Gender Identity

Tyler Clementi's Suicide: Best To Look Not Only At Ravi But At Society At Large

Josh A. Goodman | Posted 05.26.2012

Josh A. Goodman

Ravi's Twitter posts, webcam spying, and homophobic attitude were stigmatizing, and it is possible that these pushed Clementi to a tipping point. But Clementi's suicide did not happen in a bubble with only him and Ravi; it took place in a society in which homophobia is still rampant.

A Penis And A Dress: Why The Gender Binary Needs To Go Away

Allison Hope | Posted 05.22.2012

Allison Hope

Imagine a world where someone with a penis can wear dresses every day if this person desired. Gender-neutral bathrooms and department stores and professional sports become the rule rather than the exception to it. Children can play with whatever toys they prefer.

A Call to Rewrite the Scripts in the Gender Drama

Warren J. Blumenfeld | Posted 05.09.2012

Warren J. Blumenfeld

While Rev. Harris describes "gender distinctions" as God-given, he betrays his own assertion by demanding that parents break their children early of any forms of gender transgression.

Man In Morning, Woman At Night? Rare Syndrome Described By Scientist

| Gary Stix | Posted 04.20.2012

A graduate student of famed neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran has found a group of men and women who report that their sexual identity can swit...

Non-Discrimination Policies Do Not Threaten Religious Freedom

Marcus Luther | Posted 04.02.2012

Marcus Luther

While defenders of student religious groups have used rhetoric such as "faith-based qualifications" and "religious freedom," it's time for us to throw aside the axiomatic sugarcoating.

The Gender Spectrum: A Detrimental Solution to the Binary Problem

Sandra Matsevilo | Posted 03.28.2012

Sandra Matsevilo

While the gender spectrum is a plausible stepping stone in better understanding gender, it is in no way a final solution to helping individuals find their identities.

Dirty Words and Gender Switching in the Blues

Debra Devi | Posted 05.22.2012

Debra Devi

Africans may have arrived here with nothing, but they enriched and vitalized American language and culture beyond measure. Africans in the Americas became masters of metaphor and euphemism.

Wrestling With The Church As An African-American Transgender Woman

Toni Newman | Posted 05.21.2012

Toni Newman

I am an African-American transgender woman and will always be true to myself. I strongly disagree that I am out of the will of God. I believe that the truth I live in is a truth that God demands of us.

What I Learned From My Transgender Nanny

Rhiana Maidenberg | Posted 05.01.2012

Rhiana Maidenberg

Over the next year and a half, Y experienced many physical and emotional changes. However, there was one very important aspect of Y that never changed -- his close relationship with my children. As a caretaker, he continued to be fantastic, loving my two girls as though they were his little nieces and he was their uncle.

Look At Him, He's Sandra Dee: What 'House Of Lies' Can Teach Us About Gender-Nonconforming Children

Diane Ehrensaft, Ph.D. | Posted 03.26.2012

Diane Ehrensaft, Ph.D.

As a psychologist who spends much of my time working with children who don't fit inside neat, binary gender boxes, I applaud Showtime and the writers of House of Lies for bringing a new perspective on children's gender in a compelling and sympathetic way.

On Praising Tomboys and Rejecting Feminine Boys

Monica Gallagher Sakala | Posted 03.10.2012

Monica Gallagher Sakala

Teaching the lesson that things associated with females are considered weak or soft and things associated with men are considered strong, at such a young age, is a dangerous and slippery slope.

Proposed Anti-Bullying Policy Aims To Protect LGBT Students

AP | VICKI SMITH | Posted 01.07.2012

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A proposed anti-bullying policy for West Virginia schools acknowledges for the first time that sexual orientation and gender...

WATCH: Is Human Sexuality Innate?

Cara Santa Maria | Posted 01.05.2012

Cara Santa Maria

Recent studies are revealing that genes, environment, brain structure, and hormones all seem to have a mixed role in sexual orientation and preferences.

Fox News Doctor: Perpetuating Homophobia and Misogyny, Again.

Dr. Logan Levkoff | Posted 12.28.2011

Dr. Logan Levkoff

I thought after Toemaggedon, Fox News' Dr. Ablow would just go away. However, Jenna Lyons is back on his radar because she is getting divorced and currently dating a woman. And Dr. Ablow is disturbed.

Treating Society's Gender Anxiety

Laverne Cox | Posted 12.20.2011

Laverne Cox

What if our entire culture, our entire society is experiencing a collective gender anxiety? What if the way society calms that anxiety is by objectifying and stigmatizing transgender and gender-nonconforming people?

National Let Your Boy Be a Girl Day

Soraya Chemaly | Posted 12.06.2011

Soraya Chemaly

Let's have a new holiday -- National Let Your Boy Be a Girl Day -- that lets boys be, well, girls for a day. Because every other day of the year they have to make sure they are not girls.

Transgender 10-Year-Old, Jackie, Born A Boy, Happier As A Girl

Posted 10.31.2011

Turns out there are parents in the news who do the right thing. Jennifer and John of Ohio have a transgender 10-year-old child, and they support Jacki...

Connecticut Governor Signs Bill Protecting Transgender People From Discrimination

Posted 09.05.2011

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy (D) signed a measure on Tuesday to add gender-based language to the state's anti-discrimination statute, making Connec...

No More Boys Or Girls In Swedish Preschool Only Genederless Friends

ParentDish | Posted 08.27.2011

At a preschool in Sweden, there are no boys or girls. Only genderless "friends" Even the Swedish equivalent of pronouns such as "him," her," "he" a...

NPR And Lasers: Inside The Mind Of Larissa Bates On Beautiful/Decay

Posted 08.20.2011

(Via Beautiful/Decay) Larissa Bates both celebrates the male gender identity within the history of art while struggling to disassemble heteronormat...

Bringing Up Baby Without Gender: A Risky Social Experiment?

Dr. Harold Koplewicz | Posted 07.27.2011

Dr. Harold Koplewicz

Baby Storm is four months old; it lives in Toronto, Canada, and is as cute as can be. Wait -- "it"?

A New Low for Fox News: Wearing Pink Makes Boys Transgendered

Dr. Logan Levkoff | Posted 06.13.2011

Dr. Logan Levkoff

Fox News has once again sparked an insane and hate driven debate about gender identity and sexuality.

Transgender Man Says Employer Fired Him Over Birth Gender

AP | GEOFF MULVIHILL | Posted 06.11.2011

HADDONFIELD, N.J. — A transsexual man has sued the drug-treatment center where he worked, claiming it discriminated against him when it fired hi...

Overcoming Clergy Gender Norms

Joshua Stanton | Posted 05.25.2011

Joshua Stanton

Archetypes for men and women -- and especially clergy -- press us to conform to the norms dictated by our genders. People want religious leaders to look, sound and seem familiar.

Pill That Shapes Fetus Genitalia Cuts Chances Of Homosexuality In Girls

LA Times | Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times | Posted 11.17.2011

A prenatal pill for congenital adrenal hyperplasia to prevent ambiguous genitalia may reduce the chance that a female with the disorder will be gay. C...