LESSON 10: LGBT PSYCHOLOGY

 Views on LGBT in History

Learning outcomes:
 discuss LGBT history and relevant LGBT terms; and
 explain the importance of these terms

Introduction

Labels are so powerful it can be used to discriminate and oppress people. Like how the German Nazi's
used the word 'Aryan race' to mean superior and 'Jews' and 'homosexual' to justify their mass murder of
what they called as 'inferior' race.

However, labels can also empower people to claim their space in our society, especially in the
political sphere. Language can be used to avoid offense or disadvantage to certain groups of people like
using "persons with disabilities" instead of disabled, 'African American' instead of 'blacks', and 'LGBT'
instead of 'homosexuals."

Views on LGBT in History

Sexual and emotional attraction towards the same sex has been recorded through0Ut history of
mankind. In China 600 BCE, they used the terms 'pleasures of the bitten peach' and 'brokeback'. In Japan,
they have 'shudo' or 'nanshoku'• 'Kathoey' is used in Thailand to refer to lady boys. In the Philippines we
have the 'babaylan' and the 'catalonan' who were mostly women priests, but some are males who lived
their lives as women.

Society's attitude towards homosexuality and other gender variants change through history. In
ancient Greek, all males are expected to take on a younger male lover in a practice called pederasty, Some
societies, like the indigenous Native Americans, accepted and celebrated what they called 'two-spirited'
person in a dance to the 'Berdache.'

However, later cultures see it as a "sin" following the Abrahamic Religion which branded it as
sodomy, a crime against nature. As these cultures colonized other countries, it enforced its belief systems
of viewing same sex attractions as a sin through violence such as killing homosexuals through burning,
stoning, or being fed to the dogs.

Homosexuality was classified as an illness in the 19th century as a basis for them to legally
persecute homosexuals, imprison, and commit them to a mental institution. An example of this percussion
is that of Alan Turing, the father of modern computing, who was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts.
He was sentenced with chemical castration treatment, and he later died through cyanide poisoning.

As science advanced through years of extensive research, the APA removed homosexuality as a
psychiatric disorder or a sickness in 1973. This decision was after many years of struggle from the gay and
lesbian liberation movement. APA finally declared that being attracted to people of the same sex is a
natural variation of the human experience, and it does not make anyone any less of a healthy and
functioning human being. Now that society is more accepting towards the LGBT, new terms and labels
have been used to cater to everyone.

The ABC's of the LGBTQIA+

In an effort towards visibility and inclusion, a few letters were added to the LGBT. The term
"homosexual" sounded too clinical and it no longer adequately represents the diversity within the LGBT
community. These labels are changing, some you may be familiar with, but others may be very new to you,
so let us try to explain it as simple as we can.

 Lesbian — Women who are emotionally and sexually attracted to women.

 Gay — men who are emotionally and sexually attracted to men.

 Bisexual — man or woman who are emotionally and sexually attracted to men or women.

 Transgender — when your gender identity (how you feel) is different from your physical sex
(male/female).

 Queer — used by people who celebrate all gender identities, can also mean someone who do not
want to be restricted as Lesbian, Gay, or Bi.

 Intersex — people who were born with sex genitals or chromosome patterns that do not fit the
typical male or female body.
  Asexual/Ally-asexual are people who do not feel sexual attraction to anyone, but it does not mean
that they do not engage in romantic or sexual relationships. Allies are straight or heterosexual
people who are fighting for LGBT rights.

 Plus + - the plus sign refers to all sexualities that do not fit in the LGBTQI spectrum.

Knowledge on the human sexuality is still evolving so there many terms that pops up. Here a few more to
help us become more inclusive:

 Androgynous --- people whose gender expression (their physical appearance) may or may not be
distinctly male or female.

 Gender— your internal sense of being masculine or feminine or neither.

 Gender identity — how you feel, man, women, or neither.

 Gender expression — how you express your sense of being male or female or neither, maybe
through hairstyle, clothes, etc.

 Sexual orientation — your emotional and sexual attraction to a person.

 Sex assigned at birth — your given sex when were born based on your sex organ.

 Cisgender — when your gender identity matches with the sex you are assigned at birth.

 Non-binary — people who do not feel like a boy or a girl; they may feel like they are both or neither,
so sometimes they use the pronouns they, them, and theirs.

There are many other terms that we have not discussed here but these are the basics of the ABC's ofthe
LGBTQIA+.

Understanding Transgenderism
Society attaches a lot of meanings to our biological sex or physical sex. Parents unknowingly set up a
gender-based pattern of raising their children upon knowing the biological sex of their babies. Pink for girls
and blue for boys is a reflection of our heteronormative culture wherein we expect females to be feminine
and males to be masculine.

This limited view on sexuality makes it harder for those who do not fit in the box of masculinity and
femininity, like the lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. However, it makes it •so
much more difficult for the transgender people, those who feel like they were born in the wrong body or
given the wrong biological sex.

Who is a transgender?

The APA defines transgender as "an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender
expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were
assigned at birth."

This means that a transgender person does not feel comfortable in their biological sex like a
person who is born male but feels like a female, and a person who is born female may feel like he is male.
This "feeling" or gender identity is not something that changes through time, but is a feeling that they have
since childhood. This creates a problem for a heteronormative society wherein everyone is expected and
forced to fit in the boxes of male masculinity and female femininity.

However, history tells us that in different cultures across the world and in different times in our
history, there are people who lived their life expressing a gender that is different from their biological sex.
This gender nonconformity or gender crossings were celebrated by the Native Americans through the
"berdache" or the two-spirited people. We also have our own "babaylan" or "catalonan", precolonial priests
who are mostly females but some are males who lived their lives as female priests.

The word transgender is also used as an umbrella term, this means that there are many identities
under this term. (lianssexuals, for example, is often used in the medical field to refer to people whose
gender identity is different from their biological sex and they may want to change their body, so it resembles
how they feel about their gender identity. A biologically male person may feel like she is a woman since she
was just a child and in adulthood, she may choose to have a "hormonal replacement therapy or sex
reassignment surgery", Medical advancements have helped transgender people live a full life; however, it
can be a long, difficult, and expensive process.

Other sexualities under the transgender umbrella term includes:

 FTM — female to male, a person whose biological sex is female and has transitioned to living his
life as a male;

 MTF — male to female, a person whose biological sex is male and has transitioned to living her life
as a female;

 Crossdressing — some people want to dress as the opposite gender from time to time, however,
unlike the transsexual, they are comfortable identifying with their biological sex;

 Drag kings and queens — these are people who dress as the opposite gender for entertainment
which they do out of passion or for work; and

 Gender queer — these are people who feel like their gender does not fit the gender binary view
that is limited to the male or female category because they feel that these are too restrictive.
The Transitioning Process

When a person realizes that he or she may be a transgender, a psychologist can guide the person
through the transition especially when a person wants to go through permanent changes like sex
reassignment surgery. In some countries, transitioning is covered by their medical insurance, and they get
support from their employers and families which is very crucial during transitioning because it takes years
to fully transition.

There are transgender people who cannot have or do not want to have hormonal replacement
therapy or sex reassignment surgery because of personal, economic, or cultural reasons and that is okay.
Transitioning to another gender is a very challenging process for many transgender people because of the
social stigma, discrimination, medical cost, accessibility of medical treatment and support, oppressive laws
in each country, and the threat of violence from prejudiced people.
Some countries allow for transgender people to change their legal gender from male to female or
female to male. This recognition is a product of decades of collective effort of the transgender community
and the LGBTQ+ community. However, Philippines still lack the laws and the medical capacity to support
transgender people in living their full potential.

The proper use of pronouns, he or she, should be observed when talking to a transgender person
to show respect as a decent human being. Often, when a person is clearly presenting herself as a female
by the way they dress and carry themselves, it is safe to assume that they want to use "she" and "her". The
same goes for the transgender men who is clearly presenting himself as a man, you may use "him" or
"her". However, it is always a good practice to askt hem for their preferred pronoun instead of assuming but
do so in a polite way.