Genderqueers use a wide variety of terms to describe themselves, including transboi, boydyke, third gendered, bi-gendered, multi-gendered, , and gender bender. Sometimes they refuse to attach a label to their gender identities at all, feeling that no one word or phrase can adequately capture the complexities of how they experience gender.

Sponsor Message.

Since Christine Jorgensen made international headlines in the early 1950s for having a "sex change," the dominant model of transgender identity development has involved individuals who recognize themselves at a young age as a gender different from their birth gender, struggle to understand these feelings, and after years of shame and denial, begin to accept themselves. Typically in mid-life they take hormones and have gender confirmation surgeries to align their outward appearance with their inner sense of self.

But in the last decade, there has been a fundamental shift in how many transgender people conceive and express their gender identities, as demonstrated by the increasing number of young trans people identifying as genderqueer.

Trans youth today, who have access to information on the Internet, see a growing number of transgender images in popular culture, and benefit from the political and social gains made by previous generations of transgender activists, are much less likely than transgender people who grew up in the 1960s to mid 1990s to feel that they are the "only one." As a result, trans youth in the 2000s may acknowledge and embrace their transgender identities more quickly and may depend on each other, rather than the medical profession, for support and validation.

Many trans youth also do not believe that they need to transition entirely or at all in order to be "real" men or "real" women. Refuting the idea that one's genitalia is the defining aspect of one's gender, they may take hormones, but not have any surgeries, or they may have a breast augmentation or reduction procedure, but not genital surgeries, or they may reject medical intervention altogether.

Some trans youth may seek to blur gender boundaries, such as by having an androgynous appearance or by wearing both "male" and "female" clothing. Thus, while genderqueers commonly refuse to conform to traditional (trans)gender expectations, there is no one way to enact or express a genderqueer identity.

For much of the 1990s, the term "transgender" was often shorthand for "," but the "transgender" umbrella is increasingly recognized as including a myriad of genderqueer, and other gender-diverse, identities. And as more and more people identify as genderqueer, the less society will be able to foster and enforce a male/female gender dichotomy.

Transgendered individuals have published autobiographies not only to tell or to clarify the stories of their lives, but also to educate others in an effort to gain greater acceptance for transgender people.

A growing body of scholarly and other work on Cultural Identities challenges the "naturalness," and even the political necessity, of a unitary gay and lesbian identity.

Intersexuality (formerly referred to as hermaphroditism) is a congenital anomaly in which an individual's external genitalia or internal reproductive systems fall outside the norms for either male or female bodies.

"Transgender" has become an umbrella term representing a political alliance between all gender variant people who do not conform to social norms for typical men and women and who suffer political oppression as a result.

Since the late nineteenth century, transgendered people have advocated legal and social reforms that would ameliorate the kinds of oppression and discrimination they suffer.

Activist Cheryl Chase has led efforts to educate both medical professionals and parents of intersexed children so that unnecessary surgeries may be avoided and intersexed people may have happier and healthier lives.

Actress, singer, and writer Christine Jorgenson was not the first male-to-female transsexual to undergo sex reassignment surgery, but the publicity surrounding her case enabled her to educate the public about the differences between homosexuality, transvestism, and transsexualtiy.