Transgender is an umbrella term that includes a variety of identities that describe people whose gender identity doesn’t match their assigned gender at birth.

In our current society it is still customary to conclude the gender of infants based on their biological sex, their external sex organs, that is, to expect that a male baby will grow up to be a boy or man, and a female baby will grow up to be a girl or woman.

There are people for whom this expectation is suitable, and they are called cisgender people; however, there is a wide spectrum of people on the trans spectrum for whom this expectation is not suitable.

What is Gender?

A collection of social norms that define different rules, behaviors, and roles for different people. Gender and the norms it defines are expressed in different ways in different cultures and change in different periods throughout history.

The genders most well-known in our society are “man” and “woman”, but there exists a spectrum of gender identities besides them. Non-binary people, for example, are those whose gender does not match either of the binary categories of woman or man. A non-binary person can be a man and a woman simultaneously, neither a man nor a woman, or any other combination of the two. People on the trans spectrum can identify as one of the binary genders, as men or women, and/or on the non-binary spectrum.

What is Gender Expression?

The way people outwardly present their gender. Gender expression can be expressed in clothing, behavior, tone of speech, haircut, bodily hair, facial hair, and other characteristics that are recognized by society as indicating gender.

Gender expression doesn’t always reflect gender, and doesn’t always align with social norms, whether by choice or not.

What is Gender Identity?

Gender identity is the internal perception of each person regarding themselves and their gender. Unlike gender expression, gender identity depends on internal feelings and not on external appearance, and it can be different from the social expectation of external appearance. For people on the trans spectrum, their gender identity is different than their biological sex at birth.

What is Biological Sex?

Biological sex is the collection of physical attributes that define a person as male, female, or intersex.
Biological sex is a continuum made up of various attributes:

• External sex organs
• Internal sex organs
• Sex hormones
• Sex chromosomes
• Secondary sex attributes – additional physical attributes such as body structure, bodily hair, facial hair

Intersex

People who were born with sex attributes that don’t align with the common binary structures of male or female. In some people, these varied attributes are identifiable at birth, while for others they appear during puberty or later in life.

1.7% of people around the world are born intersex, which is higher than the percentage of identical twins (0.3%), and similar to the amount of people with red hair in the whole world!

What is Sexual Orientation? How Does it Relate to Gender?

Sexual orientation relates to the gender someone is sexually attracted to. Sexual orientation is unrelated to one’s internal perception of gender. So for example, transgender people can be heterosexual (attracted to a gender other than their own), homosexual (attracted to a gender similar to their own), bisexual or pansexual (attracted to more than one gender), asexual (not attracted to any gender), and more.

What are Pronouns?

Pronouns are the words we use to refer to people, speak about them in third person, or speak about ourselves. In many languages these words are gendered as male or female – but the form differs from language to language. In Hebrew the words “את” )at) and “אתה” (ata) are used to refer to people in second person, and “הוא” (hu) and “היא” (hi) are used to refer to people in third person. In English, the word “you” is used in second person, and the words “she”, “he” and “they” are typically used in third person.

Pronouns do not necessarily indicate gender, and it can be different than the gender expressed outwardly. Therefore it is common to ask “what pronouns do you use?” to understand how people would prefer people to refer to them. Each person determines their own pronouns.

The most common pronoun options in Hebrew are she, he and mixed (combination of the two).

The neutral pronouns “they/them” are sometimes translated as mixed, and sometimes as multiple “אתם” (atem), which has become more widely used in recent years in the Israeli community.

Transition

What is Transition?

Transition is a process during which people on the trans spectrum adjust their appearance, society’s perception of them, and the way institutions approach them, to their gender.
Transition can include medical, social, and bureaucratic changes.
This process can differ from person to person, according to their preferences and abilities. It is not necessary to do any specific process, and not everyone on the trans spectrum will go through a transition process. It is possible to do only certain processes and not others.

There are restrictions on medical and bureaucratic transition for minors, but any person, regardless of age, can go through social transition.

Examples of Social Transition:

• Coming out of the closet with friends/family/work/school
• Haircut
• Changing pronouns
• Name Change
• Changing clothing style
• Use of makeup or nail polish

Examples of Medical Transition:

• Use of hormones
• Various surgical procedures, such as top surgery, bottom surgery, or complementary surgeries (such as facial feminization surgery)
• Permanent hair removal
• Fertility preservation

Examples of Bureaucratic Transition:

• Sex clause change at the Ministry of Interior
• Name change at the Ministry of Interior
• Procuring documents (credit cards, driver’s license, passport, etc.) with the updated name and/or sex clause
• Changing personal details at local municipalities that we pay regularly
• Updating personal details with human resources/bookkeeping at the workplace