Gender Identity Confusion.

 Question:

I am a girl that has come out as a bisexual individual, but I am still confused. Not about being bisexual though. In psychology class, I became aware of “Gender Identity Disorder.” I reflected this disorder upon myself, and I became self conscious. I have never been referred to as a masculine lady, but I’m definitely not a feminine one. I’ve often thought of myself as a bisexual male, because I feel like I just don’t perceive the world as a female. What should I do?

Letter submitted by:

Answer:

Trevor Staff

Congratulations on having the courage to come out as bisexual and to explore your sexuality and gender. It’s normal to feel self-conscious you’re when unsure about anything and especially when it’s something that’s part of your identity.

Like sexual orientation, many people believe that there are a range of gender identifies. For example, there are feminine men and women, masculine men and women, and everything in between. It might be useful to think of gender as three different but related parts: how you view yourself, how you express yourself to others, and your physical body. Also like other aspects of identity, your gender identity can evolve over your lifetime. A number of people in the LGBT community prefer to label themselves as queer because they believe that people don’t always fit neatly in labels. For more information on gender identity, check out “I Think I Might Be Transgender…Now What Do I Do?” (http://www.transyouth.com/I%20think%20I%20may%20transgender.pdf). It can be helpful to talk with someone you trust about your feelings, and there’s always TrevorSpace (www.trevorspace.org), the Trevor Project’s safe, online social networking site for youth to connect with others about being LGBTQ.

Just remember that there are a lot of great resources and people here to that support you as you explore who you are. If you ever want to talk with someone, you always can call The Trevor Lifeline at 866-4-U-TREVOR/.

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