(Flores) Transexuals: people who are biologically one sex but identify as another.
(Flores) Also, intersexuals: people born with both male and female sex organs.
(Flores) And cross-dressers, also referred to as transvestites.
(Gloria Wright) I belong to a group where we call ourselves "heterosexual cross-dressers."
(Wright) So we are people who live part-time as females, part-time as males.
(Wright) We tend to be married, or in relationships with women, so people
would see us as being heterosexual, in that sense.
(Flores) The majority of cross-dressers are heterosexual males.
(Flores) Gloria is a successful businessman with a wife and two children.
(Flores) He considers his cross-dressing a compulsion.
(Wright) There's no dating, there's no sexual component to it, and so I think most
people are a little surprised that it has nothing to do with attracting men, or even
attracting women. It's a way of expressing who we feel we are inside.
(Flores) Gender identification and sexual orientation are two entirely different things.
(Flores) The vast majority of transgender people are not gay.
(Ofc. Judith Jenkins) Typically, people think a transsexual or a transgeder, depending
on what they are living as -- they feel that they are gay or lesbian, and they're not at all.
(Jenkins) Most, I'd say, transsexuals are not, and it is simply they way they want to live
in society.
(Ofc. Jose Rios) A persion that's gay feels comfortable in his own body, but is sexually
attracted to other men.
(Flores) Or, in the case of lesbians, other women.
(Renahe Redgenal) I am not going to have any type of sex changes; I am not seeking
to change my gender by any means.
(Redgenal) So I was born a female, and will remain a female until the day I leave Earth.
(Flores) Stevie Conlon, on the other hand, is transitioning.
(Flores) She was born a biological male, but identifies mentally and emotionally
as a heterosexual female.
(Conlon) I'm a transwoman; I identify as a woman, my driver's license was changed,
my name was legally changed.
(Conlon) I'm a transitioning transsexual; I've been on hormones for several years;
I've grown breasts.
(Conlon) And I'm saving up my money for my sexual reassignment surgery.
(Conlon) Transgendered people are just a statistical percentage of all walks of life.
(Conlon) Myself, I'm an attorney; I'm licensed in Illinois and New York.
(Conlon) And we have transsexual doctors, we have transsexual accountants,
so there are people in all the trades.
(Flores) Including law enforcement.
(Flores) Jay Wombles is a Chicago Police Officer.
(Ofc. J. Wombles) Ever since I could remember, I always identify myself as male.
(Wombles) And as I became older and was able to make those changes,
I started to make those changes.
(Wombles) I started with changing my name; then went on to have to [top] surgery,
chest surgery; then I went on to have hormone therapy.
(Flores) And finally, full sexual reassignment surgery, which means now, he is
psychologically, biologically, and legally male.
(Wombles) I'm a police officer; I'm not a "transgender police officer."
(Wombles) I should be judged on my merits as an officer, and not on my personal choices.
(Wombles) Unfortunately, there are some officers here that are affected by my personal choices.
(Flores) There's no room for bias of any kind on the Chicago police force.
(Flores) All people are to be treated professionally, courteously, and respectfully.
(Flores) For interactions with the transgender community, refer to the person
by the appropriate pronoun.
(Williamson) It's terribly, terribly offensive, to a transsexual, to have herself -- in my case --
referred to with male pronouns.
(Conlon) If they have a question, though, they could simply ask me:
'How do you prefer to be identified?' 'Which pronoun would you like me to use,'
he or she?" -- and I'd be happy to tell them.
(Police officer) Is this you on the ID?
(Woman) Yes.
(Police officer) How would you like to be referred to as, ma'am or sir?
(Jenkins) I've myself done the mistake, had somebody step out of the car, and said,
"Ma'am, step out of the car," and they are male.
(Jenkins) And they'll say, "Oh, well, I prefer this-or-that," and at that point I refer
to them as such.
(Flores) Pat-downs may be more complicated.
(Flores) People in transition may not have undergone complete sexual reassignment surgery.
(Flores) Ask a transitioning person if he or she is pre-op or post-op.
(Rios) Now, a lot of the people that are transitioning that go from male to female start off
with hormone injections, so they might start developing breasts; they might have already
gotten implants.
(Rios) They still have to be searched by a male, because if they have male genitalia,
they're considered men.
(Rios) Females that are female-to-male might look like a male with facial hair, but might
still have female genitalia; should be searched by a female.
(Jenkins) This is an officer safety issue, and it just has to be done.
(Jenkins) And if you could do it as respectfully as you can, but never compromise.
(Jenkins) And I do say this again: never compromise officer safety on that.
(Flores) Be sensitive to transgender dress.
(Flores) Some transgender people wear wigs.
(Flores) Padded undergarments may be worn to give a person a more feminine
or masculine look.
(Flores) Breast prostheses are also common.
(Flores) Officers should refrain from verbal and nonverbal expressions of surprise or
disapproval.
(Williamson) And it usually happens when the officer is simply ignorant, and just
doesn't know what he or she is dealing with, and it's humiliating to the person
who's having it done to her or to him.
(Williamson) And there's no reason for it.
(Conlon) And just as someone puts significance in their attire because of their faith
or their upbringing, we put a lot in our attire for our gender identity; that's what we're doing.
(Casey) Every time I've witnessed this, I've seen cops kind of, "What?" -- I mean,
give funny looks, so I don't feel like a lot of people feel safe or comfortable.
(Flores) Casey identifies as a female-to-male transsexual.
(Flores) He works with gay and transgender youth in the uptown community.
(Casey) A lot of times I'll hear, and I've witnessed, young transgendered girls walking down
the street, and where cops would assume that they're out walking around trying to
turn tricks or to pick up johns or whatever.
(Flores) That is not an infrequent complaint among transsexuals, a belief that police
and others assume they are somehow involved in the sex trade.
(Conlon) That's like assuming that a woman, because of her appearance, just wants
to have sex with men; that's really not appropriate.
(Conlon) But people make that generalization about trans-people, whether you're
a trans-man or a trans-woman.
(Williamson) And sometimes that erroneous assumption works a real hardship on people.
(Flores) Assumptions, gender profiling, stereotyping.
(Flores) All are counterproductive to police work.
(Flores) Keep an open mind when dealing with any community member, regardless of
race or religion, sexual preference, or gender identity.
(Jenkins) Treat anybody that you would come into contact with in our community
as if you were treating a family member, or somebody that you know.
It's as simple as that.
(Wombles) They need to respect people's personal choices.
(Wombles) You don't have to understand it or agree with it, but you need to respect it.
(Wombles) And I think with the respect, everything else will fall into place.
(Flores) All of the people we encounter on a daily basis expect to be treated with dignity
and respect.
(Flores) It is our hope that this video will serve to enlighten and foster a new awareness
and understanding.
Thanks for watching, and as always, stay safe.
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