Empowering Communication: Best Language Practices for Interacting with Transgender People

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Introduction

Languages are something that has made conversation easy and impactful. It does have its own intricacies that need to be understood before we jump into a conversation with any person. We should also understand the need to know what terminologies or words can be demeaning to someone.

To engage in a conversation with a transgender person, one must need to know the basic terms and pronouns that are relevant today. 

We will shed some basic things as suggested by the best transgender clinic in India, which will help us to converse with these individuals effectively without hurting their sentiments.

What is Gender?

It is simply a state of being a man, woman, both, neither, or other gender altogether. It also includes the roles society assigns to each individual based on their sexual characteristics.

Misgendering

Pronouns is not just a grammar thing anymore, but the people involved with its usage have allowed us to denote a queer individual as they. It has become more evident with people undergoing SRS Surgery in Hyderabad.

It is important to ask a queer person about their pronouns if they haven’t made it clear. For example: Hi, how are you? What pronouns do you use?

Even if they use he or she, you need to accept them. Using the wrong pronouns will signify you don’t believe someone who knows themselves better.

Refraining from Deadnaming

It is quite often that a transgender person is identified by their given name. It is called deadnaming. This phenomenon is known to be an act of disrespect towards the transgender community as they have put a lot of emotion into the new identity they use.

Controlling the curiosity

It is valid to feel curious about certain things. While curiosity always gets the best of people, you need to keep in mind that nobody has the right to any particular information.

We have often come across many instances where certain people enquire about the state of their genitals or their medical routine from the trans people. That’s something that is supposed to be personal for someone, even if the person chooses to be trans.

Gender Inclusivity

For trans men, issues like menstruation and pregnancy are big issues that they experience. Separating them from women will be termed demeaning for them. That is why we need to be mindful of the words we use and stop comparing trans individuals with cisgender folks.

Dos and Don’ts

 

Be respectful while asking the pronouns Don’t assume about how someone wants to be referred to
You should refer to a person by their current identity Don’t ask a person about the genitals they have or want to decide the factor of identification
Correct yourself if you end up using the wrong pronouns Don’t explain to a person how their presence affects you
Refrain from using words that can be denoted as excluding Don’t deadname a person
Be open to the feedback the person gives about the language you use in front of them. Don’t refer to a person’s previous identity in a conversation.

 

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