View source for Gender transition

{{Short description|Changing gender presentation to accord with gender identity}}
{{Redirect|Gender change|sex change|Sex change (disambiguation){{!}}Sex change}}
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{{Transgender sidebar}}
'''Gender transition''' is the process of changing one's [[Gender expression|gender presentation]] or [[sex characteristics]] to accord with one's internal sense of [[gender identity]] – the idea of what it means to be a man or a woman,<ref name="Brown&Rounsley">Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) ''True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism – For Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professionals'' Jossey-Bass: San Francisco {{ISBN|0-7879-6702-5}}</ref> or to be [[Non-binary gender|non-binary or genderqueer]]. For [[transgender]] and [[transsexual]] people, this process commonly involves [[gender reassignment therapy|reassignment therapy]] (which may include [[hormone replacement therapy (transgender)|hormone replacement therapy]] and [[sex reassignment surgery]]), with their gender identity being opposite that of their [[Sex assignment|birth-assigned sex and gender]]. Transitioning might involve medical treatment, but it does not always involve it. [[Cross-dressers]], [[drag queens]], and [[drag kings]] tend not to transition, since their variant gender presentations are (usually) only adopted temporarily.

Transition begins with a decision to transition, prompted by the feeling that one's gender identity does not match the sex that one was assigned at birth. One of the most common parts of transitioning is [[coming out]] for the first time.<ref name="Brown&Rounsley" />{{page needed|date=June 2022}} Transitioning is a process that can take anywhere between several months and several years. Some people, especially non-binary or genderqueer people, may spend their whole life transitioning and may redefine and re-interpret their gender as time passes. Transitioning generally begins where the person feels comfortable: for some, this begins with their family with whom they are intimate and reaches to friends later or may begin with friends first and family later. Sometimes transitioning is at different stages between different spheres of life. For example, someone may transition far with family and friends before even coming out at their workplace.

==Terminology==
Gender transition is sometimes conflated with sex reassignment surgery (SRS), but that is only one possible element of transition. Many people who transition choose not to have SRS, or do not have the means to do so. Whereas SRS is a surgical procedure, transitioning is more [[holistic]] and usually includes physical, psychological, social, and emotional changes. Some transgender and [[non-binary]] people have little or no desire to undergo surgery to change their body but will transition in other ways.<ref>{{Cite journal |title = Transgender Transitioning and Change of Self-Reported Sexual Orientation|last = K. Auer|first = Matthias|date = October 2014|journal = PLOS ONE|volume = 9|issue = 10|pages = e110016|doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0110016 |pmid = 25299675|pmc = 4192544|bibcode = 2014PLoSO...9k0016A|doi-access = free}}</ref>

''[[Passing (gender)|Passing]]'' refers to being perceived and accepted by other people in a manner consistent with one's own gender identity. This can be one aspect of transitioning, though some transgender people may choose to purposely not pass. Not passing, in this case, can bring about a variety of negative consequences, including misgendering, violence, abuse, and refusal from medical professionals to deliver appropriate services.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ovc.gov/pubs/forge/transgender_passing.html|title=Transgender-Specific Issues: Passing {{!}} Responding to Transgender Victims of Sexual Assault|website=www.ovc.gov|access-date=2019-10-07|archive-date=2019-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007191104/https://www.ovc.gov/pubs/forge/transgender_passing.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Going full-time'' refers to a person living one's everyday life as the gender one identifies with. One's passing can be limited by safety, legal or bodily restraints. For instance, someone who has worked at a job as female may feel they cannot safely present as male and may switch jobs instead. A ''social transition'' is the aspects of transition involving social, cosmetic, and legal changes, without regard to medical interventions. People who socially transition may ask others to refer to them by their preferred name and pronouns, and some may legally change their name.<ref name="social transition">{{cite web|title=TransWhat? • Social transition|url=https://transwhat.org/transition/socialtrans.html|website=transwhat.org|access-date=2017-10-29|archive-date=2017-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108001521/http://transwhat.org/transition/socialtrans.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Mental health professional]]s who go by the [[World Professional Association for Transgender Health]] (WPATH) [[Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People]] do not normally require a patient to go full-time for at least a year (a period of time generally referred to as the "[[real-life experience]]" ({{vanchor|RLE}}) or "real-life test" ({{vanchor|RLT}}), but mental health professionals who do not adhere to these guidelines do before recommending surgery.<ref name="WPATH2011">{{cite web | author = World Professional Association for Transgender Health | author-link = World Professional Association for Transgender Health | title = Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People, Seventh Version | date = 2012 | url = https://www.wpath.org/publications/soc | access-date = 2019-09-23 | archive-date = 2015-08-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150814230505/http://www.wpath.org/uploaded_files/140/files/Standards%20of%20Care%2C%20V7%20Full%20Book.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

''Going stealth'' means to live as a gender without other people realizing a person is transgender.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Urquhart |first1=Evan |title=For Many Trans Men in the South, Going "Stealth" Makes the Most Sense |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/06/why-trans-men-in-the-south-go-stealth.html |website=Slate Magazine |access-date=February 25, 2022 |language=en |date=June 29, 2018 |archive-date=February 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225041747/https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/06/why-trans-men-in-the-south-go-stealth.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Trans people often go stealth in public but not with family, partners, or intimate friends. There have been many cases of people who have lived and worked as a gender identity different from their gender assigned at birth.

''[[Detransition]]ing'' is the process of changing one's [[gender expression|gender presentation]] and/or [[sex characteristics]] back to accord with one's assigned sex.<ref>{{cite web|title=Detransitioning: Going From Male To Female To Male Again|url=http://www.vocativ.com/culture/lgbt/detransitioning-male-female-male-again/|website=Vocativ|access-date=1 September 2017|date=15 June 2015|archive-date=31 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831043258/http://www.vocativ.com/culture/lgbt/detransitioning-male-female-male-again/|url-status=live}}</ref> Detransitioning has also been called ''retransitioning'', though retransitioning can also mean transitioning again after detransitioning.<ref>{{cite web|title=Transitioning Back To One's Assigned Sex At Birth|url=http://transadvocate.com/transitioning-back-to-ones-assigned-sex-at-birth_n_9946.htm|website=The TransAdvocate|access-date=1 September 2017|date=7 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920093038/http://transadvocate.com/transitioning-back-to-ones-assigned-sex-at-birth_n_9946.htm|archive-date=2017-09-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Various aspects==
Transitioning is a complicated process that involves any or all of the gendered aspects of a person's life, which include aesthetics, social roles, legal status, and biological aspects of the body. People may choose elements based on their own gender identity, body image, personality, finances, and sometimes the attitudes of others. A degree of experimentation is used to know what changes best fit them. Transitioning also varies between cultures and subcultures according to differences in the societies' views of gender.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Book Review: Sally Hines, Transforming Gender: Transgender Practices of Identity, Intimacy and Care. Bristol: The Policy Press,2007.227 pp.ISBN 978-1-86134-9170 £24.99 (pbk).ISBN 978-1-86134-9163 £60.00 (hbk)|first=Patricia|last=Elliot|date=1 October 2008|journal=Sexualities|volume=11|issue=5|pages=646–648|doi=10.1177/13634607080110050603|s2cid=145654831}}</ref>

===Social, psychological, and aesthetic aspects===
{{redirect|Social transitioning|social changes on a societal level|Social change}}
The social process of transitioning begins with coming out, that is, informing other individuals that one identifies as transgender. From there, the newly out trans person may adopt a new name, and they may ask others to refer to them using a set of [[Gender-specific pronoun|pronouns]] different from before; for example, a trans man would ask to be referred to as ''he'' rather than ''she'', or a [[genderqueer]]/non-binary person might ask to be referred to as ''they'' or by "gender-bending" pronouns such as ''ze''.<ref name="Bigner"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Sie Hir, Now: Terms for Gender Variant People |url=http://androgyne.0catch.com/terms.htm |access-date=2012-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609044306/http://androgyne.0catch.com/terms.htm |archive-date=June 9, 2012}}</ref> Personal relationships often take on different dynamics in accordance with gender; what was once an opposite-gender relationship is now a same-gender one, and vice versa. Gender roles and social expectations often change as the transition progresses. [[Aesthetics]] and [[fashion]] are also a common consideration for transitioning. Transitioning people often alter what types of clothing and accessories they wear, have their hair styled differently, and adopt new grooming or [[Cosmetics|makeup]] techniques to enhance their appearance.

A person's ideas about gender in general also often changes as part of their transition, which may affect their [[Transgenderism and religion|religious]], philosophical and/or political beliefs.

===Legal aspects===
{{main|Transgender rights|Legal recognition of non-binary gender}}

Transgender people in many parts of the world can legally [[Name change|change their name]] to something consistent with their gender identity.<ref name="Bigner">Jerry J. Bigner, Joseph L. Wetchler, ''Handbook of LGBT-affirmative Couple and Family Therapy'' (2012, {{ISBN|0415883598}}), page 207: "gender transition can be achieved through the use of clothing, hairstyle, preferred name and pronouns,..."</ref> Some regions also allow one's legal sex marker changed on documents such as [[driver license]]s, [[birth certificate]]s, and [[passport]]s. The exact requirements vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; some require [[sex reassignment surgery]], while many do not. In addition, some states that require sex reassignment surgery will only accept "bottom surgery", or a genital reconstruction surgery, as a valid form of sex reassignment surgery, while other states allow other forms of gender confirmation surgery to qualify individuals for changing information on their birth certificates.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps|title=Movement Advancement Project {{!}} Snapshot: LGBT Equality by State|website=www.lgbtmap.org|access-date=2019-10-07|archive-date=2019-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422164047/http://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps|url-status=live}}</ref> In some U.S. states, it is also possible for transgender individuals to legally change their gender on their drivers license without having had any form of qualifying gender confirmation surgery.<ref name=":1" /> Also, some U.S. states are beginning to add the option of legally changing one's gender marker to X on legal documents, an option used by some [[non-binary gender|non-binary]] people.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://loveisarainbow.com/2018/04/gender-neutral-choice/| title=Gender Neutral Choice in Legal Documents - Love is a Rainbow Article| date=2018-04-14| website=Love is a Rainbow| access-date=2019-10-07}}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Physical aspects===
{{main|Sex reassignment therapy}}

Physical aspects of gender transition can go along with social aspects; as well as wearing gender affirming clothing, transgender people often hide features from their natal puberty, with many transgender men [[breast binding|binding their breasts]] and transgender women shaving. Other physical aspects of transitioning require medical intervention, such as [[transgender hormone therapy]] or surgeries.

== Grieving gender identity ==
Over the course of a gender transition, people who are close to the transitioning individual may experience a sense of loss, and work through a [[Grief|grieving]] process.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Norwood|first=Kristen|date=March 2013|title=Grieving Gender: Trans-identities, Transition, and Ambiguous Loss|journal=Communication Monographs|volume=80|issue=1|pages=24–45|doi=10.1080/03637751.2012.739705|s2cid=35092546|issn=0363-7751}}</ref> This type of loss is an [[ambiguous loss]], characterized by feelings of grief where the item of loss is obscure. Family members may grieve for the gendered expectations that their loved one will no longer follow, whereas the transgender person themself may feel rejected by their relatives' need to grieve.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McGuire |first1=Jenifer K. |last2=Catalpa |first2=Jory M. |last3=Lacey |first3=Vanessa |last4=Kuvalanka |first4=Katherine A. |title=Ambiguous Loss as a Framework for Interpreting Gender Transitions in Families: Ambiguous Loss in Gender Transition |journal=Journal of Family Theory & Review |date=September 2016 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=373–385 |doi=10.1111/jftr.12159 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jftr.12159 |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> Feelings that arise are described as a way of seeing the person who is transitioning as the same, but different, or both present and absent.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Transgender}}
* [[List of transgender-related topics]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |title=What does the scholarly research say about the effect of gender transition on transgender well-being? |url=https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-well-being-of-transgender-people/ |website=What We Know |publisher=Center for the Study of Inequality, Cornell University}}
*{{cite book |last1=Lahai |first1=John Idriss |last2=Moyo |first2=Khanyisela |title=Gender in Human Rights and Transitional Justice |date=2018 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=9783319542027}}

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