Transsexual is now "offensive" within the trans community...?

As far as I’m aware transsexual appears to be offensive to those who don’t actually have dysphoria and are hiding behind those who do. I don’t actually give a shit about offending those people

There's a whole group of people who claim and use transsexual to distinguish themselves from 'trans gender' because they have dysphoria and seek treatment etc. They are often insulted as 'truscum'. It is quite a friction within that world.

Chrisinthemorning
Epic film and the stage shows are even better

Is it because of Rocky Horror?
Transexual always reminds me of the sweet transvestite song

I would rather be addressed as a transexual or that gay bloke in a dress than transgender, I feel that TG has been hijacked by people who claim they are trans but take next to no steps to transition or be passable, the same people who call me truscum and scream abuse or threaten women and disrupt meetings such as WPUK, the same people who demand access to womens spaces despite having a working penis while ignoring that some women have been grievously traumatised by men.

Yes! Transexual is exactly how DHs mate describes himself. Well, "cross dressing tranny" is his usual declaration.

He is a man, wants to be a man, but he does love a good frock... and the look on people's faces when they first see him. He is unapologetic about it, it is who he is. And who he has been since his late teens.

Now we are all in our 50s he seems to be controversial again, as he is not trans anything really! He just has a bit of a thing for dresses and can't see why he should redefine himself to please some bloke who can't bring himself to acknowledge he has the same fetish!

Yes oldcrone. I don't think anyone can change sex. And i guess 'transsexual' might be more positive than 'sex dysphoric'. Transgender i guess sounds a lot more cool than 'recreational hormone user'. I don't want to have kneejerk reactions to anything in this area though.

There is a move towards reclaiming the term ‘transsexual’ by those who feel it best describes them.

These are often people who want nothing to do with the current TRA ideology.

Transgender is a marketing term, so that CDs could access legal rights intended for TSs.

I say this as someone who does not use porn, trans or otherwise.

Trans is nothing to do with sexuality
IMO it is to disguise how few have anything but superficial operations

Transsexual does tend to suggest to me that the person involved thinks they can change sex.

Don't transgender people declare that they have changed sex? Isn't that what gets transwomen into women's prisons?

It's a weird subversion of language, isn't it? Transsexual implies changing sex, and in the past, trans people did do what they could to change their sex characteristics, and try to blend in with the opposite sex. Transgender implies changing gender, which is more to do with behaviour or presentation (clothes, etc).

Transsexuals who have had surgery are now also sometimes referred to as truscum by those who are transgender in the performative sense. So the ones who have gone to greater lengths to change their bodies due to suffering from sex dysphoria are looked down on by the rest of the transgender community for whom it's all about performance and presentation.

No i can go along with the issue in this case, and actually think transsexual is an unhelpful term anyway.

It would be like me putting 'a few extra pounds' on a dating profile and getting a message asking if i had 'chubby folds beause i'm into that'. Yuk. I think it's dehumanising ratger than transphobic.

Transsexual does tend to suggest to me that the person involved thinks they can change sex. Not sure that's helpful.

The main problem with the term "transsexual" from the perspective of activists is that it has meaning. They know there is a weakness in average people becoming aware that there's a difference between "transsexuals" and the majority of transgender people.

The most effective tactic activists have deployed by far is to strip meaning from many of the key terms in this issue: woman, sex, gender, trans, intersex, feminism, and on it goes. Drain everything of meaning and then, hey presto!, women have a difficult time maintaining their boundaries.

The whole trans movement prefers to use transgender or trans as it makes it sound more family friendly, ie its ok to be a trans kid. It does sound weird to talk about a young prepubescent child being transexual. (Not so warm & cosy.) That is why they try & move away from TS.

But I think we all know this already!

It is considered very outdated and inaccurate, since it has nothing to do with sexuality. It is used more in a medical sense, the same way someone would describe themselves as fat/curvy/chunky, rather than obese.

Trans people don't have an issue with people identifying as transsexuals, but the term should not be broadly used for people you don't know. The same way some people in the LGBT community identify as queer, whilst some see that as a slur.