Thanks for publishing my photos, @DailyDot, in Gender Identity: How Do the Experts Define Gender Identity?

2016.05.21 Capital TransPride Washington DC USA 0365
2016.05.21 Capital TransPride Washington DC USA 0365 (View on Flickr.com)

But what is gender identity exactly, and how does it differ from the sex a person is assigned at birth? Why aren’t these terms interchangeable? What does it mean to be male, and what does it mean to be female? Turns out, there’s a pretty straightforward answer behind an often complicated subject.Gender Identity: How Do the Experts Define Gender Identity?

Thanks for using my photos, Daily Dot (@DailyDot) in this piece providing helpful information about gender identity, a confusing concept to some, including physicians. I reviewed the piece and would recommend it to others.

I especially appreciate that they’ve chosen images depicting leadership and joy in this community. The image above is of community leader SaVanna Wanzer, from Capital TransPride 2016. I wrote about SaVanna in this piece: #WhatAHeroLooks like: 27 Years of DC Black Pride.

The other photo that DailyDot used is of JaeLee Waldschmidt, taken in 2015. JaeLee is also a community hero (as well as a nuclear submarine engineer) who I got to reunion with at this year’s 2017 Capital Pride celebration in Washington, DC (see: July 2017: What am I doing now? for that image)

Trans Solidarity Rally and March 55401
Trans Solidarity Rally and March 55401 (View on Flickr.com)

I’ve written previously about how this publication has taken care to respond to feedback in the interest of accuracy, compared to others (@USAToday) who do not work toward accuracy as well (see: Thanks for publishing my photo AND listening, @DailyDot, in “What Does Transgender Mean, and How Do People Transition?”). A publication, like health care, can never be perfect. It can fix its mistakes quickly, which is what makes it great.

Ted Eytan, MD