Person is Not a Rude Word

So, what’s in an acronym?  In the case of TGQI rather a lot of unfamiliar and not-much-charted territory with both highly-undulating terrain and heavily-jagged coastline…

Many people are by now familiar with LGBT as an acronym that defines a presupposed community of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people.  I’m one of those folk of the opinion that there should at least be an ampersand (or hyphen) thrown in thus: LGB&T (or LGB-T).  This would give some indication of the fact that Transgender issues are on a different spectrum from Homo-thru-Hetero sexuality issues – albeit that T persons may express L, G or B sexual partnering preferences (and/or have an LGB hisherstory).

TGQI is a relatively unknown acronym: Trans(Gender), (Gender)Queer, Intersex (not a straightforward acronym in any sense…)  Some day, TGQI  (or even TGQIU – where U is Unsure young persons) may be established as deserving of its own acronym, separated from LGB (or even LGBPA – where P is Pansexual and A is Asexual) – but that’s another issue…

 

Not everyone is aware that TG (transgender) is an ‘umbrella’ term that covers the following:  TS – transsexual; TM/TF – transmasculine or transfeminine*; TV – transvestite; NSG – non-specific gender; NG – non- (or neutral) gender *; DG – dual-gender *; [*either or both NG & DG sometime include A – Androgyne]; GQ – genderqueer; BG – boigerl; I – intersex; GF – genderfluid; plus any other acronym that TG folk choose to use for themselves to express NOT being CG (cisgendered), ie. not happy/in agreement with the gender identity assigned to them at birth according to their physiology (sex). ‘Trans*’ (Trans asterisk) is fast becoming a replacement term for Transgender(ed).
[* Note: Re TM/TF – TransMasculine/Feminine is a different identity from TransMan/Female – see ‘As regards TS’ below]

As I write this page, I learn of a new-to-me emergent acronym:
PAGF(or M)B  = Person Assigned Gender Female (or Male) at Birth…    [a mouthful to say PAGFB or PAGFM, I declare]

Back to TGQI…

T is for Trans(gender) – see the umbrella for clarification (of sorts) of the gender fluidity puddle muddle…

GQ for GenderQueer is a-bit-of-a ‘queer’ initialisation – in the prior ‘strange’ sense of the word – in that LGB folk have long-reclaimed Queer from its status of derisive/abusive term.  And these days, ‘queer’ is being appropriated for implying (merely) ‘counterculture lifestyle’…   However, in the ‘GI’ (gender identity) world: add G2Q for GQ (genderqueer) as a term to be coined by some (T)NBG ((trans) non-binary gendered) folk who – unlike TS (transexual) persons – choose to self-identify outside the ‘GB’ (Gender Binary = male & female).

I is for Intersex persons who are those people who are either born with identifying DG (dual-gender) male and female physiology, or who develop DG physiology later in life, for instance at puberty. I (intersex) used to be referred to as hermaphroditism but that (H) is but one of multiple intersex conditions – or syndromes…

As regards TS:  MTF (male-to-female) TS (transsexual) persons get to call themselves (trans)female/woman (where the trans is an optional, usually political choice) once they have begun the process of transitioning in mind and body (usually with hormones and/or corrective surgery) to their self-realised gender.  Similarly, FTM (female-to-male) TS persons opt for using (trans)male/man. Both can obtain a GRC (gender recognition certificate) to establish their true identity (as well as a ‘new’ birth certificate, passport, etc).  In all-but-a-few countries, GQ persons do NOT have access to such legal recognition…

I opt to identify myself as TIS (transintersexual) – but more of that in Pt 2 – when I’m not in recovery from acronyms &/or labels…

OMGG! (oh my good gonads!)  How complex and complicated is all that?

[Congratulations (& thanks) if you’ve read this so far… have a Stiff Cup of TEA before reading Pt 2…]