Irish Transgender needs survey

deirdre_dub

My good friend Dee Vansont has put together a survey of the needs of transgender people in Ireland

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IrishTransgenderNeedsSurvey2010

The first paragraph of the survey sums up what it is about -

If you, or anyone you know, has ever even thought about wearing any item of clothing from the 'Other Sex' this survey is for you. It's for anyone curious about, involved in, connected with or interested in Crossdressing, Transvestite, Transexual or Transgender activity or issues, their families, friends, professionals, service providers, etc. For the purposes of this survey TG is an all-encompassing term referring to everyone from curious about clothes to CD, TV, TS and so on.

Please take the time to fill it out if you are affected by trans issues.

baby and crumble

If you, or anyone you know, has ever even thought about wearing any item of clothing from the 'Other Sex' this survey is for you.

I'm curious- does this include girls who dress using masculine clothes but in a feminine way? Just curious.

deirdre_dub

zoegh wrote: »

I'm curious- does this include girls who dress using masculine clothes but in a feminine way? Just curious.

If the girl in question sees what she is doing as presenting as a male, even to a small degree, and if she has an opinion on trans needs, then I would say go for it!

If, however, her dressing has nothing to do with an inner experience of a male identity, and she isn't affected by trans issues, and has no opinion on them, then I would say that she probably wouldn't find the survey interesting.

If you, or anyone you know, has ever even thought about wearing any item of clothing from the 'Other Sex' this survey is for you.

I think the key phrase is "other sex" - if she sees the clothes as belonging to the "other sex", I would hazard a guess that she is somewhat trans. If, however, she sees and exploits the feminine potential of male clothes (or, as you say, "wears them in a feminine way"), then I would hazard a guess that she is cisgendered.

Those are my opinions and guesses on this subject. If you need further clarity, or if you want a second opinion, please PM me and I'll put you in touch with the survey author.

I hope that helps.

electrobi

For the purposes of this survey TG is an all-encompassing term referring to everyone from curious about clothes to CD, TV, TS and so on.

This just doesn't seem right to me. TGs have been fighting to be seen apart from CDs and TVs.

SassyGirl_1

I started filling out the survey, but as I've gone along it appears to be Trans/TV/Cd orientated, I thought I’d better stop and not complete it as it’s not really applicable to me.

One of the questions appears to be incorrect as well as it asks for an evaluation of the Gender Recognition Act, which is still under the process of being defined/drafted, so it really can’t be commented as to whether or not it’s a good piece of legislation.

electrobi wrote: »

For the purposes of this survey TG is an all-encompassing term referring to everyone from curious about clothes to CD, TV, TS and so on.

This just doesn't seem right to me. TGs have been fighting to be seen apart from CDs and TVs.

Some individuals who have be clinically diagnosed with the medical condition of Gender Identity Disorder (not a very nice name btw) also known as Gender Dysphoria are trying to educate people on the difference between this condition and CDs/TVs/trans. I think there’s a sticky or another posting here on the difference, but basically it’s to de-sexualize it and the only way to do this is highlight the difference between the different sub-groups.

Over the last number of years (probably since the term was first coined) all of these different reasons for dressing in the opposite of one’s gender – GID/GD/Transvestite/CD/Transsexual/Shemale etc have all been lumped in to one group: Transgender.

Personally, while I don’t really like the term, GID/GD, separation from under the Trans(gender) umbrella is probably be the best way to go.

deirdre_dub

electrobi wrote: »

For the purposes of this survey TG is an all-encompassing term referring to everyone from curious about clothes to CD, TV, TS and so on.

This just doesn't seem right to me. TGs have been fighting to be seen apart from CDs and TVs.

Some have, some haven't.

One of the first questions (if not the first question) you are asked is where on the CD/TV/TG/TS spectrum you lie. Since many of the needs of CDs and TVs are quite different from those of TGs, it is only right that the survey asks that question early on, and I cannot imagine but that the results will be tabulated on the basis of where on the spectrum the respondants lie. However, the fact remains that CDs and TVs have needs, just as TGs do, and this survey aims to find out what all of those needs are.

Personally speaking, whereas there are obvious differences between CD/TV and TG, I can also see a lot of commonality, which leads me to wonder if CD, TV and TG are actually different points along the one underlying phenomenon. I would also have to wonder if intersexism forms a part of that phenomenon. But that's just my personal opinion.

deirdre_dub

SassyGirl_1 wrote: »

I started filling out the survey, but as I've gone along it appears to be Trans/TV/Cd orientated, I thought I’d better stop and not complete it as it’s not really applicable to me.

Most transgender people do not have significant gender dysphoria, so the questions are going to be skewed in that direction. Just answer "n/a" to questions that don't apply to you.

One of the questions appears to be incorrect as well as it asks for an evaluation of the Gender Recognition Act, which is still under the process of being defined/drafted, so it really can’t be commented as to whether or not it’s a good piece of legislation.

There was an outline document published by the government not too long ago that gave an idea as to what their thinking is.

Some individuals who have be clinically diagnosed with the medical condition of Gender Identity Disorder (not a very nice name btw) also known as Gender Dysphoria are trying to educate people on the difference between this condition and CDs/TVs/trans. I think there’s a sticky or another posting here on the difference, but basically it’s to de-sexualize it and the only way to do this is highlight the difference between the different sub-groups.

Not all TVs get a sexual kick from dressing, so there isn't as clear a demarcation as all that.

Personally, while I don’t really like the term, GID/GD, separation from under the Trans(gender) umbrella is probably be the best way to go.

Personally, I don't like to fragment a community that is already very small, especially considering the oppression we all face.

Louisevb

It's very difficult to frame a survey which covers the scale from cd to transgender full time male or female. That's a given because we all have different needs and are going in directions which are similar yet different for each sub set, but we are all under the T umbrella.
It's important as it's the first specific survey in Ireland that relates purely to T issues.
So please fill it in and leave anything that you feel is not for you aside as n/a

Aard

What's its purpose?


And apart from the conflation of TS/TG/TV/CD, the survey is poorly written.

deirdre_dub

Aard wrote: »

What's its purpose?

Erm, to try and find out what the needs of the transgendered people of Ireland are?

And apart from the conflation of TS/TG/TV/CD, the survey is poorly written.

In what way? For instance?

As for the conflation - if you were to try and produce a different survey for the various permutations and combinations of TS/TG/TV/CD/Gender queer, M2F/F2M, Gay/straight/bi etc, you would end up with dozens of surveys. It simply isn't practical to do that.

Aard

deirdre_dub wrote: »

Erm, to try and find out what the needs of the transgendered people of Ireland are?

No need for sarcasm. What I meant was: who is the information going to? What are they going to do with the information? A charity, a support network, the government? It was a genuine question; I was interested.

In what way? For instance?

I don't have it at hand, but it wasn't written as a survey normally would be. IIRC, the degrees of answers were unusually phrased.

As for the conflation - if you were to try and produce a different survey for the various permutations and combinations of TS/TG/TV/CD/Gender queer, M2F/F2M, Gay/straight/bi etc, you would end up with dozens of surveys. It simply isn't practical to do that.

But you just said above that it's a survey to "find out what the needs of the transgendered people of Ireland" (my bold). It should be about transgenderism, and only that. Sexual orientation would of course be incidental questions. You just highlighted something wrong with the survey: that it has no specific focus, but rather is quite general.


Look, I didn't mean to lambaste your friend's efforts; my critisism was an afterthought to the pertinent question of what the purpose of the whole exercise was. All the surveys in the world can be conducted, but they mean **** all if the information gathered isn't put to good use.

deirdre_dub

Aard wrote: »

Erm, to try and find out what the needs of the transgendered people of Ireland are?

No need for sarcasm. What I meant was: who is the information going to? What are they going to do with the information? A charity, a support network, the government? It was a genuine question; I was interested.

I was genuinely confused by your question, which is why I ended my response with a question mark.

I believe your questions are answered at the end of the survey? IIRC she mentions that the results would be made available to the relavant organisations working on behalf of trans people? I could be wrong - if I am, I can find out the answers to your questions.

In what way? For instance?

I don't have it at hand ...

OK - can't really help you there.

But you just said above that it's a survey to "find out what the needs of the transgendered people of Ireland" (my bold). It should be about transgenderism, and only that. Sexual orientation would of course be incidental questions.

The very first paragraph of the survey says, in part -

For the purposes of this survey TG is an all-encompassing term referring to everyone from curious about clothes to CD, TV, TS and so on.

So, for the rest of this post, I'm going to use the word "transgendered" to mean what it means in the survey - i.e. that it covers CD, TV, TS and so on. Unfortunately, as there is no universal agreement as to what the various terms actually mean, the survey was always going to have to define its own terms, and in the process potentially raise the hackles of those whose own personal terminology is offended. If your own personal terminology has been offended, then please understand that it was unavoidable, and try and see past it.

The survey aims to get at the needs of ALL transgendered people - not just that small minority going through transition. Believe it or not, but TVs, CDs etc have needs too that are not being met, and it is IMNSHO very important indeed to find out what those needs are.

Now, there are two ways of finding out the needs of all the transgendered people. One is to produce a seperate survey for all the different flavours of transgendered people - that option is, IMNSHO, impractical, mostly because of the huge diversity in the community and each of its sub-communities. The second option was to create one survey which contains questions that are going to be non-applicable to some of those answering it. It is utterly impossible to produce a survey that is tailored to your own personal experience - have you ever filled out a survey that didn't contain questions that were non-applicable to you?!

You just highlighted something wrong with the survey: that it has no specific focus, but rather is quite general.

Think of it this way - because the vast majority of transgendered people are not going through transition, if you are going to create a "focussed" survey, then it should be one that excludes those going through transition.

Thankfully my friend has decided to include TS in the survey. I think that is only correct, and I think the TS community should respond in kind by giving her the information she is asking for at her own expense!

Look, I didn't mean to lambaste your friend's efforts; my critisism was an afterthought to the pertinent question of what the purpose of the whole exercise was. All the surveys in the world can be conducted, but they mean **** all if the information gathered isn't put to good use.

I can tell you two more things about the author of this survey -

1. She does this sort of thing for a living.

2. She is very dedicated to seeing that life gets better for transgendered (i.e. CD, TV and TS alike) people in Ireland. I've had many good conversations with her about the issues and about how to tackle them.

Aard

I have nothing more constructive to contribute, so I'll leave it with "Good Luck".

deirdre_dub

Aard wrote: »

I have nothing more constructive to contribute,

So you've completed the survey? Great! Or - would your contribution to the survey not be constructive?

so I'll leave it with "Good Luck".

Thanks. It looks like we might need it...

Eebs

Bah computer ate my post.

I think the survey should have an option to write your own experiences with regards to coming out - it's a very good feature in the other sections given the nature of the subject. The wants of TS people going 'stealth' are often that they don't want people to know about the trans status. So that section got a bit confusing for me to fill out since it focused on people who seemingly still needed to come out in some context.

deirdre_dub

Eebs wrote: »

I think the survey should have an option to write your own experiences with regards to coming out - it's a very good feature in the other sections given the nature of the subject.

I think there is a box at the end of the survey in which you can write whatever you want.

The wants of TS people going 'stealth' are often that they don't want people to know about the trans status. So that section got a bit confusing for me to fill out since it focused on people who seemingly still needed to come out in some context.

There are boxes throughout the survey in which you can write about the questions being asked.

I've been talking to Dee. The response to the survey, so far, has been quite low. This is both good news and bad news. It is good news in that it is easier for each and every word you write to be taken into account. But it is bad news in that it becomes harder to convince the powers-that-be of the survey's credibility.

So if you are not answering the survey because of some needs it doesn't address, please use the boxes in the survey to write about that. Such information will make the next survey better, which will hopefully therefore get a better response, and hopefully therefore gain the attention of the powers-that-be, and hopefully generate positive change!

But the thing is that the powers-that-be aren't going to act AT ALL unless they know what the issues are. Hence there is a need for surveys.

Thanks for remaining engaged with this - I think it's important.

D.

Eebs

To be clear, I both answered the survey and I was just offering the idea of having the 'box' at the end of that particular section as a good idea. The boxes at the end of other sections are excellent. just that particular one was lacking. Would have been useful to explain why my particular results were coming off like that at the same time as clicking them.

Does that make sense? It was supposed to be constructive feedback for Dee.