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111-435: PFLAG (pronounced / ˈ p iː f l æ ɡ / PEE -flag ) is no longer an acronym, but the actual name of the organization. Prior to 2014, the acronym stood for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (later broadened to Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays ). Until removal of the hyphen in 1993 the name was officially styled as P-FLAG. In 2014 the membership of the organization voted to officially change

222-480: A college textbook , although many of Money's ideas have since been challenged. In the late 1980s, gender studies scholar Judith Butler began lecturing regularly on the topic of gender identity, and in 1990, they published Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity , introducing the concept of gender performativity . Butler argues that the traditional view of gender is limiting in that it adheres to

333-648: A gender binary to which most people adhere and which includes expectations of masculinity and femininity in all aspects of sex and gender : biological sex , gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. Some people do not identify with some, or all, of the aspects of gender associated with their biological sex; some of those people are transgender , non-binary, or genderqueer . Some societies have third gender categories. The 2012 book Introduction to Behavioral Science in Medicine says that with exceptions, "Gender identity develops surprisingly rapidly in

444-453: A guru . These communities have consisted over generations of those who are in abject poverty or who have been rejected by or fled their family of origin. Many work as sex workers for survival. The word "hijra" is a Hindustani word. It has traditionally been translated into English as "eunuch" or " hermaphrodite ", where "the irregularity of the male genitalia is central to the definition". However, in general hijras are born male, only

555-539: A "dislike and sometimes incapacity for needlework". During the mid-1900s, doctors pushed for corrective therapy on such women and children, which meant that gender behaviors that were not part of the norm would be punished and changed. The aim of this therapy was to push children back to their "correct" gender roles and thereby limit the number of children who became transgender. In 1905, Sigmund Freud presented his theory of psychosexual development in Three Essays on

666-481: A "growing chorus of voices contesting the pathologization of transgender lives and the dominance of medical-scientific narratives about trans experience." As such, in 2019, the World Health Organization removed gender dysphoria from the mental illness chapter and moved it instead to the sexual health chapter, changing the term "Gender Dysphoria" to "Gender Incongruence," thereby removing gender dysphoria as

777-627: A 'cure'." The "Yogyakarta Principles in Action" says "it is important to note that while 'sexual orientation' has been declassified as a mental illness in many countries, 'gender identity' or 'gender identity disorder' often remains in consideration." These Principles influenced the UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity . In 2015, gender identity was part of the United States Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges in which marriage

888-502: A 2005 academic paper questioned the classification of gender identity problems as a mental disorder , speculating that certain DSM revisions may have been made on a tit-for-tat basis when certain groups were pushing for the removal of homosexuality as a disorder. This remains controversial, although the vast majority of today's mental health professionals follow and agree with the current DSM classifications. In recent years, however, there has been

999-493: A White House ceremony at which Obama said: "These folks participate, they get involved, they have a point of view. They don't just wait for somebody else to do something, they go out there and do it, and they join and they become part of groups and they mobilize and they organize." The President described the founding of PFLAG and continued: "This was back in 1972. There was a lot of hate, a lot of vitriol toward gays and lesbians and anyone who supported them. But instead, she wrote to

1110-473: A child's attitude on gender. A mother's behavior was especially influential on a child's assumptions of the child's own gender. For example, mothers who practiced more traditional behaviors around their children resulted in the son displaying fewer stereotypes of male roles while the daughter displayed more stereotypes of female roles. No correlation was found between a father's behavior and his children's knowledge of stereotypes of their own gender. Fathers who held

1221-430: A child's life. The social learning theory posits that children furthermore develop their gender identity through observing and imitating gender-linked behaviors, and then being rewarded or punished for behaving that way, thus being shaped by the people surrounding them through trying to imitate and follow them. Large-scale twin studies suggest that the development of both transgender and cisgender gender identities

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1332-501: A diagnosis of gender identity disorder can be made, and the disorder is further subdivided into specific diagnoses based on age, for example gender identity disorder in children (for children who experience gender dysphoria). The concept of gender identity appeared in the third edition of the DSM, DSM-III (1980), in the form of two psychiatric diagnoses of gender dysphoria: gender identity disorder of childhood (GIDC), and transsexualism (for adolescents and adults). The 1987 revision of

1443-475: A durable biological element underlying gender identity. Individuals may make choices due to other factors in their lives, but there do not seem to be external forces that genuinely cause individuals to change gender identity. Some studies have investigated whether there is a link between biological variables and transgender or transsexual identity. Several studies have shown that sexually dimorphic brain structures in transsexuals are shifted away from what

1554-575: A gay activist, had been beaten while distributing flyers inside the fiftieth annual Inner Circle dinner, a political gathering in New York City. Reports stated that Morty was "kicked and stomped" while being led away by police. In response, she wrote a letter of protest to the New York Post that identified herself as the mother of a gay protester and complained of police inaction. She gave interviews to radio and television shows in several cities in

1665-407: A girl than Reimer's, and who remained a woman into adulthood. She reported that she had been somewhat tomboyish during childhood, enjoying stereotypically masculine childhood toys and interests, although her childhood friends were girls. While she was bisexual , having had relationships with both men and women, she found women more sexually attractive and they featured more in her fantasies. Her job at

1776-508: A girl. Reimer underwent sex reassignment surgery at seventeen months and grew up as a girl, dressing in girl clothes and surrounded by girl toys. In the early 1970s, Money reported that Reimer's sex reassignment to female was a success, influencing the academic consensus toward the nurture hypothesis, and for the following 30 years, it became standard medical practice to reassign intersex infants and male infants with micropenises to female. After Reimer tried to commit suicide at age 13, he

1887-481: A hand-lettered sign that read "Parents of Gays Unite in Support for Our Children". Prompted by their enthusiastic reception, they developed an idea for an organization of the parents of gays and lesbians that could be, she later said, "a bridge between the gay community and the heterosexual community". They were soon holding meetings for such parents, together with her husband. She called him "a very articulate person ...

1998-441: A major role in the behavior of different sexes. The researchers in the lab would inject the pregnant rat with testosterone, which would then find its way to the baby's bloodstream. The females that were born had genitalia that looked like male genitalia. The females in the litter also behaved like male rats and would even try to mount other female rats, proving that biology played a major role in animal behavior. One criticism of

2109-408: A manner that distances the sons from femininity, with Kane stating that "the parental boundary maintenance work evident for sons represents a crucial obstacle limiting boys' options, separating boys from girls, devaluing activities marked as feminine for both boys and girls, and thus bolstering gender inequality and heteronormativity." Many parents form gendered expectations for their child before it

2220-720: A much better speaker than I. He was right along with me on everything." The first formal meeting of Parents of Gays (later PFLAG) took place on March 11, 1973, at the Metropolitan-Duane United Methodist Church in Greenwich Village (MDUMC – later the Church of the Village). Approximately 20 people attended. Rev. Ed Egan of MDUMC (1971–1977) was one of the founding members of "Parents of Gays." Parents of Gays continued to meet monthly at MDUMC until at least 1984. In

2331-860: A new trans ally program through Straight for Equality. Each year since 2009, PFLAG National has held the Straight for Equality Awards Gala, the only awards gala that exclusively celebrates the contributions of straight allies to the movement for LGBT equality. Past winners include civil rights pioneers like Maya Angelou and Johnnetta B. Cole ; entertainer Liza Minnelli ; actors Rosie Perez , Patrick Stewart , Martha Plimpton , and Sigourney Weaver ; Broadway stars Audra McDonald and Will Swenson ; sports icons Brendon Ayanbadejo , Scott Fujita , Chris Kluwe , and Hudson Taylor ; authors Charlaine Harris and John Irving ; faith leaders like Jay Bakker ; and organizations including IBM , KPMG , MetLife , Sodexo , and Whirlpool . Cultivating Respect: Safe Schools For All

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2442-626: A pathological mental illness. The Yogyakarta Principles , a document on the application of international human rights law , provide in the preamble a definition of gender identity as each person's deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth, including the person's sense of the body (which may involve, if freely chosen, modification of bodily appearance or function by medical, surgical or other means) and other experience of gender, including dress, speech and mannerism. Principle 3 states that "Each person's self-defined [...] gender identity

2553-471: A period of significant growth, PFLAG employed an Executive Director, expanded its staff, and moved to Washington, DC. Also in 1990, PFLAG President Paulette Goodman sent a letter to Barbara Bush asking for Mrs. Bush's support. The first lady's personal reply stated, "I firmly believe that we cannot tolerate discrimination against any individuals or groups in our country. Such treatment always brings with it pain and perpetuates intolerance." Inadvertently given to

2664-937: A person's gender identity is inconsistent with their biological sex characteristics (genitals and secondary sex characteristics ), resulting in individuals dressing and/or behaving in a way which is perceived by others as outside cultural gender norms. These gender expressions may be described as gender variant , transgender, or genderqueer (or non-binary ) (there is an emerging vocabulary for those who defy traditional gender identity), and people who have such expressions may experience gender dysphoria (traditionally called gender identity disorder or GID). Transgender individuals are often greatly affected by language and gender pronouns before, during, and after their transition . In recent decades it has become possible to provide sex reassignment surgery . Some people who experience gender dysphoria seek such medical intervention to have their physiological sex match their gender identity; others retain

2775-485: A political gathering in New York City. In response, she wrote a letter of protest to the New York Post that identified herself as the mother of a gay protester and complained of police inaction. She gave interviews to radio and television shows in several cities in the weeks that followed, sometimes accompanied by her husband or son. On June 25, she participated with her son in the New York Pride March , carrying

2886-467: A prayer for Mrs. Manford. For she loved prophetically." In June 1991, Manford was grand marshal of New York City's Gay Pride March . In 1993, she was the grand marshal of the first pride parade in Queens , New York. In February 2013, it was announced that President Barack Obama was to honor Manford posthumously with the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal , the second highest civilian award given by

2997-432: A result of the new understanding of gender, academic usage of the term sex began to be more restricted to biological aspects, and associated with the choices male and female , while the term gender was associated initially with man or boy , girl or woman . While academic usage of terms man and woman began to diverge at the same time, and become more restricted to concepts related to gender, this distinction

3108-609: A televised speech before the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner. Jeanne Manford died at home in Daly City, California on January 8, 2013, aged 92. A collection of Manford's papers is archived at the New York Public Library . James Martin , Catholic Jesuit priest and editor of America , paid tribute to her: "No matter what you think about the hot-button issue of same-sex marriage, no matter what religion you are, no matter what political party you favor, I hope that you say

3219-706: A third gender. They are anatomically male but dress and behave in a manner considered typically feminine. According to Tamasailau Sua'ali'i ( see references ), fa'afafine in Samoa at least are often physiologically unable to reproduce. Fa'afafine are accepted as a natural gender, and neither looked down upon nor discriminated against. Fa'afafine also reinforce their femininity with the fact that they are only attracted to and receive sexual attention from straight masculine men. They have been and generally still are initially identified in terms of labour preferences, as they perform typically feminine household tasks. The Samoan Prime Minister

3330-552: A trend towards less well-defined gender roles and identities, as studies of the parental association ("coding") of toys as masculine, feminine, or neutral indicate that parents increasingly code kitchens and in some cases dolls as neutral rather than exclusively feminine. However, Emily Kane found that many parents still showed negative responses to items, activities, or attributes that were considered feminine, such as domestic skills, nurturance, and empathy. Research has indicated that many parents attempt to define gender for their sons in

3441-585: Is PFLAG National's umbrella program to support the efforts of educators, parents, and other trusted adults to make schools safe and inclusive. Claim Your Rights , created in partnership with GLSEN , is a program to help parents, teachers, administrators and other trusted adults file complaints with the Office for Civil Rights at the US Department of Education on behalf of youth who have experienced school-based bullying, harassment, or discrimination. PFLAG Connects

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3552-465: Is a national outreach and education project created by PFLAG National to empower new straight allies and trans allies who, unlike a more traditional PFLAG member, do not necessarily have a family or friend connection to the LGBTQ community. The Straight for Equality project was launched in 2007. This nationwide initiative expanded the organization's efforts to include more people in the equality movement. Since

3663-422: Is associated with their birth sex and towards what is associated with their preferred sex. The volume of the central subdivision of the bed nucleus of a stria terminalis or BSTc (a constituent of the basal ganglia of the brain which is affected by prenatal androgens ) of transsexual women has been suggested to be similar to women's and unlike men's, but the relationship between BSTc volume and gender identity

3774-431: Is due to genetic factors, with a small potential influence of unique environmental factors. John Money was instrumental in the early research of gender identity, though he used the term gender role . He disagreed with the previous school of thought that gender was determined solely by biology. He argued that infants are born a blank slate and a parent could be able to decide their babies' gender. In Money's opinion, if

3885-435: Is even born, after determining the child's sex through technology such as ultrasound . The child thus is born to a gender-specific name, games, and even ambitions. Once the child's sex is determined, most children are raised to in accordance with it, fitting a male or female gender role defined partly by the parents. When considering the parents' social class, lower-class families typically hold traditional gender roles, where

3996-514: Is exclusive to humans. In a position statement, the Endocrine Society stated: The medical consensus in the late 20th century was that transgender and gender incongruent individuals suffered a mental health disorder termed "gender identity disorder." Gender identity was considered malleable and subject to external influences. Today, however, this attitude is no longer considered valid. Considerable scientific evidence has emerged demonstrating

4107-506: Is extremely difficult to change gender identity. Martin and Ruble conceptualize this process of development as three stages: (1) as toddlers and pre-schoolers, children learn about defined characteristics, which are socialized aspects of gender; (2) around the ages of five to seven years, identity is consolidated and becomes rigid; (3) after this "peak of rigidity", fluidity returns and socially defined gender roles relax somewhat. Barbara Newmann breaks it down into four parts: (1) understanding

4218-562: Is integral to their personality and is one of the most basic aspects of self-determination, dignity and freedom. No one shall be forced to undergo medical procedures, including sex reassignment surgery, sterilisation or hormonal therapy, as a requirement for legal recognition of their gender identity." Principle 18 states that "Notwithstanding any classifications to the contrary, a person's sexual orientation and gender identity are not, in and of themselves, medical conditions and are not to be treated, cured or suppressed." Relating to this principle,

4329-417: Is neither determined entirely by childhood rearing nor entirely by biological factors. Several prenatal biological factors, including genes and hormones, may affect gender identity. It has been suggested that gender identity is controlled by prenatal sex steroids , but this is hard to test because there is no way to study gender identity in animals. According to biologist Michael J. Ryan , gender identity

4440-448: Is not always the case. While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role , such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity. The term gender identity was coined by psychiatry professor Robert J. Stoller in 1964 and popularized by psychologist John Money . In most societies, there is a basic division between gender attributes associated with males and females,

4551-594: Is patron of the Samoa Fa'afafine Association . Translated literally, fa'afafine means "in the manner of a woman." Hijras are officially recognized as third gender in the Indian subcontinent, being considered neither completely male nor female. Hijras have a recorded history in the Indian subcontinent since antiquity, as suggested by the Kama Sutra . Many hijras live in well-defined and organised all-hijra communities, led by

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4662-481: Is still unclear. Similar brain structure differences have been noted between gay and heterosexual men, and between lesbian and heterosexual women. Transsexuality has a genetic component. Research suggests that the same hormones that promote the differentiation of sex organs in utero also elicit puberty and influence the development of gender identity. Different amounts of these male or female sex hormones can result in behavior and external genitalia that do not match

4773-467: Is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history , and the wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots . Season 1, episode 6 of the podcast Making Gay History is about Manford and her son Morty, and season 3, episode 11 of that podcast is solely about Morty. She has spoken concerning her son and the foundation of PFLAG on

4884-450: Is thus distinct from gender identity in that it is the external expression of gender but may not necessarily portray a person's gender identity and may vary "according to racial/ethnic background, socio-economic status and place of residence." In late-19th-century medical literature, women who chose not to conform to their expected gender roles were called "inverts", and they were portrayed as having an interest in knowledge and learning, and

4995-402: Is widely agreed that core gender identity is firmly formed by age 3. At this point, children can make firm statements about their gender and tend to choose activities and toys which are considered appropriate for their gender (such as dolls and painting for girls, and tools and rough-housing for boys), although they do not yet fully understand the implications of gender. After age three, it

5106-523: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM) is the formal diagnosis of people who experience significant dysphoria (discontent) with the sex they were assigned at birth and/or the gender roles associated with that sex: "In gender identity disorder, there is discordance between the natal sex of one's external genitalia and the brain coding of one's gender as masculine or feminine." The DSM (302.85) has five criteria that must be met before

5217-673: The UCLA Medical Center for the study of intersex and transsexual individuals. Psychoanalyst Robert Stoller generalized many of the findings of the project in his book Sex and Gender: On the Development of Masculinity and Femininity (1968). He is also credited with introducing the term gender identity to the International Psychoanalytic Congress in Stockholm, Sweden , in 1963. Behavioral psychologist John Money

5328-416: The podcast All Gay Long . Gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender . Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the individual's gender identity. Gender expression typically reflects a person's gender identity, but this

5439-425: The § 1950s and 1960s , the term gender was used exclusively as a grammatical category . The terms male and man , or female and woman , were used more or less interchangeably when referring to people of one sex or the other. As the term gender took on new meaning following the work of John Money , Robert Stoller , and others, a distinction began to be drawn between the terms sex and gender . As

5550-499: The "Jurisprudential Annotations to the Yogyakarta Principles" observed that "Gender identity differing from that assigned at birth, or socially rejected gender expression , have been treated as a form of mental illness . The pathologization of difference has led to gender-transgressive children and adolescents being confined in psychiatric institutions, and subjected to aversion techniques – including electroshock therapy – as

5661-442: The 1960s. To this day they are usually used in that sense, though a few scholars additionally use the term to refer to the sexual orientation and sexual identity categories gay , lesbian and bisexual . Gender expression is distinct from gender identity in that gender expression is how one chooses to outwardly express their gender through one's "name, pronouns, clothing, hair style, behavior, voice or body features." It

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5772-584: The 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights , representatives from these groups met for the first time in Washington, DC. By 1980, PFLAG, then known as Parents FLAG, began to distribute information to educational institutions and communities of faith nationwide, establishing itself as a source of information for the general public. When Adele Starr , who organized the Los Angeles P-FLAG chapter, called advice columnist Dear Abby to discuss

5883-825: The 2007 launch, Straight for Equality in the Workplace has been PFLAG's most successful initiative, with an array of workshops available to corporations in the US. In 2009, PFLAG launched Straight for Equality in Healthcare to educate and engage healthcare providers in all disciplines to be more culturally inclusive in their work. In 2012, PFLAG launched Straight for Equality in Faith Communities, which features faith-focused resources and tools for people of all denominations to start having critical conversations in their faith communities to create more welcoming institutions. And in 2014, PFLAG launched

5994-590: The Affordable Care Act and extends to "regulations pertaining to access to health insurance." This rule "is one of the many rules and regulations put forward by the Trump administration that defines "sex discrimination" as only applying when someone faces discrimination for being male or female, and does not protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity." Gender dysphoria (previously called "gender identity disorder" or GID in

6105-618: The Associated Press, her comments caused a political maelstrom and were perhaps the first gay-positive comments to come from the White House. In time the scope of the organization expanded to include bisexuals, and ultimately, transgender people, but the name remained P-FLAG. In particular, in 1998, gender identity , including transgender people, was added to the mission of PFLAG after a vote at their annual meeting in San Francisco. PFLAG

6216-766: The Flushing neighborhood of Queens, New York was named "Jeanne, Jules, Morty Manford PFLAG Way". On May 20, 2017, the US Post Office-Jackson Heights Station was dedicated to Jeanne and Jules Manford. In June 2019, Manford was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City ’s Stonewall Inn . The SNM

6327-687: The LGBT equality movement to create a support group for LGBT people, their parents, family, and friends. The first meeting of that group - now known as PFLAG - took place on this site in March 1973. Placed by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation in partnership with PFLAG members everywhere, in honor of the legacy of love that began here . In 2017, PFLAG celebrated the 45th anniversary of founder Jeanne Manford's famous march with her son, gay-rights activist Morty Manford. Straight for Equality

6438-568: The Reimer case is that Reimer lost his penis at the age of eight months and underwent sex reassignment surgery at seventeen months, which possibly meant that Reimer had already been influenced by his socialization as a boy. Bradley et al. (1998) report the contrasting case of a 26-year-old woman with XY chromosomes whose penis was lost and who underwent sex reassignment surgery between two and seven months of age (substantially earlier than Reimer), whose parents were also more committed to raising their child as

6549-564: The Theory of Sexuality , giving evidence that in the pregenital phase children do not distinguish between sexes, but assume both parents have the same genitalia and reproductive powers. On this basis, he argued that bisexuality was the original sexual orientation and that heterosexuality was resultant of repression during the phallic stage , at which point gender identity became ascertainable. According to Freud, during this stage, children developed an Oedipus complex where they had sexual fantasies for

6660-527: The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights , "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". An intersex variation may complicate initial sex assignment and that assignment may not be consistent with the child's future gender identity. Reinforcing sex assignments through surgical and hormonal means may violate the individual's rights . A 2005 study on

6771-733: The United States since PFLAG's 1973 establishment, although the majority of such organizations are unaffiliated with each other or with the PFLAG National in the U.S. (the founding organization). Most recently, a PFLAG organization in People's Republic of China, PFLAG China , was established in June 2008 by Wu Youjian in Guangzhou after she accepted her son's homosexuality. Jeanne Manford Jeanne Sobelson Manford (December 4, 1920 – January 8, 2013)

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6882-404: The United States, for her work in co-founding PFLAG and ongoing years of LGBT advocacy. She was one of 18 Americans selected to receive the award from more than 6000 nominations. It recognizes "exemplary deeds of service for their country and their fellow citizens," from more than 6000 nominations. On February 15, 2013, Manford's daughter, Suzanne Manford Swan, accepted the award on her behalf at

6993-624: The United States, the Affordable Care Act provided that health insurance exchanges would have the ability to collect demographic information on gender identity and sexual identity through optional questions, to help policymakers better recognize the needs of the LGBTQ community. In 2020, however, the Trump administration finalized a rule that "would remove nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people when it comes to health care and health insurance" in

7104-443: The belief of equality between the sexes had children, especially sons, who displayed fewer preconceptions of their opposite gender. Estimates of the number of people who are intersex range from 0.018% to 1.7%, depending on which conditions are counted as intersex. An intersex person is one possessing any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes , gonads , sex hormones , or genitals that, according to

7215-565: The concept of gender, (2) learning gender role standards and stereotypes, (3) identifying with parents, and (4) forming gender preference. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) comprehensive sexuality education should raise awareness of topics such as gender and gender identity. Although the formation of gender identity is not completely understood, many factors have been suggested as influencing its development. In particular,

7326-478: The dominant societal constraints that label gender as binary. In scrutinizing gender, Butler introduces a nuanced perception in which they unite the concepts of performativity and gender. Transgender people sometimes wish to undergo physical surgery to refashion their primary sexual characteristics , secondary characteristics, or both, because they feel they will be more comfortable with different genitalia. This may involve removal of penis, testicles or breasts, or

7437-703: The early 1990s, PFLAG chapters in Massachusetts helped pass the first Safe Schools legislation in the country. By the mid-1990s a PFLAG family was responsible for the Department of Education's ruling that Title IX protects gay and lesbian students from harassment based on sexual orientation. When Pat Robertson threatened to sue any station that carried Project Open Mind advertisements, the resulting media coverage drew national attention to PFLAG's message linking hate speech with hate crimes and LGBT teen suicide. PFLAG National campaigned to repeal " don't ask, don't tell " and in

7548-514: The early childhood years, and in the majority of instances appears to become at least partially irreversible by the age of 3 or 4". The Endocrine Society has stated "Considerable scientific evidence has emerged demonstrating a durable biological element underlying gender identity. Individuals may make choices due to other factors in their lives, but there do not seem to be external forces that genuinely cause individuals to change gender identity." Social constructivists argue that gender identity, or

7659-434: The effect of social factors on gender identity formation. In the 1960s and 1970s, factors such as the absence of a father, a mother's wish for a daughter, or parental reinforcement patterns were suggested as influences; more recent theories suggesting that parental psychopathology might partly influence gender identity formation have received only minimal empirical evidence, with a 2004 article noting that "solid evidence for

7770-572: The extent to which it is determined by nurture (social environmental factors) versus biological factors (which may include non-social environmental factors) is an ongoing debate in psychology, known as " nature versus nurture ". There is increasing evidence that the brain is affected by the organizational role of hormones in utero, circulating sex hormones and the expression of certain genes. Social factors which may influence gender identity include ideas regarding gender roles conveyed by family, authority figures, mass media, and other influential people in

7881-439: The fact that the first meeting of what came to be PFLAG was held at the church in 1973. The plaque reads, In 1972, Queens schoolteacher Jeanne Manford walked alongside her gay son, activist Morty Manford, at the 1972 Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade, carrying a sign that read 'Parents of Gays: Unite in Support of Our Children.' The overwhelming response to that simple act led Jeanne, her husband Jules, and early pioneers of

7992-642: The faculty of PS 32 in Queens in 1964. She lived in New York until 1996 when she moved to Minnesota to care for her great-grandchild while her granddaughter attended medical school. She then went on to live with her daughter in California. I have a homosexual son and I love him. In April 1972, Manford and her husband Jules were at home in Flushing, Queens , when they learned from a hospital's telephone call that her son Morty,

8103-471: The fashioning of a penis, vagina or breasts. In the past, sex assignment surgery has been performed on infants who are born with ambiguous genitalia. However, current medical opinion is strongly against this procedure on infants, and recommends that the procedure be only conducted when medically necessary. Today, gender-affirming surgery is performed on people who choose to transition so that their external sexual organs will match their gender identity. In

8214-490: The father works and the mother, who may only work out of financial necessity, still takes care of the household. However, middle-class "professional" couples typically negotiate the division of labor and hold an egalitarian ideology. These different views on gender can shape the child's understanding of gender as well as the child's development of gender. A study conducted by Hillary Halpern demonstrated that parental gender behaviors, rather than beliefs, are better predictors of

8325-637: The fight for marriage equality in the United States—including filing an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court. It continues working to end the practice of conversion therapy , to combat laws that permit discrimination under the guise of religious freedom such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act , and more. Similarly purposed (and sometimes similarly named) organizations have been established outside

8436-519: The gender identity outcomes of female-raised 46,XY persons with penile agenesis , cloacal exstrophy of the bladder, or penile ablation , found that 78% of the study subjects were living as female, as opposed to 22% who decided to initiate a sex change to male in line with their genetic sex. The study concludes: "The findings clearly indicate an increased risk of later patient-initiated gender re-assignment to male after female assignment in infancy or early childhood, but are nevertheless incompatible with

8547-399: The genitalia they were born with (see transsexual for some of the possible reasons) but adopt a gender role that is consistent with their gender identity. Within recent years modern society has made strides towards the acknowledgement and destigmatization of those who identify as non-binary or a gender variant, with sex reassignment surgery expected to grow by an annual rate of about 11% from

8658-493: The idea of gender identity as being biologically rooted, as they do not identify with their anatomical sex despite being raised and their behaviour reinforced according to their anatomical sex. One study by Reiner et al. looked at fourteen genetic males who had suffered cloacal exstrophy and were thus raised as girls. Six of them changed their gender identity to male, five remained female and three had ambiguous gender identities (though two of them had declared they were male). All

8769-531: The importance of postnatal social factors is lacking." A 2008 study found that the parents of gender-dysphoric children showed no signs of psychopathological issues aside from mild depression in the mothers. It has also been suggested that the attitudes of the child's parents may affect the child's gender identity, although evidence is minimal. Parents who do not support gender nonconformity are more likely to have children with firmer and stricter views on gender identity and gender roles. Recent literature suggests

8880-431: The local newspaper and took to the streets with a simple message: No matter who her son was — no matter who he loved — she loved him, and wouldn't put up with this kind of nonsense." He said "that simple act" provided the impetus for a national organization "that has given so much support to parents and families and friends, and helped to change this country". On April 26, 2014, 171st Street between 33rd and 35th Avenues in

8991-446: The males raised as male switched their gender identity. Those still living as females still showed marked masculinisation of gender role behaviour and those old enough reported sexual attraction to women. The study's authors caution drawing any strong conclusions from it due to numerous methodological caveats which were a severe problem in studies of this nature. Rebelo et al. argue that the evidence in totality suggests that gender identity

9102-453: The manual, DSM-III-R , added a third diagnosis: gender identity disorder of adolescence and adulthood, nontranssexual type. This latter diagnosis was removed in the subsequent revision, DSM-IV (1994), which also collapsed GIDC and transsexualism into a new diagnosis of gender identity disorder. In 2013, the DSM-5 renamed the diagnosis gender dysphoria and revised its definition. The authors of

9213-451: The name to PFLAG to reflect the decades of fully inclusive work it had been doing in the LGBTQ+ community. In April 1972, Jeanne Manford , an elementary school teacher, and her husband were at home in Flushing, Queens , when they learned from a hospital's telephone call that her son Morty, a gay activist, had been beaten while distributing flyers inside the fiftieth annual Inner Circle dinner,

9324-412: The next few years, through word of mouth and community need, similar groups sprang up around the country, offering "safe havens" and mutual support for parents with gay and lesbian children. In 1976, PFLAG LA had their first meeting of 30 parents. By 1977, the group had integrated with other LGBT activist groups to oppose Anita Bryant's anti-gay crusade and defeat the statewide Briggs Initiative . Following

9435-418: The norm of their sex assigned at birth, and in acting and looking like their identified gender. Social scientists tend to assume that gender identities arise from social factors. In 1955, John Money proposed that gender identity was malleable and determined by whether a child was raised as male or female in early childhood. Money's hypothesis has since been discredited, but scholars have continued to study

9546-520: The notion of a full determination of core gender identity by prenatal androgens." A 2012 clinical review paper found that between 8.5% and 20% of people with intersex variations experienced gender dysphoria . Sociological research in Australia, a country with a third 'X' sex classification, shows that 19% of people born with atypical sex characteristics selected an "X" or "other" option, while 52% are women, 23% men, and 6% unsure. At birth, 52% of persons in

9657-490: The origin of psychic life, and that Freud did not give adequate description to the female child (Freud rejected this suggestion). During the 1950s and '60s, psychologists began studying gender development in young children, partially in an effort to understand the origins of homosexuality (which was viewed as a mental disorder at the time). In 1958, the Gender Identity Research Project was established at

9768-487: The parent ascribed the opposite gender and hatred for the parent ascribed the same gender, and this hatred transformed into (unconscious) transference and (conscious) identification with the hated parent who both exemplified a model to appease sexual impulses and threatened to castrate the child's power to appease sexual impulses. In 1913, Carl Jung proposed the Electra complex as he both believed that bisexuality did not lie at

9879-484: The parent confidently raised their child as the opposite sex from earlier than age two, the child would believe that they were born that sex and act accordingly. Money believed that nurture could override nature. A well-known example in the nature-versus-nurture debate is the case of David Reimer , born in 1965, otherwise known as "John/Joan". As a baby, Reimer went through a faulty circumcision, losing his male genitalia. John Money advised Reimer's parents to raise him as

9990-439: The parents of gays and lesbians that could be, she later said, "a bridge between the gay community and the heterosexual community". They were soon holding meetings for such parents, with her husband participating as well. She called him "a very articulate person ... a much better speaker than I. He was right along with me on everything." The first meeting of the group—then called Parents of Gays—was attended by about 20 people, and

10101-508: The project's ads, which showed clips of anti-LGBT quotes from several people, including Robertson, Jerry Falwell , and United States Senator Jesse Helms . The ads can currently be seen on the Commercial Closet webpage. PFLAG National and the PFLAG chapter network engages in advocacy at the local, state and federal level and has issued public policy statements on a wide variety of issues. In

10212-576: The purpose of P-FLAG, Dear Abby mentioned PFLAG in one of her columns. Los Angeles P-FLAG then received more than 7,500 letters requesting information. Every letter was answered by a member of the chapter. In 1981, members decided to launch a national organization. The first PFLAG office was established in Los Angeles under founding president Adele Starr. In 1982, the Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc., then representing some 20 groups,

10323-493: The street to declare support for her mentally ill, outlaw son - that was no small act ... But it was what a mother's love does." Manford recalled in a 1996 interview the cheers she received in the parade, and that the "young people were hugging me, kissing me, screaming, asking if I would talk to their parents ... [as] few of them were out to their parents for fear of rejection." Prompted by this enthusiastic reception, Manford and her husband developed an idea for an organization of

10434-432: The study were assigned female, and 41% were assigned male. A study by Reiner & Gearhart provides some insight into what can happen when genetically male children with cloacal exstrophy are sexually assigned female and raised as girls, according to an 'optimal gender policy' developed by John Money : in a sample of 14 children, follow-up between the ages of 5 and 12 showed that 8 of them identified as boys, and all of

10545-810: The subjects had at least moderately male-typical attitudes and interests, providing support for the argument that genetic variables affect gender identity and behavior independent of socialization. Gender identity can lead to societal security issues among individuals that do not fit on a binary scale. As of 2022, only 23 states plus Washington D.C. currently have state laws that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Moreover, only "53% of [the] LGBTQ population live in states prohibiting housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity", while "17% of [the] LGBTQ population lives in states explicitly interpreting existing prohibition on sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity". In some cases,

10656-505: The subjects had moderate to marked interests and attitudes consistent with that of biological males. Another study, using data from a variety of cases from the 1970s to the early 2000s (including Reiner et al.), looked at males raised as females due to a variety of developmental disorders ( penile agenesis , cloacal exstrophy or penile ablation). It found that 78% of those males raised as females were living as females. A minority of those raised as female later switched to male. However, none of

10767-437: The time of the study was a blue-collar occupation that was practiced almost exclusively by men. Griet Vandermassen argues that since these are the only two cases being documented in scientific literature, this makes it difficult to draw any firm conclusions from them about the origins of gender identity, particularly given the two cases reached different conclusions. However, Vandermassen also argued that transgender people support

10878-709: The way it is expressed , are socially constructed , determined by cultural and social influences. Constructivism of this type is not necessarily incompatible with the existence of an innate gender identity, since it may be the expression of that gender that varies by culture. There are several theories about how and when gender identity forms, and studying the subject is difficult because children's immature language acquisition requires researchers to make assumptions from indirect evidence. John Money suggested children might have awareness of and attach some significance to gender as early as 18 months to 2 years; Lawrence Kohlberg argued that gender identity does not form until age 3. It

10989-412: The weeks that followed, always accompanied by her husband or son. On June 25, she participated with her son in the New York Pride March , carrying a hand-lettered sign that read "Parents of Gays Unite in Support for Our Children". At the time, homosexuality was still considered a mental illness and sodomy a crime, and California Senator Mark Leno has subsequently reflected that "[f]or her to step into

11100-527: The years 2022 to 2030. Although sex reassignment surgery is expected to become more popular, the surgery is still not destigmatized in a lot of countries, including the United States. Such stigmatization has been shown to have adverse health effects on LGBTQ+ individuals, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The terms gender identity and core gender identity were first used with their current meaning—one's personal experience of one's own gender —sometime in

11211-406: Was also instrumental in the development of early theories of gender identity. His work at Johns Hopkins Medical School 's Gender Identity Clinic (established in 1965) popularized an interactionist theory of gender identity, suggesting that, up to a certain age, gender identity is relatively fluid and subject to constant negotiation. His book Man and Woman, Boy and Girl (1972) became widely used as

11322-637: Was an American schoolteacher and activist. She co-founded the support group organization, PFLAG , for which she was awarded the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal . Born Jean Sobelson in Flushing, Queens in 1920, the third of five daughters of Sadie, a housewife, and Charles Sobelson, a salesman, she studied for a short time in Alabama before stopping her studies to return home after her father's death. She married Jules Manford, had three children (Charles, Morty and Suzanne) and returned to college in her 30s, earning her bachelor's degree from Queens College and joining

11433-550: Was created in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic . Hundreds of PFLAG's local chapters moved their in-person support meetings to virtual meetings. PFLAG National also launched PFLAG Connects: Communities which are national support group meetings for a variety of BIPOC communities. In the mid-1990s, "Project Open Mind" caused some controversy from Pat Robertson . He threatened to sue PFLAG and any television station that aired

11544-582: Was held at the Metropolitan-Duane Methodist Church, now the Church of the Village. Morty's attacker went on to testify for gay rights on behalf of teamsters' union president Barry Feinstein more than a decade later, and formed a cordial relationship with Morty, regularly joining him for coffee and pastry. In June 1991, Manford was grand marshal of New York City's Gay Pride March. In 1993, she

11655-432: Was incorporated in California and granted nonprofit, tax-exempt status. In 1987, PFLAG relocated to Denver, under President Elinor Lewallen. Also in the 1980s, PFLAG worked to end the US military's efforts to discharge lesbians—more than a decade before military issues came to the forefront of the LGBT movement. And by the late 1980s, PFLAG began to have success in organizing chapters in rural communities. In 1990, following

11766-562: Was no longer legally restricted to be only between man and woman. No objective measurement or imaging of the human body exists for gender identity, as it is part of one's subjective experience. Numerous clinical measurements for assessing gender identity exist, including questionnaire-based, interview-based and task-based assessments. These have varying effect sizes among a number of specific sub-populations. Gender identity measures have been applied in clinical assessment studies of people with gender dysphoria or intersex conditions. Before

11877-592: Was not universal (and still is not) even in academic usage, and even less so in more informal writing or in speech, which often conflate the two. Some people, and some societies, do not construct gender as a binary in which everyone is either a boy or a girl, or a man or a woman. Those who exist outside the binary fall under the umbrella terms non-binary or genderqueer . Some cultures have specific gender roles that are distinct from "man" and "woman." These are often referred to as third genders . In Samoan culture , or Faʻa Samoa , fa'afafine are considered to be

11988-701: Was replaced by the Transgender and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) Advisory Council. In 2004, PFLAG/Chicago was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame as a Friend of the Community. In 2013, Jeanne Manford was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by then President Barack Obama . In 2013, a bronze plaque was installed at The Church of the Village in Greenwich Village , memorializing

12099-436: Was the first national LGBT organization to officially adopt a transgender-inclusive policy, vowing not only to include transgender people in all of its work, but also never to support any policies or laws that are not trans-inclusive. In 2002, PFLAG's Transgender Network, also known as TNET, became PFLAG's first official "Special Affiliate", recognized with the same privileges and responsibilities as regular chapters. In 2013, TNET

12210-603: Was the grand marshal of the first pride parade in Queens and organized a local chapter of PFLAG in Astoria. After teaching at Flushing 's PS 32 for 26 years, Manford retired in 1990 at 70 years of age. Her son Morty, who became an assistant New York State attorney general, died of AIDS at age 41 in 1992, while her son Charles had died in 1966 and her husband Jules had died in 1982. She relocated to Rochester, Minnesota , in 1996 to be near her family. In October 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama recounted Manford's founding of PFLAG in

12321-506: Was told that he had been born with male genitalia. Reimer stopped seeing Money, and underwent surgery to remove his breasts and reconstruct his genitals. In 1997, sexologist Milton Diamond published a follow-up, revealing that Reimer had rejected his female reassignment, and arguing against the blank slate hypothesis and infant sex reassignment in general. Diamond was a longtime opponent of Money's theories. Diamond had contributed to research involving pregnant rats that showed hormones played

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