Wikipedia Rewrite: Transgender

I was asked to rewrite the origin narrative for the “transgender” entry on wikipedia. The current entry is full of demonstrable falsehoods which propagate ignorance concerning the history of this term. Chief among the misinformation is the insistence (without evidence) that Virginia Prince in the lexical fountainhead for trans terms.

Here’s the rewrite I submitted:

By a matter of months, it seems that Virginia Prince was the first to use the lexical compound trans+genderal in her December 1969 issue of Transvestia.[1] She immediately abandoned this term and as Dr. Richard Elkins writes, “Although the term ‘transgenderal’ is arguably the original lexical compound of the ‘trans- + gend-‘ type, Prince did not stick with the term. Nor did it catch on.”[2] There exists no evidence to suggest that later lexical compounds of “trans- + gend-” were created from or influenced by Prince’s rejected “transgenderal” term. Five months later in April 1970, the TV Guide published an article which referenced a post-operative transsexual movie character as being “transgendered.”[3] In the 1974 edition of Clinical sexuality: A Manual for the Physician and the Professions, the term transgender was used as an umbrella term[4] and the Conference Report from the 1974 “National TV.TS Conference” held in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK used “trans-gender” and “trans.people” as umbrella terms.[5] However, the 1974, A Practical Handbook of Psychiatry references “transgender surgery” noting, “The transvestite rarely seeks transgender surgery, since the core of his perversion is an attempt to realize the fantasy of a phallic woman.”[6]

By 1975, the term “transgenderist” came into common usage within the trans population as a way to reference a specific type of transgender person: the non-operative transsexual (Type 4 Transsexual or Type 5 True Transsexual on the Harry Benjamin Scale).[7] By 1976, the term “transgenderist” was being abbreviated as “TG” in educational materials.[8] Without noting the term’s previous history, Virginia Prince implied authorship of the term in her 1978 paper, “The Transcendents” which was presented to the Western Regional Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex. In her paper, Prince describes “three classes of such trans-people, generally called ‘transvestites, transgenderists and transsexuals.” However, a June 2, 1979 article of the Radio Times states “It is estimated that about one person in 2,000 is a transgenderist – someone who feels an overwhelming need either to dress in the clothes of the opposite gender, or . . . to ‘change sex’ completely.” Days later on June 6th, Claire Raynor, on the BBC 4 radio show Crossing Over explained the term this way: “Transgenderists – the rather clumsy label that has been devised to cover both transvestites and transsexuals.”[8]

By 1979, Christine Jorgensen publicly rejected the term “transsexual” and instead identified herself in newsprint as a “trans-gender” saying, “If you understand trans-genders, then you understand that gender doesn’t have to do with bed partners, it has to do with identity.”[9] Jorgensen again rejected “transsexual” and instead asserted herself to be a transgender woman in 1982 during a speech given to Fresno State University students[10] and again in 1985[11].

In 1983, Kim Elizabeth Stuart wrote in her book The Uninvited Dilemma, “The word transsexual is somewhat misleading, because the word sexual is incorporated into the term. Perhaps the word ‘transgender’ would have been a more suitable term, but I say that in hindsight.”[12] By 1984, concepts such a a “transgender community” wherein “transgender” was used as an umbrella term was becoming commonplace.[13] In 1985, Dr. Richard Elkins established the “Trans-Gender Archive” at the University of Ulster.[14] In 1987, Anne Bolin writes in her book, In Search of Eve: Transsexual Rights of Passage, “Transsexuals utilize the concepts of their own culture to construct their own transgender experience.”[14] One year later in 1988, Bolin equates “transgender” with “gender-variance” writing, “While cross-cultural transgender roles such as the Berdache have encountered a resurgence of interest, little anthropological attention has been paid to Western gender variance or to the closely related subject of gender identity.”[15]

By 1992, the International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy defined transgender as, “… transsexuals, transgenderists, and other crossdressers of both sexes, transitioning in either direction (male to female or female to male), of any sexual orientation, and of all races, creeds, religions, ages, and degrees of physical impediment.”[16]

In Leslie Feinberg’s 1996 book, Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, Feinberg states, “Today the word transgender has at least two colloquial meanings. It has been used as an umbrella term to include everyone who challenges the boundaries of sex and gender. It is also used to draw a distinction between those who reassign the sex they were labeled at birth, and those of us whose gender expression is considered inappropriate for our sex.”[17]

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References:

[1]: (2005). Virginia Prince: Transgender Pioneer, R Ekins & D King

[2]: (2006). The Transgender Phenomenon, R Ekins & D King, p.13

[3]: Williams, C. L. (2012). 1970: Transgendered. Retrieved April 21, 2012 http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2012/03/25/1970-transgendered/

[4]: Williams, C. L. (2012). 1974: Transgender as Umbrella Term. Retrieved April 21, 2012 http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2012/02/25/1974-transgender-as-umbrella-term/

[5]: (2006). The Transgender Phenomenon, R Ekins & D King, p.13

[6]: “[In 1974] some of the terminology used at the conference would take some twenty years to become widespread. As far as we are aware, the first use of the term trans.people (sic) was when Julia Tonner referred to “the two worlds of the trans.people” (ie transsexuals and transvestites). In addition, there was also talk of transsexuals seeking ‘gender alignment’ and of ‘trans-gender’ also used as an umbrella term.” – (2007) Gendys Journal, D King & R Elkins

[7]: Williams, C. L. (2012). 1975: Transgenderist. Retrieved April 21, 2012 http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2012/03/25/1975-transgenderist/

[8]: The Radio Times (1979: 2 June)

[9]: Williams, C. L. (2012). Christine Jorgensen: Transgender Woman. Retrieved April 21, 2012 http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2011/08/21/christine-jorgensen-transgender-woman/

[10]: Williams, C. L. (2012). 1982: Transgenders = Transsexuals, Christine Jorgensen. Retrieved April 21, 2012 http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2012/02/06/1982-transgenders-transsexuals-christine-jorgensen/

[11]: Williams, C. L. (2012). Christine Jorgensen: Transgender Woman. Retrieved April 21, 2012 http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2011/08/21/christine-jorgensen-transgender-woman/

[12]: (1983). The Uninvited Dilemma, Kim Elizabeth Stuart, p.25

[13]: Williams, C. L. (2012). 1984: Transgender Community = Modern Transgender Community. Retrieved April 21, 2012 http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2012/03/08/1984-transgender-community-modern-transgender-community/

[14]: (2006). The Transgender Phenomenon, R Ekins & D King, p.14

[15]: (1987). In Search of Eve: Transsexual Rights of Passage, Anne Bolin, p.100

[16]: Williams, C. L. (2012). 1988: Transgender Roles, Gender Variance. Retrieved April 21, 2012 http://research.cristanwilliams.com/2011/09/08/1988-transgender-roles-gender-variance/

[17]: (1996). Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, Leslie Feinberg, p.X
NOTE: After the last quote by Feinberg, I really wanted to end this article with the following sentence, “It should be noted that Feinberg’s assessment of the definition of “transgender” during the mid-1990s reflects the reality of the usage during the 1970s.” I didn’t include this because to my ears it sounded as if I was belaboring a point.