Foreword by Dr Lynne Jones MP. PhD.
Chair of the Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity
http://www.gires.org.uk/assets/Medpro-Assets/insidestory.pdf
In view of the uninformed opinion expressed by some of the members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons during the debates on the Gender Recognition Bill, the following document was sent out, from my office, to all members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Bill prior to the Committee stage (2004). It was prepared to promote the understanding that transsexualism is not a mental illness, and to explain, briefly, something of the extreme complexity of natural variation in the field of sex differentiation, of which gender dysphoria forms a small part.
Lynne Jones
TRANSSEXUALISM – THE INSIDE STORY
Information for MPs
Atypical gender development may give rise to a psychological experience of oneself as a man or as a woman, that is, a gender identity, which is incongruent with the phenotype (the sex differentiated characteristics of the body). Individuals experiencing this rare condition will have been raised, from birth, in the gender role (the social category of boy or girl) which is consistent with their phenotypic appearance. In extreme cases, both the appearance of the body and the associated gender role give rise to great discomfort. The personal experience of this severe gender variance is sometimes described medically as gender dysphoria.
This condition may be experienced in varying degrees, but in its profound and persistent form, individuals may need to ‘transition’, to live in the gender role which is consistent with their core gender identity. This degree of discomfort may be described as transsexualism. Individuals experiencing this condition may be referred to as trans men (those transitioning from living as women to living as men) and trans women (those transitioning from living as men to living as women). Transsexualism should not be confused with cross-dressing (transvestism); the broader range of varied gender expression, including transsexualism may be referred to as transgenderism. It should be noted that issues of gender identity are not the same as sexual orientation, that is, the sexual preference for a male or for a female partner, both or neither.
The process of sex differentiation is initiated in the fetus in the early stages of pregnancy. Typically, this differentiation is associated with the chromosomes: all fetuses have an X chromosome; the second chromosome in a boy will be Y, and in a girl will be X. Certain genes on the Y chromosome trigger the cascade of masculinising hormones from the testes (androgens - testosterone and MIH, a hormone antagonistic to female internal genitalia) which move the fetus from its female (default) status towards the male status. Differentiation of sex characteristics: genitalia, gonads (testes/ovaries) and of the brain, and the apparently binary male or female outcome in all these areas is, therefore, driven by the genes and the hormone environment – especially the presence or absence of testosterone. The latter depends partly on the pregnant mother and partly on the hormone (endocrine) system of the fetus itself.
http://www.gires.org.uk/assets/Medpro-Assets/insidestory.pdf