Word of the Gay: "On T"

"On T" is a phrase commonly used by FTM's who are on the hormone testosterone.

Open Forum: The Fallout from Caster Semenya

South African track & field star Caster Semenya who won the 800m gold medal in Berlin last month has been the subject of much controversy with people questioning her sex and gender due to her gender expression and speed results. After being forced to undergo a series of tests to determine her actual sex, it has been revealed that she is intersex and has internal testes which are responsible for the output of testosterone.

It is tragic that Semenya was forced into the public spotlight in terms of scrutiny over her identity and had to undergo sex assessment. What is the fallout from this, now that we know that she is intersex, does this help the movement by creating awareness or just further create a sense of hostility towards this minority? The media has already used offensive and biologically impossible terms such as "hermaphrodite" instead of the appropriate term intersex to describe Semenya. How does this news coverage boad for the intersex and gender variant communities?

Photo courtesy of Erik van Leeuwen on Wikimedia Commons.

Open Forum: Is Thomas Beatie a Hermaphrodite by Choice?

The word hermaphrodite is mythological and it describes someone who is both fully male and female. This is a biological impossibility.

However, with the case of Thomas Beatie, the "pregnant man" it brings into question whether someone who elects to go through some sex-altering procedures could be classified as a hermaphrodite.

Thomas Beatie is a female to male transsexual. He has removed his breasts, gone on testosterone, and as a result has develop more masculinized features. He has opted to keep his vagina, and uterus so he can give birth.

The testosterone has helped his clitoris grow into a penis. Essentially Thomas Beatie does have both a penis and a vagina, which by birth is impossible but through surgery can become a reality.

Does this make Thomas Beatie a hermaphrodite? Would a trans person who fits in this category find the term offensive if the term hermaphrodite was used in a different context to reflect this modern phenomenon?