A Voice in the Transgender Community

We had the pleasure of interviewing Josephine Tittsworth, a social worker in the field of mental health and the Transgender Community. Josephine is on the Board of Directors of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) and Parents and Families of Lesbians And Gays (PLFAG) - Transgender Network (TNET).

This interview proved to be very insightful and informative into the shame experienced within the Transgender Community.

One of the most powerful things Josephine offered to us was this saying, "The GLB Community faces shame, but they do not have to identify their sexual orientation; the shame in the Transgender Community is stronger because they have to identify their sexual orientation."

This resounded with us because if you see a transgendered man, you automatically assume they like women, and if you see a transgendered woman, you automatically assume they like men...what we learned...that is not always the case!!



Many thanks to Josephine for meeting with us and providing us with such an insightful and interesting interview!

The following document, provided by Josephine, is an umbrella chart showing the overall term of "transgender" and all of the different types of people who fall under its general heading.

Transgender Umbrella Chart - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Transgender Umbrella Chart

For more information on the Transgender Community, please read some of the articles that Josephine has published. They include:

1. Tittsworth, J., Erich, S., & Kanenberg, H. (2008). Foster care: Transgender youth. National Association of Social Workers Specialty Practice Sections Newsletter.
2. Erich, S., Boutté-Queen, N., Donnelly, S., & Tittsworth, J. (2007). Social work education: Implications for working with the transgender community. Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, 12(2), 42-52.
3. Erich, S., Tittsworth, J., Dykes, J., & Cabusas, C. (in press). Family relationships and their correlations with transexual well being. Journal of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Family Studies.
4. Erich, S., Donnelly, S., & Tittsworth, J. (2006). Passages: From feeling woman to being woman. In Messinger, Lori & Morrow, Deana F. (Eds), Case studies on sexual orientation & gender expression in social work practice (pp. 3-6). New York: Columbia University Press.