adj. describing the condition of one who firmly believes that he or she belongs to the gender opposite to his or her biological sex. A transgender person will often seek gender reassignment, i.e. to be legally recognized as belonging to the gender opposite to that on his or her birth certificate. The transition may involve hormone treatment and/or surgery but there is no requirement for this. Under current UK law, the person must supply evidence that he or she has been medically diagnosed with *gender dysphoria, has lived in his or her acquired gender for the past two years, and intends to remain in it until death. A proposed reform to the law would replace this process with one of simple self-declaration (although this idea has aroused some opposition). ‘Transgender’ is now preferred to the older term transsexual, as this refers more narrowly to those who have undergone surgery to change gender. See also gender dysphoria.
a condition in which an individual belongs to one gender on the basis of physical appearance and genetics but identifies psychologically with the other gender. The name was introduced in DSM-5; in DSM-IV-TR it was called gender identity disorder. The condition is diagnosed only where there is evidence of strong and persistent cross-gender identification and discomfort about one’s sex, these cause significant distress and social impairment, and there is no concurrent endocrine disorder. Treatment may include counselling, hormone therapy, and gender reassignment surgery. See also transgender.... gender dysphoria
(cross-dressing) n. dressing in clothes normally associated with the opposite sex, which may occur in both heterosexual and homosexual people. Cross-dressing may be practised by transsexuals (see transgender), in whom it is not sexually arousing. Other transvestites are fetishistic, and in these cross-dressing is sexually arousing and may lead to masturbatory or other sexual behaviour. Treatment may be by behavioural techniques, such as *aversion therapy, but is not always needed. See also sexual deviation. —transvestite n.... transvestism
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