I am so glad that this has been brought up!!!

Let me make this as short and succinct as possible: I have been waiting on this debate b/c I feel it is very important! I truly understand why many don't like labels. However, sometimes we need to agree on certain terms so that we can all be on the "same page" when it comes to talking about a particular subject. This said, I have actually grown a little weary of some not applying the TG label when it clearly IS applicable!!!

[SIZE="3"]"Transgender" is a mental health term[/SIZE], used by psychologists, psychatrists, and others in the field to classify certain people, regardless if those so classified are considered as having a formal disorder, or a paraphilia, or a simple-but-specific identity role expression that socialization says goes against the norm.

[SIZE="3"]Gender identity is the inner sense of being masculine or feminine, or a blended sense (androgynous). Obviously, "gender identity" is a mental state versus one's actual "anatomical" sex. TG is incongruity between one's anatomical state and one's gender identity, be it one believeing they were born in the wrong body, or one having a mental state that is both masculine and feminine in mind set.[/SIZE]

So, whether you are TS/TV/CD, consider TG as an umbrella term!

The following says essentially the same thing, but in differing ways and/or with additional insight"

Quote Originally Posted by Dasein9 View Post
" . . . transgender (is) a blanket term that includes cross-dressing, transvestism, and transsexuality.

I'm grateful for labels, even if they do get confusing and carry the danger of being confining. Without labels, we don't know who we are, or whether there are others like us in the world. The sense of enormous relief I felt upon learning that there are words for the kind of person I am is something I'd find it difficult to put into words.
Quote Originally Posted by PeachTV View Post
Being a healthcare pro I know how important diagnoses are to patients. No matter how bizare the label one puts on a problem, as long as the patient can walk out of the office with a name for his/her problem, the customer 's happy. I feel the same thing applies to a lot of "us". But girls: who cares !? To my wife I'm a guy with a very feminine side and she couldn't care less about how I would call myself. Why bother?
Quote Originally Posted by lizbendalin View Post
According to the book 'Transgender Rights' ed. by Paisley Currah, Richard Juang and Shannon Price Minter p. vix of the introduction:

"What does transgender mean? Since about 1995 , the meaning of transgender has begun to settle, and the term is now generally used to refer to individuals whose gender identity or expression does not conform to the social expectations of their assigned birth sex."

My understanding is that trasgender is Roman numeral I in an outline, where we have the sub-headings: crossdresser, transsexual, intersex, drag performers, gender queers, gender f**ks, femme boys and butch girls, as well as all sort of other people who find that there is more to the expression of who they are than the label of male or femal that they were assigned at birth. They find that label either limiting, false, or incomplete."

Transgender has its power and strength as a unifying thing. All people who are transgender (CD,TV,TS,DQ whatever), all have the same basic desire: to be able to be free to express their desire without judgment or prejudice. Whether that desire is to change their physical anatomy to be in line with their psychological gender, or to be able to wear panties and heels in the privacy of their own home, the desire is the same.