IJ TRANSGENDER - XVII HBGIDA - Abstract - The Invisible Man: The Law, Gender, and F-M Invisibility

Editors:
Friedemann Pfäfflin,
Ulm University, Germany

Walter O. Bockting,
University of Minnesota, USA

Eli Coleman,
University of Minnesota, USA

Richard Ekins,
University of Ulster at Coleraine, UK

Dave King,
University of Liverpool, UK

Managing Editor:
Noelle N Gray,
University of Minnesota, USA

Editorial Assistant:
Erin Pellett,
University of Minnesota, USA

Editorial Board

Authors

Contents
Historic Paper s

Info
Authors´Guidelines

Published by

ISSN 1434-4599

XVII Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association Symposium
31 October - 4 November 2001, Galveston, Texas, U.S.A.

The Invisible Man: The Law, Gender, and F-M Invisibility

WEISS, JILLIAN U.S.A.

The law is presumed by many to be neutral with regard to one’s identity, treating everyone the same regardless of wealth, class, race, religion, etc. It is commonly assumed that the law will treat female-to-male transsexual people ("ftm") the same as male-to-female transsexual people ("mtf"). However, it has long been known that ftm men are often "invisible" in our society. Ftm men are also "invisible" in some ways in the eyes of the law. There are important differences, often unacknowledged, in their treatment in law, including, among other things, names and gender changes, child custody, employment discrimination and treatment in incarceration. To the extent that legal and institutional officials understand anything about gender dysphoria, their knowledge is mostly limited to mtf transsexual people, and the law is not designed with their interests in mind. In this sense then, ftm transsexual people are "invisible." Nevertheless, some estimate that the number of ftm transsexual people is roughly equal to the number of mtf transsexual people. This dichotomy results in under-representation of the interests of ftm transsexual people in law. This under-representation arises from a complex interaction among (1) the heteronormative social milieu, which is simultaneously more permissive toward ftm sex-change desires, yet more dismissive to ftm claims to manhood, than of their mtf counterparts, (2) the state of the art of medical treatments for transsexuals, which differ greatly between ftm and mtf transsexuals, and (3) the legal theory of gender, which greatly lags behind our medical ability and ethical understanding. The presentation will focus on these social and legal forces which have led to invisibility, the effects of under-representation, and developments in social and legal theories which hold promise in bringing ftm interests to the foreground.