Noah E. Lewis
Policy Counsel,
Trans/Gender
Non-Conforming
Justice Project
Trans Facts in Five
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Trans Facts in Five
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Trans Facts in Five
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
What are some reasons for not being able to fill in
all of the blanks?
 Not
paying attention to trans issues
 (Don’t
need to pay attention)
 There
aren’t that many answers
 Weren’t taught in school
 Not part of mainstream popular culture
 (Until
 This
recently!)
knowledge is deliberately hidden from us
 (Including
trans people)
Trans Facts in Five
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
Implications for interacting with trans people
 Humility
– acknowledge lack of knowledge
 Listen to trans individuals as the experts on their own
experience
 Recognize the opportunity to learn something new
Roadmap
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


Making cisness visible
What is sex?
Policy implications
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Making cisness visible
Defining our terms
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
Trans
 People
whose brain sex differs from their sex assigned
at birth

Cis
 People
whose brain sex matches their sex assigned at
birth
 Latin prefix that corresponds to trans meaning “on the
same side”
Defining cis
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
Origins of “cis”
 1994
alt.transgendered Usenet group
 1920s Germany

Who is cis?
 People
who are not trans or non-binary.
 Neither
 Cis
male nor female, or both, or fluid. Genderqueer.
includes gender non-conforming people who are not
trans.
Melissa Harris-Perry on being cis
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Why cis?
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


Neutral - cis & trans are equal
One is not normal or natural and the other
abnormal, unnatural
Other terms reinforce cis superiority
 Bio,
biological
 Genetic
 Real
 Non-trans
 Naturally-born
Why cis?
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

Acknowledges that cis people exist.

If cis people don’t exist, then trans people don’t exist.

Trans people must come to acknowledge that they are not cis.
Cis people have a brain sex too.


Tends to be invisible, taken for granted. “Normal.” “The way
things are.”
How much money would someone have to pay you to
socially, medically and legally transition and live as the
other sex?
Why cis?
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
Enables us to see and name cis supremacy
 Being cis is superior to being trans
 Being cis and gender nonconforming is superior to
being transsexual
 Gender
non-conformity is seen as “radical” and
transitioning is seen as giving in to stereotypes
Cis is normal and natural
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


Fundamental assumption underlying all of the
manifestations of cis supremacy.
Implication is that trans is abnormal and unnatural.
It’s better to be cis.
Manifestations of cis supremacy
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




Trans people are delusional.
You’re still always your sex assigned at birth even
after transitioning.
You’re not a “real” man or woman.
Trans health care is mutilation.
Trans women are deceivers.
Progressive forms of cis supremacy
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


If only gender roles weren’t so rigid, people
wouldn’t need to transition.
In this view, trans people are a symptom of a
patriarchal society rather than a normal, natural
expression of human diversity.
In an ideal world, trans people wouldn’t exist.
Progressive forms of cis supremacy
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
You should love your body the way it is.
 Really
just a nicer way of saying that trans health care
is mutilation.
 Imposes cis experiences onto a trans person.
 Privileges a cis perspective over the lived experiences
of a trans person.
 Dysphoria is real and cannot be willed away.
Progressive forms of cis supremacy
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

This view that “men should be comfortable wearing
high heels” fails to recognize the sex of trans
people.
It sees only “gender expression” and sees trans
women as gender nonconforming men.
 Excludes
trans women from women’s spaces while
allowing trans men in women’s spaces because they’re
just masculine women.
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What is sex?
Trans vs. gender expression
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Femininity
Masculinity
Female
Male
Trans vs. gender expression
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Female
Femininity
Male
Masculinity
Trans vs. gender expression
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
Masculinity
Female
Male
Most trans people are gender conforming.
 Just

Femininity
like most cis people are gender conforming.
Trans people have a variety of gender expressions
and transitioning is unrelated to masculinity,
femininity and gender roles (sex stereotypes).
How many sexes do you have?
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

It depends on who’s looking
Three types of sex:
 Social
 Legal
 Biological


These do not always align.
How do we determine an individual’s sex?
Factors determining biological sex
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Genetic or chromosomal sex—XX, XY and variations;
Gonadal sex (reproductive sex glands)—testes or
ovaries;
Internal reproductive structures—seminal vesicles/prostate
or vagina/uterus/fallopian tubes;
External sex organs (genitalia)—penis/scrotum or vulva;
Hormonal sex—androgens or estrogens;
Phenotypic sex (secondary sex characteristics)—facial
and chest hair or breasts; face shape; fat/muscle
distribution, etc.;
Assigned sex at birth;
Brain sex or self-reported sex.
Primary sex characteristics
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


Brain
Genitals
Reproductive organs
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Policy implications
Future of sex recognition
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
Goal: A world where the self-reported sex of trans
people is respected and reflected in all aspects of
life.
 The
failure to recognize the self-reported sex of trans
people is at the root of many problems trans people
face.
 ID
documents
 Employment discrimination
 Violence
 Sex-specific facilities

Incarceration in wrong facility
 Health
care denials
Contact info
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


Thank you!
Email: [email protected]
Office: 202-639-6308