What is Gender Dysphoria?
The term "transgender" describes a person whose gender identity (one's psychological perception of their gender) differs from their sex assigned at birth (the sex given by a physician at birth, typically based on outward genitalia). Gender dysphoria, which is the psychological anguish brought on by incongruence between one's assigned sex at birth and one's gender identity, can occur in certain transgender people. Even though gender dysphoria frequently manifests in childhood, some people may not experience it until well after puberty.
People who identify as transgender may opt to affirm their gender in a variety of ways, such as social affirmation (changing their name and pronouns), legal affirmation (such as changing the gender markers on official documents), medical affirmation (such as pubertal suppression or hormones that promote gender equality), and/or surgical affirmation (vaginoplasty, facial feminization surgery, breast augmentation, masculine chest reconstruction, etc.). It should be taken into consideration that not all transgender people would desire gender affirmation in all areas because these are very personal and individual choices.
It's crucial to understand that gender expression and gender identity are two distinct things. Gender expression represents the way a person shows themselves to the outside world in a gendered fashion, as opposed to gender identification, which relates to one's internal understanding of their gender. For instance, wearing a dress is typically regarded as a "feminine" gender expression, while donning a tuxedo is typically regarded as a "masculine" gender expression in most countries, including the United States of America. These standards have a cultural definition and change over time and across cultures. Gender expression does not correspond to gender identity in all cases. Similar to varied gender identities, a wide range of gender expressions do not necessarily indicate a mental illness.