Trans is normal

How many people reading this don’t know what cisgender means? If you don’t then it’s almost certain that you are cis!

The best definition of cisgender (cis) that I’ve ever heard is that when you popped out of the womb and the doctor slapped you on the bum and, based on your genitalia, said: “It’s a boy”, or “It’s a girl” and you go your whole life not questioning that, then you’re probably cisgender. If at some stage you thought: “I don’t think the doctor was right when he assumed I was a boy/girl”, then it’s likely that you’re in some way trans, gender-fluid, or genderqueer.

Perhaps in more simple terms, the Oxford dictionary definition of cisgender is: ‘Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex’.

So, why do most cisgender people not know what that word means? It’s actually very simple. Just like most straight people don’t ever think about their sexuality as anything other than straight, most cis people don’t think about their gender. Therefore, there was never a reason for them to know the word to describe their gender.

So, why do we have this word at all if most people it applies to don’t even know what it means? It’s not just used in a scientific capacity, but to describe the gender identity of cis people, in the same way heterosexual/straight it.

During an interview with the transgender actress Rebecca Root, Ray D’Arcy said: “”Transgender characters are normally played by normal people”.

D’Arcy was completely right when he said that trans characters are usually played by cis actors, which is discussion topic all by itself, however calling cisgender people “normal” completely misses what it means to be trans. Trans people are different from the majority, but still just as normal.

The simplest similarity to draw to calling trans people anything but normal is like saying anyone who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual isn’t normal. While there will always be some people who will argue that, the vast majority of Irish people think that being gay, lesbian, or bisexual is perfectly normal, as shown by the passing of the Marriage Equality referendum.

Despite this, clearly many Irish people still look at anyone who isn’t cisgender as not being normal. Having not had to consider their own gender identity and mostly having not knowingly had much contact with trans people in their everyday lives, there is a lot of obliviousness towards transgender people and the issues they face in their everyday lives.

The LGBTIreland Report, published last week by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) highlighted some of the key issues which face trans people:

• 1 in 4 transgender people have been punched, hit or physically attacked in public;
• 1 in 3 transgender people have had hurtful things written about them on social media;
• 1 in 5 transgender people have experienced sexual violence;
• Approximately 60% of Irish trans ppl have had someone use the wrong pronoun to refer to their gender;
• Only 40% of trans people in Ireland felt safe expressing their gender in public with 1 in 10 saying they would never do it.

Of course this is not an exhaustive look at all the barriers trans people face, however it does show that trans people have to overcome a lot more in their lives than cisgender people. A societal view of trans people not being normal has always added to the difficulties trans people face in their lives.

Cisgender people have privileges in their everyday lives over trans people. Cis people, while of course not being immune, have much lower rates of suicide, depression, anxiety and self-harm.

A huge part of the issues affecting trans people revolves around acceptance in their everyday lives. The only way that trans people will be able to feel accepted in Ireland is if cis people look at the privileges they have in their lives because of their gender identity and use that to better understand and accept transgender people.