Biden, who signed the decree in front of the cameras in the Oval Office with Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Minister Lloyd Austin and Chief of General Staff Mark Milley, stated in his Twitter account that he abolished the discriminatory ban against transgender persons working in the army, “It’s very simple: It is necessary to perform “America is safer when everyone who meets the conditions can do it openly and with pride.”

Under the Democratic President Barack Obama, the way for transsexuals to serve in the military without hiding their identity and to change their gender was opened in 2016, but Republican President Donald Trump ended the practice of recruiting transsexuals in 2017.

Lifting the ban on the recruitment of trans people was among Biden‘s election promises. Defense Secretary Austin had also said he supported the lifting of the ban in the Senate session to approve his post.

There are 1.3 million active personnel in the American army. Although there is no official data on the number of trans people in the army, it is estimated that there are approximately 9,000 trans people active in the military.

The European code on sexual harassment defines sexual harassment as “unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of women and men at work.” It can include unwelcome physical, verbal, or non- verbal conduct. The key is that behaviour is “unwanted by the recipient” but each individual is left to determine what behaviour is acceptable to him, or her, and what he, or she, regards as offensive. Sexual attention becomes sexual harassment if it is persisted in, once it has been made clear that it is regarded by the recipient as offensive. The European code is now persuasive on all industrial tribunals, as a result of the case of Wadman v Carpenter Farrer Partnership (I993), to the extent that all employers should now be considering the drafting of policies to combat sexual harassment in the workplace.

There is nothing to prevent an employer from introducing into his disciplinary code rules which would prohibit discrimination against employees on the grounds of their sexuality, or related reasons, such as transvestism or transsexualism. Many employers also include a promise not to discriminate on such grounds within their equal opportunity policy. As there is no legal provision in relation to sexuality, or to transvestism or transsexualism, there is no legislative framework around such matters. However, if there is such a provision in the disciplinary code, and a member of staff does harass an individual on the basis of his or her sexuality, which would include transvestism and transsexualism, then, provided that proper disciplinary proceedings are taken against them, and the harassment is sufficiently serious to warrant dismissal, that dismissal will be fair in the normal way. This approach was confirmed by an industrial tribunal in the case of British Home Stores Ltd. v Burchell (1978).

New provisions in section 40 of the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993 allow tribunals to impose limited reporting restrictions on parties’ identities, which would greatly assist any transsexual taking a case before an industrial tribunal, although there are no cases as yet, other than the case already mentioned, which is to come before Oxford Crown Court, of a transsexual who has been indecently assaulted. Furthermore, section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 provides for victims of indecent assault and other serious sexual offences, in that it is an offence to publish reports identifying the victim, unless they give their consent to be identified. These respective provisions, together with the case of P v S and Cornwall County Council (1993), greatly assist the transsexual, by no longer having to worry about running the gauntlet of adverse newspaper publicity.

You may decide that the only way to end the harassment, or to gain some financial compensation for what you have endured, is to take legal action. You might consider legal action in the following circumstances, such as:-

1. The harasser refuses to stop
2. Your union and your employer do nothing to resolve the problem.
3. Your employer offers an impossible solution such as moving you instead of the harasser.
4. You are being victimised after having made a complaint.
5. You have felt forced to leave your job by the harassment and lack of action by your employer.
6. You have been sacked.

However, most of us will want, when faced with harassment, to put a stop to it as quickly as possible, so as to create a pleasant working environment. You usually will want to stay in your job, if at all possible, and to solve the problem with a minimum of fuss. We want our relationships with our colleagues to stay smooth, and we want to limit the damage to our self confidence, and get on with living. The standard advice that is given by employment professionals in dealing with harassers is as follows:-

l. Make sure the harasser is informed by a you or someone else that you dislike his or her behaviour.
2. Tell him or her in writing and keep a copy.
3. If you confront the harasser in person, you could take someone such as a union representative, or someone senior in the office with you.
4. Keep a note of the date and time of each incident of harassment, with details of what the harasser did and said.
5. Tell your union representative or women’s officer.
6. Report the harasser to someone in authority in your organisation. Even if the senior person takes no effective action, this is an important step should you have to consider legal action.
7. If the harasser touches you on an intimate part of your body, you could report them to the police for indecent assault.

To take legal action in an Industrial Tribunal, you must do so within three months of the last incident of harassment. You must complete a form called Application to an Industrial Tribunal, which is known as the ITI, or “originating application” which is available from job centres and citizens advice bureaux. You should also complete the “green form” for legal aid, so that you can obtain some free legal advice and assistance. If you have been sacked after sexual harassment, or were forced to resign because of it, you can appeal to a tribunal under EPCA claiming unfair dismissal.

References

Saunders v Scottish National Camps Association (1981) IRLR 277
Wiseman v Salford City Council (1982) IRLR 202.
Whitlow v Alkanet Construction Limited (1975) IRLR 321.
Turner v Vestric (1981) IRLR 23.
British Home Stores Ltd. v Burchell (1978) IRLR 379.
EA White v British Sugar Corporation (1977) IRLR 121.
This information sheet is based on an article which appeared in GEMS News in June 1994 which was later included in the book Transvestism, Transsexualism and the Law by Melanie McMullan and Stephen Whittle. This book is at present out of print but is being revised and rewritten. Contact the Gender Trust for details about publication of the revised book.

Gender Trust – 2003, This information sheet is distributed by the Gender Trust and is intended as a basis for information only. The Gender Trust does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of any information contained in this sheet.

So this is my first column about one of the most tense and tricky subjects on earth, somewhere in there next to abortion and nuclear disarmament – transgender sexuality. We transgendered folk put in an awful lot of work to convince everyone – doctors, researchers, theoreticians, churches, parents, potential lovers, etc. – that being transgendered is not about sexual preference. It isn’t the “end of the gay continuum”, or anything like that. It has nothing to do with how we have sex, or want to have sex, or who we want to have it with. We’re just now getting them to believe it…well, some of them, anyway.

Yet we do have sex; most of us anyway. Sure, some of us are too mired in body dysphoria and the pain of having the “wrong genitals” to cope with it, and some of us don’t have understanding partners, or any partners at all. Yet most of the trannies (and I use that term affectionately) that I know do have sex lives, although our activities may not resemble those of most people. Yes, we fuck. Some of us fuck like bunnies, and we manage to do it while navigating a swamp of body discomfort and alienation, sometimes dragging along bewildered partners or would-be partners for the ride.

Whenever I come out to anyone, the first thing they do – or want to do – is stare at my crotch. Their eyes almost involuntarily flicker down to there, even if I’m sitting on the other side of a table and the only thing they can catch sight of is my meal. When I get up, they make sure to take a surreptitious look. They want to know: what do I have down there, and what do I do with it? Some will be blunt, with more or less obnoxiousness: “Hey, do you have a dick? Did you have the surgery?” Instead of being appalled or offended at their assumption that my genitals are their business, I prefer a different approach that nearly always gets rid of them: a mysterious smile and the comment, “You seem very interested in what’s between my legs. I’ll tell you about it, but you have to promise to get down on your knees and suck it, no matter what it is.” Works like a charm, every time. So far no one’s called my bluff.

When they see me with my wife, who’s a male-to-female transsexual, their eyes go back and forth, back and forth, and I know what they’re thinking. What do they have? What do they do with it? How the hell do they get it on? Does it look like anything I’d recognize? Once, after I’d read a rather graphic poem about our sexual practices at an erotic poetry reading, a guy sidled up to me and confessed he’d always wondered about it. I generally look ‘em in the eye and smile as evilly as possible, saying silently to them, yeah, I know you’re wondering, and you’re not likely to find out, except that we’re obviously having more fun than most people.

The hard truth of the matter is that those of us who have opted to change their bodies do have different anatomy from most single-gendered people, and they know it. Our anatomy may vary; some of us have full genital surgery, some partial, some none at all, and the reasons can range from price to preference to not wanting to jeopardize one’s orgasmic capacity. Transwomen may still have their original phalli (which they may or may not be able/willing to use in the normal way), or they may have their testicles removed, or an entire vaginoplasty, which may or may not have sensation. Transmen may have phalloplasties (which may or may not work), or they may have metaoidioplasties (which is sort of like phalloplasty lite; you get balls and a little tiny cock that still works), or, like me and most transmen in this country, they may be making do with their original genitals, with the modification of testosterone-enlarged clits. And some may hate having their hole touched, and some may love being banged there. We’re a cussed and finicky bunch, we are. (But we’re worth it.)

This smorgasbord of bits and pieces doesn’t help the bewildered non-trans person who’s staring at us across the room and….considering. Assuming you’ve gotten past the initial Eeek! reaction, your next thought after “What the hell do they do in bed?” might, just might, move on to: “Wow…what might they do in *my* bed?” If you’re adventurous, you might try to picture it. Let me tell you now, the likelihood of getting the actuality right, especially if you’re looking at your first tranny, is pretty low. But don’t let that discourage you. The sacred androgyne is still within your realm of possibilities, but you’d better be open-minded, open to negotiation, and have a good imagination.

At a workshop I did at the Boston Bisexual conference four years ago in Boston, most of the people attending were men who were interested in picking up male-to-female transsexuals, and wanted to know how to go about it. No mention was made of female-to-males, and most people had no idea what to do with either of us. (Further columns will follow on how best to approach, pick up, and treat in bed both of our nonstandard genders; be patient.) Still, I’ve seen a growing awareness in our community that there are some people out there who find us interesting not in spite of, but because of what we are. My friend and former lover Heather calls her kind “transfrienders”; if we folks of nonstandard gender and anatomy get you hot under the collar, you just might be one.

As a pornographer, a lot of what I used to see in TG porn fell into two categories. Both dealt only with MTFs (male-to-females), and FTMs were, as usual, MIA. One was transvestite porn, with its ten basic subplots of forced feminization and mothers cross-dressing their sons. After spending a whole day reading one friend’s extensive collection, I found my eyes (and my brain) glazing over. The other type is more visual; “chicks with dicks” do their thing with guys who apparently don’t want to admit they’re bisexual – they want to suck dick, and maybe even be fucked with it, but only if it’s “girl dick”, so they’re not really queers. Right. I’m sorry, anyone who sleeps with me or my wife is bisexual by default. (They are also intelligent, have excellent taste, and sit down carefully several times a month.)

I resent the fact that there isn’t enough hot, sexy porn written, photographed, and filmed that stars real (or could-be-real) transfolk with our real-life anatomical variety (and the variety of things that we are willing or unwilling to do with them) in ways that make us look strong, passionate, and like something worth drooling over. We need to do something about this, starting yesterday.

So I’ll start with this: Recently, a bunch of us transfolk were sitting around in a living room (OK, it was mine), and we started listing all the interesting names we have for our pre- or non-op genitals. (Vocabulary: Because less than half of us get surgery, most of us are “pre-operative”, meaning we haven’t been able to get the funding together to have the lower chassis rebuilt, or “non-operative”, meaning we choose not to risk iffy surgeries.) In order to deal with screwing around whilst using flesh bits we’d rather were quite different, we rename and reframe them by various little tricks – like using other terms for them.

Here’s our list. If it offends you, stop reading. You have been warned.

Transwomen’s penises: Clit On A Stick; Big Clit; The Decoration; Tootsie Roll (a la Lady Chablis); Inside-Out Cunt

Transwomen’s anal passages: Almostcunt; Earth Hole (as opposed to Water Hole); Cloaca (because, like birds and reptiles, one does everything with it); Temp Cunt

Transmen’s clits: Dicklet (or Diclit); Cocklet; Minicock; Hot Button

Transmen’s strap-on penises: Magic Dick (as opposed to girl dick or boy dick); Rubber Hose, Magic Wand (never goes soft!); Cock Mask; Detachable Penis

Transmen’s vaginas: Front Hole; Auxiliary Asshole; Inside-Out Cock; Fisting Hole; Cockpit; Boycunt; Glory Hole; Guy Pie; Bonus Round

Head spinning yet? Good. This is just to get you thinking of all the ways new vocabulary can rename and reframe anatomy and action. What we can name, we can tell stories about. What we can tell stories about, we can tell hot, gooey, heavy-breathing, squirmin’-in-your-chair stories about. And if we can do that, we can create a picture in people’s minds of what it might be like to do “this” with “that”.

There are a lot of sexual activities that I enjoy now that I never would have imagined I’d enjoy when I was, say, seventeen. Maybe that’s just about getting older, but I strongly suspect it has more to do with learning about new things. There are things I do now that I didn’t even have a clear mental picture of at seventeen, so I couldn’t fantasize about them. If we give people a fantasy – “you and that hot tranny with a seven rubber gloves, a tube of lube, an enema bag, and a couple of lurid red-and-black striped rubber sex toys, on the bathroom floor-”….well, you might start slipping yourself into that mental role, just to see if it fits. Maybe it won’t. Maybe it will and you’ll beat off to it for three nights straight.

It’s what I first learned about sex: context creates heat. Context makes you feel like you know what you’re doing, and you want to be doing it. Everything else we can do ourselves, with a little patience and a whole lot of lube.

—

Renaming and Reframing: Sex and the Third Gender

2004, amboyz.org

Imagine though that you were the character and that this was really happening to you. Our minds couldn’t fathom such a cataclysmic disaster of such biblical proportions. Our minds would literally shatter.

Yet everyday Transsexual Teens go through a real life horror story called puberty. Body Parts are turning into something foreign to them. Voices are changing, things are growing. They are becoming their worst nightmare right inside of their own skin, something repulsive to them. Its sheer terror. Meanwhile their peers are going through the same thing but its different for them. They embrace their metamorphosis as the caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Their minds and bodies become one. This is not the case of the Transsexual teen.

In the movies at least the victim at least has other characters to share their terror with. In real life though transsexual teens often go through their horror alone. Most dare not share what’s happening to them. They dare not tell their homophobic parents and most have few if any real friends. Most school counselors are ill trained and overcome with their own prejudices to be helpful. The terror is the same whether its for male to female (MTF) Transsexuals or female to males. Who do they tell? Imagine the terror as a Teen FTM has monthly periods and an MTF Transsexual has nocturnal erections. Who will quiet their nightmares?

Teenage years are difficult enough for everyone. It certainly is no picnic even for a psychologically healthy kid. A transsexual teen though does not have this advantage. Their minds and bodies are not in harmony with each other. Most have know this from their earliest memories at the age of four or five. Growing up knowing you are a different gender than what you appear is the essence of a living nightmare.

Is there a solution? Yes there is. It involves non-judgmental listening. Don’t assume this is just a phase. This has been with them since Kindergarten or earlier. Its only rearing its head now because of the terrifying physical changes they are going through. Their minds didn’t suddenly change. They’ve always felt this way.

Whether you are a parent or a school counselor it is important that you recognize this as a life threatening reality. The only solution is to get Professional help from a competent Gender Dysphoria Specialist.

Bear in mind that the suicide attempt rate for preoperative Transsexuals has been estimated as high as 50%. Many are from their teenage years when they are most vulnerable. Transsexuality is not a moral dilemma, it is a physical one.

Parents are often shocked because they feel they would know if their son or daughter had any opposite sex traits, such as excessive femininity or masculinity. They don’t realize that many transsexuals hide it and don’t really want to be what they are for their own protection. Puberty is often the distress trigger. Transsexuality is not a choice but rather is inborn. It is not a moral choice and there is scientific proof to bear that out (see link below). It is a medical condition.

If steps are taken now to just listen to our transgendered teens and take real action then the odds of them living a normal life as themselves is very good. The sooner their nightmare ends the better for all concerned. One can only hope that the incidence of those that have lived through 50 years of Gender Dysphoria will come to an end. Even one year is too much.

2006, By Laura Amato @ Laura’s Playground

One of the first people to challenge the gender programs and the medical professionals on this attitude was Louis Sullivan. He was the founder of the largest and longest-running FTM organization (to date) in the world, now known as FTM International, Inc. Lou identified not only as an FTM, but also as a gay man. He spent ten years of his life writing letters, personally visiting doctors, educating them, and persevering against the system. For ten years, he was denied hormone therapy or surgery. Finally, his persistence paid off and he was granted the right to pursue the treatment he felt he needed. He was the first FTM who openly led the way for others who identified as gay or bisexual.

Within the FTM experience, the entire gamut of the sexual spectrum is covered. A large portion of FTMs identify as heterosexual men who date and even marry women. There are those who identify as non-sexual and others who see themselves as asexual, choosing only self-stimulation. A large number of people identify as gay or queer, others identify as bisexual. There are those who identify as pansexual or simply sexual.

Of course with the exploration of sexuality comes the discovery and exploration of sex. And with sex, the specter of HIV/AIDS and STDs arises. Most of the FTMs on the street hustling for survival and money are fully aware of the risks they run. They face some of the tough problems that other male hustlers face on the streets. Most johns will pay higher dollar if they don’t have to use a condom. In San Francisco, $10 to $30 dollars will get you a blowjob. These are usually performed with condoms. To kick without a condom, the asking price is $75 to $150. Several of the young men have commanded prices of $500 or more for the john’s privilege to not use a rubber. It seems an awfully low price for their life. The chance of drug use, mostly intravenous, is high for these young men. To our knowledge, at this point in time, the number of young FTM men who work the streets is low.

The FTMs who are probably at the highest risk of transmitting or contracting STDs are those who identify as heterosexual. Many hetero FTMs feel they are immune to HIV/AIDS because it is still considered a gay disease, and not all FTMs emerge from the dyke community. Their biggest risk is their ignorance and lack of education. This is probably less so in urban areas, but the attitude is still alarmingly proliferant. Not surprisingly, those FTMs who identify as gay or bisexual are usually the most educated in regard to any STD as well as safer sex practices. This has not, however, kept FTMs from contracting HIV or other STDs. In both urban and rural areas, the number of FTMs who have sero-converted has risen in the past three years. Herpes is wide-spread if not epidemic. A large number of FTMs have spoken up about cases of gonorrhea as well. When asked why they choose not use condoms or other forms of protection, many state that they have felt pressured into not using them. Several have spoken of being told they won’t be seen as “real” men if they insist on protection. This kind of pressure has come from straight women, bisexual men and women, and gay men. Peer pressure seems to run the gamut in the sexual spectrum as well. More education is needed about safe sex that recognizes the unique conditions of FTM bodies and psyches.

Notes on Gender Transition

Revised September, 1997

FTM 101 — The Invisible Transsexuals

By: Shadow Morton, Yosenio Lewis, Aaron Hans–James Green, Editor