Is the 'ed' on "transgendered" offensive or misleading?

Is the 'ed' on "transgendered" offensive or mislea

gospodin​(dom male){Married} • Nov 7, 2017

Full disclosure: I'm a heterosexual cisgender male.

I have seen many trans folk online object to the word "transgendered" as it uses a transitive verb, suggesting that this is some sort of transformation performed on a person. The explanation is that being transgender isn't so much a transformative process as it is a recognition that a person's gender is (and typically always was) different to the one assigned at birth.

Is this correct, and if so is there a case to be made to rename the forums and other categories on here? I must say I haven't seen the "ed" in years, and thought it had been declared obsolete.

It's not my battle, and I'm entirely ready to be wrong but hoping to be educated!

Villanelle​(staff) • Nov 7, 2017

I've never even considered it...I look forward to hearing from our members on this topic!

Frral • Dec 9, 2017

My understanding is roughly the same as what gospodin laid out. Here's hoping you change the language soon so that my trans friends, playmates, and lovers don't see it, feel ick, and leave.

Frral • Dec 9, 2017

https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

You can scroll down to the table of "Terms to Avoid".

Hope this helps!

evergrey​(sub female){Ashigeru} • Dec 9, 2017

The last time I used "transgendered," I was pretty swiftly corrected by a trans person. I'd say it's something to avoid.

MarsBar​(switch trans man) • Dec 9, 2017

I definitely feel iffy about the use of transgendered for exactly the reasons you have all laid out. That said, I often have trouble speaking up about things and it's really heartening to see that people who aren't trans themselves still manage to notice and speak out about things like this.
I would definitely prefer a change, if such a thing can be done.

Cage Monkey​(staff) • Dec 9, 2017

Sounds very persuasive, thank you all for the input, we had no idea. I'll have it fixed right now.

Lucia​(sub female){not lookin} • Dec 10, 2017

Thanks for making that change y'all, I had noticed it too and was fairly shocked. Ashamed I wasn't the first to post about it. Thanks, gospodin- and it IS our battle as long as we understand our place as allies and don't attempt to speak FOR those we are trying to lift up (this was what kept me from posting before, but now I see I could have made change happen like you did).

I actually have another bone to pick, though. I am also a cis person who may be speaking out of turn. But based on ideas I have heard from trans friends, and one whom I had look at this site to confirm my suspicions, I have also been thinking since I joined that we are lacking another option for trans folks to list their gender. In addition to "trans ftm" or "trans mtf", some may prefer simply to identify as "trans female", "trans male" or "trans genderqueer". Many trans folks are fed up with only being viewed/portrayed as "transitional" in their entirety as human beings. A trans person IS their gender as surely as a cis person is. It's not that complicated. For those who understand the reality of being trans, saying "trans female" explains that the trans person is a female who was assigned male at birth; it is not necessary to say "mtf" and keep the concept of inbetween-ness at the forefront of everybody's mind. To be clear, many folks are joyfully embracing of their transitional identities (in general and/or in regard to the kinky desires at hand) and want to be clear that their bodies are transitional, so the "ftm" and "mtf" labels should definitely be kept, AND the others should be added.

I am talking about folks who are post-transition, and don't want to have their identity label make it appear as though they are transitioning, but still want to proudly identify as trans and not be closeted by having to choose "male" or "female" instead. My 15 years post-op friend, who would be seeking only to be courted as a woman and not personally interested in fetishists who think she's still packing, looked at this site said she would choose "female" but be disappointed about it. There could also be folks mid-transition who prefer the simpler label, as well as folks who ARE trans (not genderqueer, trans) but are not planning/able to have a physical transition for various reasons- a transitional label would be horrifically confusing for that person's attempt to make their situation clear to strangers. And if you're wondering why "trans genderqueer" isn't just "genderqueer", it indicates someone non-binary who has modified their body with hormones/surgery to achieve the correct feeling, but is still non-binary just like cis folks can be. That person may also want to differentiate themselves from their cis friends, out of both pride and practicality.

Lucia​(sub female){not lookin} • Dec 10, 2017

Maybe folks should just be able to type in their own thing? If there is a way to format that option so it would still appear next to your name same as if you click on an option? Now we are moving far out of my area of expertise; I have NO idea how formatting a website works, and I should caveat I am super fucking impressed by all this!
Failing that, one of the options to click on could say "other", "ask me" or something?

Hawkeye • Dec 10, 2017

Have to admit ignorance on this subject so hope to be educated.
I have read the post and still do not understand the confusion. To me it depends on the sentence in which the word is used. As the op stated the ed makes the word a verb indicating a action (transformation) has taken place. How is this incorrect or offensive?