What is the difference between gays and transgenders?

Answer 1

Gay describes a person, male or female, who is attracted to members of the same gender.

Transgender describes a person, male or female, who dresses, behaves, or presents in a manner different to their gender norm. This includes drag queens/kings, fetish and dual-role transvestites, androgynes and genderqueers. it does NOT include transsexual people.

Some gay people are 'transgender', some are not.
Some 'transgender' people are gay, some are not.

Answer 2

Contrary to the responses of many who only have a basic limited understanding of transgendered individuals not all transgendered individuals suffer from gender identity disorder. Nor do all of them believe they have been born in the wrong body and thus want to be women. Transsexuals are the group of individuals that suffer from GID as they are one gender mentally and unfortunately it does not match with their physical identity. There are much more individual groups that are often collected under the transgender umbrella. These groups range from genderqueer people to transvestites. However for most transgendered individuals to be transgendered has nothing to do with their sexual preference. It is more closely related to who they feel they are and often that does not fit into so called regular societies definition of male and female. When considering gays or lesbians unfortunately society attempts to single out and discriminate against these individual because of their sexual preference. These individuals have no problem with their gender identity they simple are attracted by the same sex as they are thus males prefer sexual relationships with other males and women with women. Where it sometimes gets really confusing is when one finds individuals who fall under both the transgendered umbrella as well as the sexual orientation umbrella. Thus you have transsexual women who identify as lesbian and transsexual men who identify as gay.

Answer 3

Everything.

Really, the only connections between being trans and being gay are social. Though these are important social connections - discrimination we all face is based on similar mindsets.

Gay people are condemned for gender variation in their own way, on the grounds that it's not considered "right" for a man to love a man - only women are allowed to do that, and only men are allowed to love women.

Transgender people are condemned for different kinds of gender variations. But while the social basis for discrimination is similar, the circumstances in and of themselves are quite different.

To be gay is a matter of sexual orientation. It is about who you are attracted to, who you are capable of desiring and loving.

To be transgender is a matter of gender expression and identity. It is who you are, and how you present this self to the world.

There's a lot of vernacular difference depending on where you are and who you ask, but "transgender" itself is largely used as an umbrella term to cover a wide variety of different circumstances. It can designate pretty much anybody whose gender identity or expression varies significantly enough from social norms that they are identified as being "different" for it. This can include drag performers who have formal stage personas and acts, or men who like makeup, or women who would prefer to be married in a tux.

When most people think "transgender," their minds seem to leap immediately to "sex change." This term is problematic in and of itself because it imagines some single-stage procedure that "turns a man into a woman" or vice versa, but beyond that, it specifies transexuals. This is a specific category within the umbrella of "transgender" - the category of people whose gender variance is specifically that of people whose innate gender, their knowledge of who and what they are, is in conflict with their physical apperance.

None of this has anything to do with being gay, beyond the social connections. Transgender people of all stripes come in every imaginable variation of sexual orientation. I am a transman - I am a man who was born appearing physically female, I have two X chromosomes and was raised as a girl. I'm also "bi" (for lack of a better work), with a strong preference for other men. And I'm a bit of a fairy on top of it. Were I not a transman, I would arguably be transgender anyway, since I am, shall we say, a glitter queen.

Answer 4

A gay person goes for the same sex. A Transgender usually is a person that is living the life as the opposite sex (possibly through an operation) and goes for the opposite sex of thier Transgender personality. For example a Transgender male will live life as a woman. Most likely gone through some operation to assist in this matter and will seek men to be partner with.

Answer 5

Sexual identity and sexual preference are unrelated. Each of us has our own identity (am I a man or woman?), and each of us has our own sexual preference (am I mainly attracted to men, women, or both?)
Transgendered persons may or may not be gay, but feel as if their physical body does not represent their gender. I know several men who dress as women - some have taken steps to become women - and all of them are still attracted to women. I do not personally know a transgendered man who wants to be with men.
I think the reason we're all grouped together (LGBT) is because we've traditionally been on the fringes of acceptance by the general population, although that is finally changing.

Answer 6

Not all transgenders are homosexuals. Some people are born believing they were born with the wrong type of body. On Opera there was a woman who was married to her husband for 30 years and he wanted to get a sex change so he went through with it and they're still together. It's not necessarily that he wanted to be with a man but that he felt awkward in a males body. (Weird I know)!!! That's the differenece. Hope you're now more informed.

Answer 7

Gay refers to men (or women) who are only attracted to the same sex (i.e. men [or women]). Transgender doesn't necessarily relate to sexual orientation; it is the feeling of being born into and/or trapped in the wrong gender body. Some transgender people choose to surgically change their sex, and they are generally referred to as f/m (female to male) or vice versa. Others remain as they were born, and may choose to live life as though they had undergone reassignment surgery. There are very many subdivisions of transgender persons (and, to some extent, homosexuals), so dialog with an individual is generally preferable to these kinds of generalizations. : )

Answer 8

From the GLBTQ Encyclopedia:
"the term [transgender] encompasses not only transgenders in the sense attributed to Prince, but also transvestites and transsexuals (who may be either female-to-male or male-to-female), androgynes, butch lesbians, effeminate gay men, drag queens, people who would prefer to answer to new pronouns or to none at all, non-stereotypical heterosexual men and women, intersex individuals, and members of non-Western European indigenous cultures who claim such identities as the Native American berdache or two-spirit status"

This answer was provided by a librarian. You might consider visiting or contacting your local library for quick, reliable, scholarly answers to more questions. Libraries don't just help you find information, they help you find *GOOD* information!

Answer 9

As so many others have stated, sexual orientation and transgenderness are not the same thing. But a short simple and explanation is this:
Heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality is how you feel about OTHER people.
Transgender is how you feel about YOURSELF. It has to do with your relationship to your own body, not sexual attraction.

Answer 10

Gay is a term that refers to sexual orientation.

Transgendered is a physical condition.

That is the base difference.