Transgender Case Study

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A transgender, 25 year old woman named Avery Edison travelling from London, England was detained at Pearson Airport by Canada Border Service Agency. According to her, the reason for her detention was due to an immigration issue involving her overstaying a previous student visa. Despite being identified as a female on her passport, Avery had male genitalia. Avery tweeted that she would be assessed by a nurse before being placed in a male or female cell. However, the fact that she had male genitalia resulted in her being sent to Maplehurst, Correctional Centre in Milton, Ontario which is a prison for males where Avery stayed for one night. In the article, it is stated that Avery had concerns regarding potential sex attacks towards her in the …show more content…

For instance, sociologists would argue that characteristics of the male gender in a given society include independence, and dominance whereas females express more passive behavior. Gender identity, on the other hand is an individual’s sense of their gender or in other words, their sense as to whether they are feminine or masculine. Therefore, transgender is a term related to “people whose gender identity is different from the gender commonly socially assigned to them on the basis of their biological sex” (Morrow & Messinger, 2006, p. 7).“Biological theories assume that gender should be consistent with biological sex and there are only two genders and two sexes” which does not correspond to transgender people. Furthermore, transgender is also used as a general term to include people such as transsexuals and cross-dressers
. (journal article). In the case, Avery is identified as transgendered due to the fact that she is biologically a male as she has male genitalia, but her gender identity differs as she perceives herself to be …show more content…

An example is the fact that transgendered people are psychiatrically diagnosed with gender identity disorder. This disorder is characterized by “an intense and persistent self-identification with the opposite gender, combined with an enduring discomfort with the sex one is assigned”. By being provided with a diagnosis of a disorder, transgendered people are perceived as mentally unstable, thus excluded from society. This discrimination is evident through cases where transgender students have been excluded from school due to wearing clothing which has been deemed unsuitable for their biological sex. Other cases of transgender discrimination involve having a “difficulty in accessing social services because their gender identity and expression have been different from the gender documented on their birth certificate, driver’s license, passport and other official documents” as is the case with Avery. Moreover, in cases where transgendered people have wanted to undergo a sex reassignment surgery, they have been required to accept a mental illness diagnosis no matter their emotional stability and psychological health. They have also “reported discrimination and cultural insensitivity in substance abuse treatment programs, including verbal and physical abuse by staff, requirements that they dress as their biological gender and

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