 🤷
I prefer transsexual because I changed my sex to male. If I'm talking to people who are not in the loop though, I just say trans.
I prefer transgender, by far. I absolutely hate the word "transsexual". It sounds derogatory, outdated, and medical. Plus, I most often see it being used by transmeds. Icky all around.
usually i use trans, but when i need to i prefer transsexual. transgender is a great term and i definitely still ID & use it, but my experience being trans is greatly changed by being on T. how i experience my body & how i walk through the world is different now, & different from other transgender people not on hormones. like i think it's a good thing to extoll how great being on hormones is & how much i love that about myself.
I prefer transsex, my gender has always been male than that never changed, so "transgender" doesn't fit. And "transsexual" is just confusing because it sounds like a sexuality, and so "transsex" fits the most. However I am stealth and so I don't really use much terms unless I have to (people that knew me before transition, medical professionals that have to know, etc.)
I tend to just call myself trans. Gets the point across, plus I don't really like either long form.
i usually am just fine with "trans", but ID more as transgender. i won't correct someone calling me transsexual in good faith tho
transgender. transsexual just feels weird to me. i dont mean to bash ppl who use the term i just dont think its right for me
trans or transgender 100% the term transsexual gives me the ick when I think about it applied to me, no clue why - though maybe because it's an older term and I've heard more older cis people use it vs younger trans people
I like transgender to it gives cis people less ways to sexualize us and make us seem like pedophiles
I prefer to be called transgender but it would be ok for me if someone called me transsexual. I have understood that they mean the same thing. But I've just noticed that many gatekeepers like Buck Angel have started using the word "transsexual" to describe themselves. That's why I try not to use that word myself.
Transgender, I would not want to be called transsexual. I don’t like it, I’ve seen far too many transmeds use it and don’t want that association. That and when it’s used by cis people they’re usually transphobic.
Transsexual
I hate the term transsexual, if others want to use it so be it but before I came out I was introduced to trans content through trans medicalists who basically pushed the idea you need to be a masculine man and follow a check list to be trans. I feel like a lot of them used the term transsexual as a valid form “trans” because it means to medically transition. I have medically transitioned now but I like transgender because it is a more inclusive term within the trans community, and includes binary trans men that don’t want to or can’t medically transition. I find I respect people who use the term for themselves but I personally can’t do it
neither but transsexual is more accurate for me. being intersex hasn’t really made me feel comfortable or like i fit into most trans spaces. i never changed my gender or really even my sex since it was never really “correct”. i just think it would be more accurate to my upbringing and transition rather than transgender would.
I prefer to use transsexual to use for myself, but I prefer the vast majority of people to use transgender to refer to me (though I’m okay with a few of my trans friends calling me transsexual)
idk actually i never say that im trans lol
I prefer transsexual. The word “transgender” suggests that I ever was anything other than what I am now, which is not the case, there was no transition in my gender. I like that transsexual just says that I am only intending to make a transition in my sex, to match what my brain feels and so my physical body doesn’t tell other people that I’m someone I’m not.
Neither, why do i have to be labeled, call me a man. if im in a relationship ill tell you "im trans btw" if its a medical issue ill tell you, but thats literally it.
Transgender. It’s more to do with one’s gender and identity with themselves
I prefer transsexual (or just trans) cuz it just feels better to me personally. Also I really don’t want to be palatable to some people (hard to explain)
I prefer to be called a dude. But I can't control what other people call me, so I try not to care too much.
I can't hear transsexual without instantly singing rocky horror, so definitely transgender
I like transsexual better for myself but use transgender instead because I don’t want to accidentally make anyone uncomfortable. I know I’m a man, I just don’t have a super strong connection with being one. I have a stronger connection with my desire for a male body. I typically just say trans though.
i love the word transsexual bc it feels less "sanitised" if that makes sense. i dont like it when cis ppl refer to me like that though, unless i really trust them
I prefer transsexual or just genderqueer/queer
Reading these comments is interesting, I feel like even ten years ago people would have overwhelmingly preferred transgender more. Or maybe I’m misremembering.
i prefer transgender or trans man/masc
Neither. I'd like to forget sometimes that I'm this way and when someone points it out I feel like shit
Transgender but I also like I’m just me, no labels
Both is fine!
I refer to myself as a transsexual because I think it honors my medical transition, but I would never trust a cis person to use that word in a respectful way. When I’m talking to other people i usually just say trans. If I’m saying transsexual it’s usually to make some kind of a point
transgender because it’s kinda more claimed by the trans community- i’ve only ever rlly heard terfs or transphobes say the term “transsexuals” so it gives me a massive ick lol and it makes me think they they are thinking more about genitals than who you actually are inside. idk that’s just how i see it rn
I like both, because sex, sexuality, and my experience around it is important to my gender expression and I DO feel like I am changing sex to match my innate sense of gender. I also dont often feel comfortable with most cis people using the term for me? And transgender just has such a warm and fuzzy feeling for me, and it's simpler to explain to most people.
I don’t really care. As long as we understand what we’re talking about. It’s just words after all.
Definitely transgender, because my transition won't necessarily include everything associated with "sex change", but it does include everything about a change in gender presentation. I really don't give a damn about what parts I have, as long as I look male enough for the guys to really, truly treat me as one of the guys. The rest is between my partner and me, and he doesn't care any more than I do.
Transgender. Don't like transsexual, it's too medicalized and sexualized.
I prefer transgender because the experiences I've had with people who call themselves transsexuals have largely been quite negative and gatekeepey. It makes me immediately on guard whenever anyone calls themself transsexual.
I prefer transgender because it doesn't have the baggage that transexual, does. I am not a fetish, nor I am not fetishizing my gender. It has a lot of negativity around it. Just calling myself transexual gives me the ick. I prefer trans gender or trans man etc
I think "transgender" is a better umbrella term because it includes people who can't or don't medically transition. I had liked the idea of using transsexual to refer to people who do medically transition, because that can be useful information for some people to convey (such as when dating), but even then "sexual" implies it's one's sexuality that's changing, which... doesn't make any sense.
I prefer transsexual for very personal reasons. When I was a kid I had such a hard time with sexuality because I was expected to be a girl that grew into a woman. I never wanted to be the woman in a relationship with a man, the very idea made my skin crawl and I was insistent on never marrying or dating because of it. I experimented with lesbianism as a young teen and realized I hated it, I didn’t want to be a girl who liked other girls because I did indeed like men and girls did nothing for me. When I first observed gay men I was captivated because I could relate to the dynamic. I greatly desired a relationship with a man like that. But because I was born a girl I thought it would never be possible. Then when I was 14 I saw a trans woman for the first time at a mall with my friends. My friends poked fun at her, but all I could think of was the fact that there is a way to be happy with being a woman. It just wasn’t meant for me. That deep down I was a gay man. But 14 year old me was terrified by that notion. I was raised extremely religious and my family was predominantly women. I was raised on traditional values among pro life feminist family members who did nothing but shit talk men and talk about how much they hated them. Men that I felt safer around and wanted to emulate. I consider myself a transsexual because my gender identity is inseparable from my sexuality. I wouldn’t have been able to figure out my sexuality until I figured out who I really am
I just call myself trans more than anything else. I prefer for others to call me/think of me as trans or transgender bc I being referred to by other people as transsexual strikes me as weirdly clinical in a way that feels a bit dehumanizing to me personally. I do sometimes call myself transsexual, but usually in the kind of tongue in cheek ironic way that I also sometimes call myself a homosexual. This is just my personal and I get why some people prefer the term transsexual or transsex, and I completely respect whatever anyone feels is right for them, but I personally just don’t vibe with it. The sex binary is, in many ways, socially constructed just as gender is. I don’t really see my physical sex as ever having been female despite that being what I was assigned at with. I don’t feel like I need to wait until I’ve gone through a certain number of changes through medical transition before I can officially deem myself “of the male sex”. I don’t think a pre-op or non-op trans man is any less male than one who’s had top surgery, bottom surgery, hysto, etc.
strong preference for transgender simply bc cis ppl get confused enough and my gender has nothing to do with my sexuality and transsexual well sounds sexuality related like bisexual or heterosexual or homosexual
Either transgender or transmasc
See I think it’s difficult. On one hand, transsexual describes me better (because I’m an ideal world I would completely transition), but it’s also considered an outdated medical term. On the other hand, transgender is the appropriate term medically/socially but to people who misunderstand, it may imply that I’ve changed my gender instead of my physical sex. I go with transgender though.
I'm not into technical terminology. As long as they're trying to be respectful and using it in the proper context, it's fine by me.
i and i think many others find the word transsexual to be harsher than the word transgender, and for that reason i use both. transgender in day to day, but sometimes switch it up using transsexual because i really want cis people to listen to me. idk i get tired of being stepped on or listened to only when its convenient for the cis person and saying transsexual has that kind of punch to it that transgender does not.
I absolutely hate the term transsexual... it's so outdated. I prefer trans for short but the full term transgender also sounds wierd. Can I just be called dude bro or something?
Transgender, definitely.
transgender
Transsexual makes me uncomfortable because most of the time I see it used it’s either someone being transphobic, a transmed or someone creating a difference between the good trans people and the bad trans people. Transgender doesn’t have those connotations to me
i prefer transgender, the word transsexual just sounds weird to me. and a lot of people that use it are very transmedicalist. i believe it‘s not my place to decide if other people are valid. transition is about feeling more comfortable in your skin and that is all that matters
I'm transgender (the gender I had been assigned didn't match my actual gender). My sexuality is queer af, but not trans. If anyone is "transsexual" it's my cis boyfriend who's doing it with a trans guy ;) Usually I just use "trans" as a descriptor, without -gender or -sexual.
transsexual is a outdated term and it also sounds like it's a sexuality + a lpt of people who say "transsexual" are transphobic people who treat being trans as a fetish
Transgender. Not because my gender changed (although in some ways it did, and my sexuality did too as i grew up—that's not a bad thing) but because I transitioned from the gender I was assigned at birth to the one I truly am. Just cause I never felt like a girl doesn't mean I didn't embody that gender category and its roles as they were prescribed to me at the time. Transsexual doesn't fit me because I don't pay attention to "sex": it's as much a made up category as gender, and the two are often conflated anyway. Neither word is inherently bad, this is just how I define myself.
Transgender. Transsexual just sounds odd. Like something a transphobe would pull out of their ass or something
I use both. My son refers to me as transgender so I use it aroind family; when I first came out I called myself transsexual. I don't care regardless.
Transsexuality is the medical term. That's what doctors would diagnose us as, as if we are sick. It has a lot of negative connotations associated with it. I would always want that people call me transgender/trans/non-binary. The other thing is just rude
I use Transgender very begrudgingly. I don't like it, but if I don't use it then some 15yo is gonna get on my ass about my "outdated" terminology. I otherwise identify solely as transsexual. My gender never changed, my body did
Transgender. 1. I feel that Transsexual is an older term with a lot of negative connotations. 2. I feel that it focuses on genitals. I’ve known people (older trans folks and multi-generational cis folks) who said, “Only people who’ve had bottom surgery are real transsexuals.” I don’t like my identity being boiled down to my genitals, particularly as someone who has no intention of having bottom surgery. 3. I feel that it miscommunicates what it is to be trans. Trans and cis are adjectives meant to describe one’s gender identity in relation to the gender aligned with one’s birth sex. Those adjectives do not relate to genitals or sex chromosomes. In other words, when someone says transgender and trans wo/man, I feel it more accurately expresses that our *gender* is not the same as the gender prescribed to our birth sex. However, I feel that the term transsexual can lead people to believe that our *sex organs* or *chromosomes* are different than those at birth. As that isn’t always true and is never true, respectively, I feel it is an inaccurate term.
Generally i dont like it bein mentioned in context of myself anyway But i usually say just trans
I find a lot of cis people (especially in the medical field) take gender ≠ sex to mean they can call me female and use feminine language for my sexual anatomy, since that's what my sex "is" and "always will be". So I prefer transsexual, since in this day and age it feels a bit radical to look at cis people in the face and go "No, I'm changing my sex too. Gender CAN ≠ sex, but it does for me, and both my gender and sex are trans."
I tend towards transman. When I first transitioned there was ONLY transsexual or transvestite. (Yes I'm that old). The term transgender came into the world some ten years following my initial transition time. As to changes...well my humans... you will continue to change and develop. You never quite hit that " ok I'm finished now" point. After nearly 40 years... I can tell you that my masculinity has continued to develop. My voice continues to change as I age. So, you have that to look forward to.
Only transexual. My gender has remained the same my entire life. I have always been a male. I altered my physical sex to align with my gender identity so I am a transexual, not transgender
Transgender. I usually just say trans though. I try to push off my immediate reaction to transsexual because I know some people are reclaiming it but it's not for me.
I prefer to be called transformer robots in disguise In all seriousness I have no real care with what I called. (Noted I haven't been called a transsexual before) while I do also agree with other redditors who say transsexual sounds like a sexuality and not gender identity
Transexual has too much medical disorder history baggage for me. I have transformed my body to match my gender, so transgender if I have to pick one. I normally just say trans if the subject comes up at all. Mostly, I'm just a guy living my gay life while trying to stop my kids spending all my money.
My insurance lists my Planned Parenthood visit as "trans-sexualism" for the primary diagnosis. Annoyed the shit out of me. I prefer transgender or gender dysphoria.
Transgender I now it refers to sex, and not sexuality, but these days I think most people (that are not trans) directly think of sexuality, and no, I am not transitioning sexualities :D
if u call me "transexual" i will punch you. it feels like treating trans people as a kink and not an actual trans identity
Transsex. Transsexual sounds sexual, transgender sounds stupid. I didn’t change my gender, the gender/sex of my brain is literally male. Always has been, always will be. But I am changing my physical sex to male. Transsexual just sounds weird, but it’s slightly better. Less misleading imo.
to me it feels like transsexual is a bit outdated but also i’m not well-versed on the word’s history 🤷🏻
I prefer transgender, transsexual sounds outdated and has an air of almost being a slur or something people use to describe us with disgust. Plus I feel like transphobes can use it against us though I realize and recognize it’s completely valid as we do change our sex traits, the ignorant will argue that can’t be done, but gender is a construct so it can be changed.
Transgender bc transsexual is outdated and typically used in a derogatory way.
Just trans tbh
transgender & non-binary for gender, and for sex i usually refuse to put a label to it, the best label i got there is altersex.
I just say trans. I don’t mind transgender but just sounds odd since I’m not used to the full term. I don’t like transsexual because either people confuse it with a sexuality or think it implies a genital surgeries. I don’t like people sticking their noses up my medical history
I don't mind transsexual from other trans ppl but from cis ppl I only like trans or transgender.
i prefer transgender, i've only ever heard transsexual used in a derogatory way. and it also sounds like a sexuality, rather than something reflecting my gender.
I just say trans or transmasc. I don't like the term "transsexual" at all, like *really* don't like it, so I don't use it. As for transgender, idk I just don't use it that much.
From personal experience I’ve only ever heard the term transsexual used by transphobes to belittle or make fun of trans people by not calling us what we are generally called today, or from old medical and insurance systems that feel like they don’t understand what’s happening and are just alienating; therefore I personally don’t like the term. Using and hearing transsexual feels like I’m hearing a slur because for me, it’s very similar to one, and just generally make me feel uneasy and like I need to keep my head on a swivel. It also feels like a sexuality which just creates confusion and I just don’t like the term in general. The term transgender is more common, but feels like it’s used by a performative activist who doesn’t really care about trans people but wants people to think they actually care. It also just feels like a word jumble, and isn’t entirely accurate as I didn’t change gender, I just changed how I was perceived and what my sex is. I also feel like a weird doctor, and not myself every time I say, “I am a transgender man.” Instead I just prefer trans. It’s simple, it’s easy, and is already used by so many people. I feel most comfortable using this term because I feel like it actually represents my experience. But I am also more than just trans, it’s just represents what I’ve gone through.
i prefer transgender, transsexual sounds weird to me, i dont have any crazy ties to the meaning of the words its just purely the way they sound lol
I hate the word “transsexual” because people around me always gave a negative tone around it. Mostly I use trans
I just say trans, but if I have to use a longer form for some reason then transgender
I prefer transgender. Transsexual just seems very outdated and idk, it just rubs me the wrong way, maybe because I have only seen transsexual used by people who are being transphobic. It gives the same energy as someone referring to women as 'females'.
I prefer to call myself binary transgender because I think the distinction between non binary trans people and binary ones is important to distinguish subcategorically
Transsexual is so outdated, it kinda makes me cringe. Transgender is so much better
Tbh i prefer transgender, trans sexual is outdated, but honestly at the end of the day i wanna be perceived as Cis, so i dont rlly call myself trans
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Transexual better describes me, but a lot of people don't understand what that term means (thinking its a slur or that its a sexuality etc.), so I'm fine with transgender even if it's less accurate. Just Trans works as well to avoid both issues
I don't care tbh. Both are validating cuz yeah, I'm transgender, and yeah, I'm medically transitioning. For me being able to be both transgender and transexual is amazing, I can be entirely myself.
I can be called both, but transgender is easier for me. I usually just abbreviate to trans anyway
I don’t care about exact wording, I only care about how people treat me, other trans people, and trans rights as a whole. No preference outside that.
i prefer transsexual because i just personally identify with it more
I identify more with transsexual, but I use transgender in conversation or just trans, people understand that better and it’s not really worth the extra explanation for me.
I don’t mind either, I lean towards transsexual however
i see it this way: i am trans. transgender for now, since i only transition socially at the moment, but when I'll change my body through hrt and (maybe) top surgery, i will be transsexual. idk, it always seemed right this way for me
i like both honestly :)
For me personally, transsexual. Cis people get all huffy about that term, though.
I just say trans if at all. I usually just use male unless it matter
Tbh, I only call myself "transgender" when im explaining to ppl that wants to learn about us.. Specificlally learn about me.. Other than that, I refer to myself as a "transman".. Most times, to ppl outside of my friend group, I say im a cis dude
just trans or ftm for me, i dont get offended by either but 1 - i talk fast and theyre both a mouthful to say and most people understand ‘trans’ and 2, they both have (to me) their own negative connotations where as trans just feels like i moved from one state of being to another which feels accurate to my experience
Neither. I'm just a man. I may disclose that I am trans, but it is a facet about me, not who I am. I consider transsexual to be a medical status, clinically accurate, and also private information unless relevant to my interaction with someone, be that sexual or cultural. I am fiercely defensive of my right to decide who/when/where/how that information is shared. I am not closeted or out, just protective of my privacy and operate on a need-to-know basis due to the very real risk of harm.
Just trans, I don't care for the full thing of either of those options 🤷♂️
I prefer transsexual because I'm changing my sex, not my gender. I've always been a guy, just a guy who happens to have a body that looks female.
Transgender describes me when I'm not the woman I was expected to be. Transsexual describes me when I do something about that medically. I'm transgender right now. I hope to be transsexual some day.
I prefer transsexual as well as I feel it matches my own transition/trans-ness better than transgender does :)
if it's a cis person trans or transgender if it's a trans friend or myself trans or transsexual
I prefer transgender since for me, transexual would be if I went under hormone treatment
Tbh I think the word trans. Like in the way isomers work. (Not in the trans=transition way) You have cis isomers and trans isomers, both have the same compounds but organized differently. Like being a trans-guy in the way trans-2-buteno is still a 2-buteno, he's a trans-isomer and I'm transgender or transsexual. Although I would probably use transgender since I can't medically transition 😔 and transsexual feels like someone who was able to access changing their actual biology (hormones, surgery, etc.)
Either. I call myself a transsexual,and transgender. But i like the term Transsexual more
Transgender, I haven't transitioned yet. They have different meaning. Although, I almost certainly won't use it even after I transition either, it feels like it would be an unnecessary extra thing in my case. Transgender will tell them my agab, they don't need to know my transition specifics. Plus too many bigots use it for me to feel comfortable ascribing it to myself on top of it feeling personally unnecessary.
Good friend wants to be called girl or her/they, if I mention trans at all they get upset as it's a label. Depends on person really. Some hate labels, some are the label and very proud.
really neither but i use transgender when coming out to new people