Who are all these transgendered people and where did they come from? This seems to be a question I’ve heard all over lately and I believe it’s time to have some real talk about it. As more people who are trans-gendered, gender-queer or somewhere in between start to talk about their lives and journeys many people are wondering what is going on.

Before we delve into the current culture let’s take a look back.

Many people these days operate under the idea that transgender people are strictly from this time. However, some time spent studying pre-history from Africa to Europe to Asia reveals that this is not in fact the case. In many cultures around the world for eons transgender, intersex and gender queer people have been part of the societies that are our common ancestry.

Fast forwarding to right now let’s examine a few things.

In America for the past decade or so we hear more and more about transgender people. I believe this isn’t happening because there are more transgendered people I belive rather the people who are and have been transgender are becoming less afraid to be open about their lives. Instead of living their lives in secret they are living them just like everyone else.

The truth is, gender as it is often presented (as a binary male or female) just does not work for everyone. Many people (transgendered and not) will tell you that gender is not simply a matter of the parts you have. Human beings are complex creatures and for some of us, the way we were born is just not meant to be the way we live.

If all this is new to you I highly suggest checking out some of the books I have listed at the bottom. Also do some reading on the internet. There are dozens of quality blogs, websites etc where you can read more about transgender people and their histories and lives.

The lesson I think we all need to learn is that at the base of things we’re all human beings. We all want the same things. We all want to live as happily and healthily as we can. And yes, for some of us that means changing our gender to better fit how we feel and to better represent ourselves in the world, for some of us that means being queer, for yet more of us that means being heterosexual. The key to all of this is to remember our humanity and that different isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just different.

And in this world, we’re all different and all exactly the same.

Please feel free to explore some of the resources and books I’ve got linked and ask me any questions you might have.

If you would like to leave comments I only ask that you please be respectful and mindful of the fact that we are discussing fellow human beings and I ask that you behave accordingly. Thank you.