Sex change (revision)

University of Washington iSchool students Sam Buechler, Le Button, and Josh Hall have been collaborating on an LCSH proposal to update the heading Sex change. Below is the result of their hard work! The fields in highlighted text are the ones that have been added or updated.

Submitted as below March 5 2018.

 

150 __ $a Transition (Gender)

450 __ $w nne $a Sex change [coding indicates this is the previous heading]

450 __ $w nne $a Change of sex

450 __ $a Sex change surgery

450 __ $a Sex reassignment

450 __ $a Transsexual surgery

450 __ $a Sex reassignment surgery

550 __ $w g $a Generative organs $x Surgery

550 __ $w g $a Hormone therapy

670 __ $a Random House $b (sex change)

670 __ $a Hennepin $b (Sex change surgery)

670 __ $a Acad. Am. encyc.: $b v. 17, p. 225 (sex reassignment)

670 __ $a Intl. dict. med. biol. $b (Transsexualism; sex reassignment operation; transsexual surgery)

670 __ $a MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), U.S. National Library of Medicine, viewed online February 28 2018 $b (MeSH Heading: Sex Reassignment Procedures; scope note: Clinical treatments used to change the physiological sexual characteristics of an individual; entry terms: Gender Change Procedures, Gender Confirmation Procedures, Gender Reassignment Procedures, Sex Change Procedures) $u https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?name=SEX%20REASSIGNMENT%20PROCEDURES

670 __ $a Transgender migrations : the bodies, borders, and politics of transition, 2012

670 __ $a Trans bodies, trans selves : a resource for the transgender community, 2014: $b page 620 (“Transition: The process one goes through to discover and/or affirm their gender identity. This can, but does not always, include taking hormones, having surgeries, or going through therapy.”) page 618 (“Sex Change: An older term for gender-affirming surgery. Some people do not like this term because it implies that a person’s sex is changing, while many trans people feel they have always been who they are.”)

670 __ $a The SAGE encyclopedia of LGBTQ studies, 2016: $b page 847 (“Transitioning is the process that transgender (or trans) individuals go through in living as the gender with which they identify rather than the sex assigned to them at birth.”)

670 __ $a Oxford Dictionary (American English), viewed online February 25, 2018 $b (“transition: The process by which a person permanently adopts the outward or physical characteristics of the gender with which they identify, as opposed to those associated with their birth sex. The process may or may not involve measures such as hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery”)

670 __ $a GLAAD Media Reference Guide, viewed online February 25, 2018 $b definition of Transition (“Transition can include some or all of the following personal, medical, and legal steps: telling one’s family, friends, and co-workers; using a different name and new pronouns; dressing differently; changing one’s name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) one or more types of surgery.” “Avoid the phrase ‘sex change’.” ) definition of Sex Reassignment Surgery (“Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), also called Gender Confirmation Surgery (GCS). Refers to doctor-supervised surgical interventions, and is only one small part of transition.” “Avoid the phrase ‘sex change operation.'”) $u https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

675 __ $a MESH

680 __ $i Here are entered works on the surgical and hormonal alteration of a person’s biological sex characteristics.

680 __ $i Here are entered works about the process of changing one’s gender presentation and/or sex characteristics to align with one’s internal sense of gender identity, which may or may not involve surgery or hormone therapy.

 

Violet’s questions for SACO experts:

• Is “Transition (Gender)” the best preferred term? Would “Gender transition” be better, even though the sources found never listed it as such?
• There’s currently a 675 for MeSH, so I’m assuming it’s a good idea for me to add the 670 for the MeSH term? Does that mean I delete the old 675, since I’ve now found info there?

 

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Follow-up: this proposal was rejected. In the July 2018 summary of decisions, the following was given as rationale. Needs more work!

Transition (Gender)
This proposal was made to revise the existing heading Sex change to Transition (Gender). The existing scope note for Sex change – which was unchanged in the proposal – states, “Here are entered works on the surgical and hormonal alteration of a person’s biological sex characteristics.” Transition is not an equivalent concept, because transition involves the overall social and psychological process of going through life in a different gender, and may or may not include hormone therapy or surgery. The citations provided in the proposal made the distinction between the two concepts clear. If a heading is needed to catalog a work on the social and psychological processes of transition, then a proposal may be made for a separate heading. The proposal was not approved.

 

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Work done in November/December 2019:

So there was some discussion of trying to separate out “transition” first. To this end, here are some sources Shirley R. and Faye L. have found.

• Transgender Children and Youth: Cultivating Pride and Joy with Families in Transition – Elijah C. Nealy – 2017. Chapter 4: When a Young Person Comes out: Disclosure and Social Transition “Transitioning is the term used to describe the process of transgender youth shifting from being seen in the world in their birth-assigned sex to moving through the world in their affirmed gender…Sometimes people erroneously use the term full transition to describe transgender people who have hormone treatment and both top and lower surgeries, implying that any step short of this is not a complete transition. The truth is that trans youth and adults make varied choices about the steps in their transition for many different reasons” (pages 63-64) “The process of gender transition generally begins with a ‘social’ transition where the young person begins to live part time or full time in their affirmed gender (as opposed to their birth-assigned sex). Social transition is about how we move through the world and present to those around us…Social transitions generally precede medical interventions such as hormones or surgeries that can be irreversible, offering additional time and lived experience for young people in their affirmed gender identity” (64-65)
• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Trans* (But Were Afraid to Ask) – Brynn Tannehill – 2019 “Q: What is gender transition (or, transition)? A: This is the process of changing one’s gender presentation and expression from the one assigned at birth. Some people have changed, or are in the process of changing, their physical bodies to conform to their internal sense of gender identity. For others, this is purely a social process without medical intervention. The types of medical treatment a person receives (including none at all) do not determine whether or not a person is transgender” (17)
• Transgender Subject Access: History and Current Practice – Matt Johnson – 2010 – “The word ‘transgender’ was first coined by Virginia Prince in the late 1980s to refer to gender variant persons who did not wish to undergo a physiological transition”
• Bockting, W. O. (2015). Sex reassignment. In P. Whelehan, & A. Bolin (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of human sexuality. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.  “Standards of care for the health of transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming people: The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) sets forth the standards of care that guide the clinical management of gender dysphoria, including sex reassignment (Coleman et al. 2012). To access sex reassignment procedures, individuals are strongly encouraged to first consult with a health professional who specializes in this area so as to obtain information and make a fully informed decision as to what procedures to pursue and in what order and fashion in order to achieve an optimal outcome. In the past, sex reassignment followed a strict sequence of psychological evaluation, psychotherapy, hormone therapy, a complete gender role transition, and surgery; today these various steps are available and utilized as required by individuals, depending on their needs and circumstances. For example, some individuals may desire hormone therapy but no surgery; others may want chest surgery, but no hormone therapy; and changes in gender role vary and do not necessarily conform to a binary, male/female understanding of gender. Thus an individual may identify as bigender, transgender, or gender queer and may express his/her gender in a more androgynous or fluid way.”
• Harmon, A., & Oberleitner, M. G. (2016). Gender dysphoria. In Gale (Ed.), Gale encyclopedia of children’s health: Infancy through adolescence (3rd ed.). Farmington, MI: Gale.  “Transition— A process a person takes to become another gender; involves multiple steps and may or may not include hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery.”  “While some children eventually outgrow gender dysphoria and make peace with their gender, others will have these feelings into adulthood and retain the desire to live as members of the opposite sex. This desire is sometimes manifested by wearing clothes of the opposite sex, also known as cross-dressing, either privately or publicly. In other cases, people move forward with their desires to transition to the opposite sex. This transition is a complex process and can include the following:
  ·   telling family, friends, and coworkers
  ·   using a new name and pronouns
  ·   dressing as the preferred gender
  ·   changing the name/gender on legal documents
  Another part of the transition phase includes altering one’s primary and secondary sexual characteristics by taking hormone treatments and undergoing sex reassignment surgery. However, not all people who transition take these steps.”
• Oxford English Dictionary.
  Definition of transition (v):
  3. intransitive. Of a transgender or transsexual person: to come to live as the sex or gender with which one identifies. Transition may involve a range of steps, including changing one’s name or preferred pronouns, undergoing hormone therapy, or surgery.
  Definition of transition (n):
  7. The process by which a transgender or transsexual person comes to live as the sex or gender with which that person identifies. Also more fully gender transition or (esp. in early use) sex transition.
  Transition may involve a range of steps, including changing one’s name or preferred pronouns, undergoing hormone therapy, or surgery.
  Definition of sex change (n.):
  sex change  n. a change of sex; esp. a change in a person’s physical sexual characteristics brought about by surgery, hormone treatment, etc.; also attributive.

 

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Revised proposal, January 2020:

Thanks to the research of Dominican University students Shirley Roitberg and Faye Levin-O’Leary, this new attempt at proposing a revision to the Sex change LCSH was submitted January 2020.

New subject heading proposal for Transition (Gender), which will be a broader term for Sex change (that is, the current heading referring to surgical/hormonal treatment). At the same time, we’re making a proposal to split Sex change into two related terms: Gender reassignment surgery and Hormone therapy–Gender transition. [see below]

 

New heading proposal for Transition (Gender):

150 __ $a Transition (Gender)

450 __ $a Gender transition

450 __ $a Gender transitioning

450 __ $a Transitioning (Gender)

670 __ $a [Work cat:] Transgender migrations : the bodies, borders, and politics of transition, 2012

670 __ $a Trans bodies, trans selves : a resource for the transgender community, 2014: $b page 620 (“Transition: The process one goes through to discover and/or affirm their gender identity. This can, but does not always, include taking hormones, having surgeries, or going through therapy.”)

670 __ $a The SAGE encyclopedia of LGBTQ studies, 2016: $b page 847 (“Transitioning is the process that transgender (or trans) individuals go through in living as the gender with which they identify rather than the sex assigned to them at birth.”)

670 __ $a Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Trans* (But Were Afraid to Ask), 2019: $b page 17 (“Q: What is gender transition (or, transition)? A: This is the process of changing one’s gender presentation and expression from the one assigned at birth. Some people have changed, or are in the process of changing, their physical bodies to conform to their internal sense of gender identity. For others, this is purely a social process without medical intervention. The types of medical treatment a person receives (including none at all) do not determine whether or not a person is transgender.”)

670 __ $a Oxford English Dictionary, viewed online December 2, 2019: $b definition of transition (“The process by which a transgender or transsexual person comes to live as the sex or gender with which that person identifies. Also more fully gender transition or (esp. in early use) sex transition. Transition may involve a range of steps, including changing one’s name or preferred pronouns, undergoing hormone therapy, or surgery.”)

670 __ $a GLAAD Media Reference Guide, viewed online December 2, 2019: $b definition of Transition (“Altering one’s birth sex is not a one-step procedure; it is a complex process that occurs over a long period of time. Transition can include some or all of the following personal, medical, and legal steps: telling one’s family, friends, and co-workers; using a different name and new pronouns; dressing differently; changing one’s name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) one or more types of surgery. The exact steps involved in transition vary from person to person. Avoid the phrase ‘sex change’.”) $u https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

680 __ $i Here are entered works about the process of changing one’s gender presentation and/or sex characteristics to align with one’s internal sense of gender identity, which may or may not involve surgery or hormone therapy.

 

 

Revised heading changing Sex change to Gender reassignment surgery [highlighting indicates revised/additional fields]:

150 __ $a Gender reassignment surgery

450 __ $w nne $a Change of sex

450 __ $a Gender affirming surgery

450 __ $a Gender confirmation surgery

450 __ $w nne $a Sex change   [coding indicates this is the previous heading]

450 __ $a Sex change surgery

450 __ $a Sex reassignment     [proposing deleting this because it introduces ambiguity]

450 __ $a Sex reassignment surgery

450 __ $a Transsexual surgery

550 __ $w g $a Generative organs $x Surgery

550 __ $w g $a Hormone therapy

550 __ $w g $a Transition (Gender)      [coding indicates this is a broader term]

670 __ $a Random House $b (sex change)

670 __ $a Hennepin $b (Sex change surgery)

670 __ $a Acad. Am. encyc.: $b v. 17, p. 225 (sex reassignment)

670 __ $a Intl. dict. med. biol. $b (Transsexualism; sex reassignment operation; transsexual surgery)

670 __ $a Gender confirmation surgery, 2018

670 __ $a Considerations in gender reassignment surgery, 2019

670 __ $a MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), U.S. National Library of Medicine, viewed online December 2, 2019 $b (MeSH Heading: Sex Reassignment Procedures; scope note: Clinical treatments used to change the physiological sexual characteristics of an individual; entry terms: Gender Change Procedures, Gender Confirmation Procedures, Gender Reassignment Procedures, Sex Change Procedures) $u https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?name=SEX%20REASSIGNMENT%20PROCEDURES

670 __ $a GLAAD Media Reference Guide, viewed online December 2, 2019: $b definition of Transition (“Avoid the phrase ‘sex change’.”) definition of Sex Reassignment Surgery (“Also called Gender Confirmation Surgery (GCS). Refers to doctor-supervised surgical interventions, and is only one small part of transition (see transition above). Avoid the phrase “sex change operation.” Do not refer to someone as being “pre-op” or “post-op.” Not all transgender people choose to, or can afford to, undergo medical surgeries.”) $u https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

675 __ $a MESH

680 __ $i Here are entered works on the surgical alteration of a person’s biological sex characteristics.

 

New heading proposal for Hormone therapy–Gender transition:

150 __ $a Hormone therapy $x Gender transition

450 __ $a Hormone replacement therapy for gender transition

450 __ $w nne $a Sex change    [the previous heading]

550 __ $a Sex reassignment surgery  [a related term]

550 __ $w g $a Hormone therapy    [a broader term]

550 __ $w g $a Transition (Gender)    [a broader term]

670 __ $a [Work cat:] Hormones : a guide for FTMs, 2006

670 __ $a Nutrition counseling for transgender individuals on hormone replacement therapy, 2018

670 __ $a OHSU [Oregon Health & Science University] Transgender Health Program, viewed online December 4, 2019: $b hormone therapy page (“What is hormone therapy? Hormone therapy is medication to increase or suppress feminine or masculine hormones. It causes physical, emotional and other changes so you more closely match your gender identity. How much you take and for how long depend on your goals and other factors. Many people transition only through hormone therapy. Others use it in addition to gender-affirming surgery.”) $u https://www.ohsu.edu/transgender-health/transgender-health-program-hormone-therapy

680 __ $i Here are entered works on the hormonal alteration of a person’s biological sex characteristics.

952 __ $a While most hormone therapy for gender transition is undergone by transgender people, some gender non-conforming people also benefit from hormone therapy.

 

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Acceptance!

On April 16, 2020 the three proposals above were approved! Here are the headings on list 2003 (March 16, 2020):

150 Gender reassignment surgery [May Subd Geog] [sp2020000651]
450  UF Gender-affirming surgery
450  UF Reassignment, Sex
450  UF Reassignment surgery, Gender
450  UF Sex change [Former heading]
450  UF Sex change surgery
450  UF Sex reassignment surgery
450  UF Transsexual surgery
550  BT Generative organs–Surgery
550  BT Gender transition
680  Here are entered works on the surgical alteration of a person’s biological sex characteristics.

150  Gender transition [May Subd Geog] [sp2020000100]
450  UF Gender transitioning
450  UF Transition, Gender
450  UF Transitioning, Gender
550  BT Gender identity
550  BT Sex
680  Here are entered works on the process of changing gender presentation and/or sex characteristics to align with an individual’s gender identity.

150  Gender transition–Hormone therapy [May Subd Geog] [sp2020000101]
450  UF Hormone replacement therapy for gender transition
450  UF Sex change [Former heading]
550  BT Hormone therapy
680 Here are entered works on the hormonal alteration of a person’s biological sex characteristics.