What surgery do trans people have?

Can trans people have sex?

Yes.

End of story.

Hi my name's Ryan.

I'm Charlie Martin.

So my name's Ellis Johnson.

And I'm proud to say that I'm also a trans woman.

I identify as a trans man.

There are all kinds of questions floating around the internet...

Let's clear the air.

What does transgender mean?

Well… good question, because I think there's still a lot of people

that don't fully understand the real basics.

So for me, to put it simply, I was

pronounced male at birth,

but identify as female and so I'm transgender

because I've changed my exterior gender presentation

to match how I feel.

An easy working definition to think of is that it is

somebody who doesn't identify with the sex or the gender

they were assigned when they were born.

And in this country at the moment,

you have to be classed as either male or female within six weeks of birth

and that sticks with you then for the rest of your life really.

Unless you're transgender, in which case you identify as something

other than the sex or the gender that you were assigned.

How do you know if you're trans?

OK, so I came across a really good metaphor

for explaining this recently.

The first time you picked up a pen or a ball or a tennis racket

and you tried to use it, how did you know which hand to use?

You tried it with one hand and then you tried it with the other hand

and one hand felt natural and one hand felt unnatural.

When you're walking around with the wrong gender identity

and the wrong gender expression, you just know it feels unnatural.

My mum, sorry if you're watching this, she didn't react very well.

I thought it was going to be a lot worse

than it actually was in my own mind.

I'm not trying to say it was easy, because it wasn't at all,

but I think from my point of view I'd probably spent 25 years worrying,

and I'd built it up into this horrible thing in my mind

that nobody would want to know me or be my friend or anything.

Most people were actually just really supportive.

My uncle and aunt - they're great. The first things they asked were,

"What pronouns do we use? And what name do you want me to use for you?"

And, "Is there anything we can do to make it easier?"

There was only one person, and I won't forget them,

she threw her arms around me and sort of squealed and went,

"Congratulations this is amazing!

What do you need from me? What can I do?"

Anyone who was quite negative about it, I just chose to cut them off -

as mean as that sounds -

but you kind of have to put yourself first in that.

Are trans people gay?

They can be.

You gender identity is something that's in here - it's in your head,

and also I think it's in your heart.

You know it's kind of in your soul. It's who you feel you are.

Who you feel you are is completely independent

of who you're attracted to.

So these are two very distinct things that shouldn't be confused.

I personally am.

But that's just me, personally.

I know when I told people that I was trans,

initially quite a few people were like,

“Oh is this because you want to be with a guy?” And I was just like,

“No, no, no this is nothing to do with that.”

What surgery do trans people have?

Firstly, the main thing to think about is

not all trans people will have surgery.

Not all trans people will want, or need, surgery.

But I think it's really important to

not focus too much on this idea of surgery,

because most of the time, or a lot of the times, specifically in the media

trans people are reduced to body parts.

Most trans people would be very offended

if somebody asked them that question.

It's a very individual thing,

and it's really quite a personal thing as well. Something that

quite often I get asked by people, “What surgery have I had?”

Be careful about why you're asking that question,

and in nine times out of 10, you probably don't need to know about it.

So steer clear of asking surgery questions,

unless a trans person wants to offer you that information,

or they want some support, maybe they want to talk about it.

But be careful not to ask on your own terms,

because trans bodies are not for entertainment.

How are trans people treated? Like rubbish honestly.

Hmm… How long have we got?

Trans people at the moment are treated as a trend.

We're treated as being dangerous.

We're treated as being abnormal and probably yes, mentally ill as well.

There's lots of ways we're treated that are really terrible.

Trans people suffer a huge amount of discrimination,

and it's really, really frustrating because it doesn't need to happen.

I think if most people could live a week in a trans person's shoes,

their whole perspective would change.

It's something that I hope to see happen in my lifetime.

I just kind of wish people would ask more about me as a person

than inherently going straight into the deep trans questions.

I wish that people would ask me, “Is what I've read true?”

“How can I be a better ally to the trans community?”

Is probably the question that I wish people would ask.

Thanks for watching.

Don't forget to subscribe and click the bell to receive notifications for new videos.

See you again soon!