History

References to, and examples of what some may term ‘gender-blending’, can be found across our history and literature.  Virginia Woolf’s ‘Orlando’; Hermaphroditus from Greek mythology; St. Joan of Arc, possibly.  Transsexualism and other such exceptions to our apparent 'norm' existed long before we had a name for them, and long before any scientific knowledge became available.

Occasionally a child is born with what the medical profession terms ‘ambiguous genitalia’.  The history of this is sad, and although the situation is improving there are still some archaic practices continuing today.  When children were born, who for some reason had extremely small penises or very large clitorises, the immediate reaction of the doctors was to operate as soon as possible and in effect ‘turn the child into’ a boy or girl.  The stigma attached was so great, that in many cases the parents would bring the child up in whatever gender they had been ‘turned into’ and never tell them.  In some cases, the genitalia imposed on the child corresponded with the child’s actual gender identity.  Others were not so lucky, and were brought up as one gender when they actually identified with the other, leading to huge psychological and emotional issues later in life.

As science progresses and so does our society things are improving slowly, particularly in law – see Gender Recognition Act 2004.