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This article about lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender issues Also see the article on Sexual orientation

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A transman or transguy (often referred to as FTM) is short for transsexual or transgender man - a person who was naturally born or physically assigned as female at birth, but who feels that this is not an accurate or complete description of themselves and consequently identifies as a male. "FTM" (sometimes FtM, F2M, F->M or F>M) is short for "female-to-male", and identifies the general direction of transition (from assigned to actual), and not a conscripted "start" to "finish" process. Some transmen reject being seen as FTM, arguing that they have always been male and are only making this identity visible to other people and sometimes calling themselves MTM, (short for "male-to-male").

Terminology

Even though the same term "transman" is used as short form for both identities (transsexual man and transgender man), and sometimes transsexuality is seen as a type of transgenderism, in reality many transmen will identify as either transsexual or transgender, but not both.

"Transgender man" is an umbrella term that may include anybody who was assigned female sex at birth, but identifies part or full time as a male. For instance some drag kings, androgynous, bigendered, and genderqueer people might self-identify as transmen. Because transgender is an umbrella term, it is imprecise and does not adequately describe the particulars of specific identities and experiences. For example, the identity/experience of a post-operative FTM transsexual will probably be very different from that of a female-identified drag king who performs on weekends, but both are often lumped together under the term "transgender".

Transsexual men usually seek medical interventions, such as hormones and surgery, to make their bodies as congruent as possible with their preferred gender. They usually live or wish to live full time as members of the gender opposite to their birth sex..

Sometimes the term "new man" is used to identify a post-operative transsexual man.

Transition

For different transmen, the transition might involve some or all of the following steps:

• social transition - name change, wearing clothing seen as gender appropriate, disclosure to family, friends and usually at the workplace
• sex reassignment therapy - hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and/or surgery
• legal affirmation - name and often sex marker correction in the legal documents.

Originally the term transmen referred specifically to female-to-male transsexuals who undertook a physical change by HRT and/or surgery, but in recent years the mode of transition has broadened to include theories of psychological development or complementary methods of self-acceptance

Research

In the United States, the ratio of transmen within the general population is unclear, but estimates range between 1:2000 and 1:100,000. Female-to-male (FTM) transsexuals and transgenders usually self-identify during their teens, 20s or 30s, often following a long period of self-identifying as a lesbian. Although there is still some disagreement as to how gender dysphoria begins and who should qualify for hormonal and surgical intervention, there is a remarkable amount of agreement in several important areas. Most psychologists now agree that gender dysphoria qualifies as a subject of clinical attention separate from other disorders. Further, most clinicians agree that the gender identity beliefs these people hold are profound, deep-seated, and non-delusional. Even more significantly, outcome studies now clearly indicate that when three conditions are met: a proper differential diagnosis, a significantly long trial period of living in the gender of choice, and a satisfactory surgical result, there is only a small incidence of post-operative regret. Indeed, in a review of the outcome literature Pfafflin (1992) reports that less than 1% of the female-to-male transsexuals who had undergone sex reassignment had any regrets.

Preferences within the individual

Most transmen prefer to live part-time or full-time as males. Passing as a male, however, might be challenging for transmen who didn't undergo physical change, thus they may decide or have to present themselves as a female at certain social situations (e.g. at work). Post physical transition transmen usually live full-time as males. The sexual orientation of transmen is usually expressed with respect to male identity, not the genetic sex (e.g a transman, who prefers female partners, is considered heterosexual).

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