My two cents in on a dollar discussion.
As soon as we begin to explore our gender identity we are starting a personal transition. Where that ends is a personal choice, but it may involve anything from wearing a single article of clothing designed for the other gender for 20 minutes to social, legal and medical gender reassignment. I suggest that anywhere along that wide and winding path the term Transgender is appropriate to some extent and obvious in others. If we have not made the personal evaluation that tells us we are no longer the gender we were born with, we are crossdressing in some form or another. When my wife would wear one of my sweaters or a fleece shirt to stay warm, or when I used women's trouser socks as liners to prevent blisters when I was backpacking, I could have been crossdressing. As Sara says, that is an activity independent from our identity.
The need for labels seems to come from two primary places. First is the medical/psychological/insurance community and is needed to properly direct care and get paid for it. The second comes from within the community as we attempt to closely define which "tribe" we belong to and where we look for the kind of support we desire.
It's this second source that seems to be the problem here because as we closely define who we are and want to be associated with, we are at the same time excluding others. Those of us being excluded are often struggling on our personal journey and that exclusion tends to feel as though we are no longer valid or our feelings and ideas are no longer real. Intended or not, the process of exclusion has a negative side.
Be who you want and associate with who meets your needs. Just remember that we are all making a journey and could occasionally use a hand up rather than a door shut in our face. Explain why you are limiting your definition in ways that demonstrate the value of inclusion. Just don't use that to diminish the value of someone else and their life.
Okay, maybe it was 4 cents.
