Born This Way...
We are what we are because of how we develop in our mother's womb. At 12 weeks the body gets instructions to develop physically as a boy or a girl. At 16 weeks the brain (hence, our identity) gets told how to develop. Our identity (who we are) is our gender core. Our sex and our Gender Core are two different things. Usually, the sex and gender core develop in sync. (A child born male will have a male gender identity, be attracted to women, and express himself in what is perceived as a masculine manner.) All of these traits are on a sliding scale, however. Anything can happen. A child could be born physically male, but have a female gender identity. Another child may be born female, have a female gender identity, be attracted to boys, but express themselves in a manner that's not feminine (a "tomboy"). A person born male, with a male gender identity, but attracted to men may express themselves in any number of ways. There are males who express themselves full-time as female, but are happy being male; they have no desire to chemically or surgically alter their body. To add to the confusion, where a person places themselves on sexual and gender scale is not static. Rather, there is a fluidity associated with these concepts. We know a person can be born with physical characteristics of both sexes (intersex). A person could be attracted to both men and women (bisexual). They may also have a fluid identity and express themselves in a variety of ways (gender fluid). A growing number of professionals are now using the term "transgender" to refer to a person whose gender identity doesn't match their physical body (cross-gendered). Other variations are put into a more general category, "gender nonconforming."
more to come...
more to come...