Transsexual

Transsexual or transexual is a term to refer to a transgender individual who desires to or has undergone medical and/or physical transition. The term is generally considered dated, and it should not be assumed that a transgender person identifies as transsexual.

Alternate Names

 * Transsex - A sex label sometimes considered synonymous with transsexual

Etymology
"Trans-" from the prefix meaning "across, beyond" and "sexual" from "relating to being male or female."

Pronunciation
/tr-aan-seck-shoo-al/

Definitions

 * A transsexual is a person in which the sex-related structures of the brain that define gender identity are exactly opposite the physical sex organs of the body. Put even more simply, a transsexual is a mind that is literally, physically, trapped in a body of the opposite sex. ... Transsexuality means having the wrong body for the gender one really is. - transsexual.org, circa 2000
 * An older term that originated in the medical and psychological communities. Still preferred by some people who have permanently changed - or seek to change - their bodies through medical interventions, including but not limited to hormones and/or surgeries. - Pride-Flags, 2015
 * A transgender person, especially one whose bodily characteristics have been altered through surgery or hormone treatment to bring them into alignment with their gender identity. - Oxford English Dictionary

History
The term "transsexual" originated in the medical and psychological community, and was first introduced to the English language by David Oliver Cauldwell in 1949. Originally, it referred to the phenomenon and what was considered a disorder of desiring to be the opposite sex. In a time where western medicine was first trying to understand the psychology of transgender people, it offered an explanation for how transgender people could exist--and, significantly, that it was not simply a choice. This theory that being transgender was caused by a form of psychosis, birth defect, or other disorder was the earliest form of transmedicalism. Transexualism was added to the DSM-III in 1980.

The term was quickly picked up by many transsexuals who felt it explained their experience. It was more humanizing than the alternatives, and offered an explanation for how they could exist.

In response to the harmful medical origins of the term, many trans* people instead began to use "transexual," a nearly identical word and reclaimed form of the medical term to separate it from transphobia.

"Transsexual" began to largely fall out of favor as an umbrella term in the 1990s, being replaced by the now common term "transgender" which was coined in the 1960s--likely by John Oliven in 1965. Transsexualism in the DSM-IV was replaced by "gender identity disorder" in 1994, then "gender dysphoria" in 2013, the latter shifting from pathologizing the experience of being transsexual and simply focusing on the clinical distress it may cause for some. After this shift, transgender became the umbrella term for all individuals whose gender identities did not align with their assigned sex, with transsexual specifically referring to those who did or intended to change their physical sex characteristics.

Statistics
Approximately .001% of respondents to the 2021 Gender Survey identified themselves as transsexual, while 31% identified themselves as trans and approximately 26% identified as transgender reflecting a significant tendency towards the more modern terminology.

Controversy
In modern times, the transsexual label is strongly associated with the transphobic ideology of transmedicalism, making many transgender individuals uncomfortable with the term--though transsexuals are not inherently transmedicalist. Additionally, it has strong roots in transphobic medicine and psychology that is now generally rejected by the community. As such, it should never be assumed that a transgender person also identifies as transsexual. When referring to someone who identifies as transsexual, it should be used as an adjective, for example, "a transsexual man" instead of "a transsexual."

The myth that all transgender people are transsexual is, in fact, deeply harmful. Many transgender people do not have any desire to medically alter their body and may lack the gender dysphoria considered to 'cause' transsexual identity; as such, they are not transsexual, but still transgender.

However, many transsexuals identify with the label both as a manner of reclaiming the stigma, and because it characterizes their specific experiences. For example, dysphoric, older, and post-operative transgender people are likely to identify with the term.

Subsets

 * Transsex

Flags
The first transsexual/transsex flag was created by Pride-Flags on DeviantArt on August 22 2015. No meaning for the colors was stated, though they were clearly based on the transgender pride flag. A symbol of a Mars-Venus (Male-Female) sits in the top left corner, though notably, no Mars with stroke, separating it from the common transgender symbol.

A second transsexual flag was created by DeviantArt user SilenceTheFox on February 13 2018 "to replace the current Transsexual flag." The colors were likely also inspired by the transgender flag, and the symbolism was described as being a gradient to represent how "physical transitions are a process that slowly changes your body." A transgender pride symbol sits in the top left corner. They further elaborated the color meaning as the following:


 * Pink: Female
 * Magenta: Androgynous leaning feminine
 * Purple: Androgynous
 * Violet: Androgynous leaning masculine
 * Blue: Male