Welcome to Gaia! ::

It can be very confusing. Usually just call them what they prefer.

Transgender is an umbrella term that has a lot of terms under it, like:

Ftm Transsexual ((Female to male, boy born in a girl's body)) post op, pre-op, non-op, MtF Transsexual ((Male to Female, girl born in boy's body, probably the most ridiculed one, which is mean crying )) androgynous ((identifying as either both or neither or not really caring what pronoun you use, though usually the androgynous people I meet hate being called either pronoun, they prefer to be seen as neither men nor women)) bi-gender ((someone who has both a boy and girl identity)) gender queer ((Usually you have to ask, but for my therapist I switch pronouns IE: He really rocks, I really like her)) drag queen, ((A usually homosexual man that dresses as a woman for performance, usually in over exaggerated clothes manner and appearance)) drag king, ((A usually homosexual women that dresses as a man for performance)) meta gender, ((This one is fairly new, someone who identifies as not male, not female, not male and female, not neither male and female either, a paradox, but still fun to figure out ^^)) crossdresser, ((A man or woman who is straight that likes to sometimes dress as the opposite sex)) Transvestite ((A man or woman that dresses as the opposite sex more often than a crossdresser)) social, ((A transvestite man or woman that likes dressing as the opposite sex just because they like the clothes)) homoerotic, ((A homosexual transvestite man or woman that dresses as the opposite sex to please his or her partner, or just likes to)) and erotic ((A transvestite man or woman that dresses as the opposite sex to get sexual pleasure out of it))

I hope these helped ^^ Now remember, these are just labels and their sort of definitions that I've compiled from my research, labels are best left on soup cans though ^^ Just ask what they identify as, that's what I find best to do ^^

lol, that's a great way to explain it Chelsea mrgreen

ok its still confusing but now i get it sorta

yes but what if i dont know what they prefer or i know them as one and they prefer the other...like in nickys case

That can be hard, and it's just something your going to have to work out on your own unfortunately. Also, if you don't know just ask, If they are really mean about it, they are probably having a bad day, but most TGs when asked what they identify as really appreciate it, because most of them know that there's no way you could know without them telling you. Especially if they are still partially in hiding, or genderqueer, androgynous, or bi gender.

I've found that to be the best way. :3 Most of them understand that it's hard to know without asking.

You know hun, you could have just asked me. I wouldn't have gotten mad or anything. and I'd like to add to what I want to be called when it's by name. When I'm on gaia, my place to be the woman I am inside, I prefer to be called Veronica, who is my female persona and my more natural self. When I'm out in the real world, I go with Nick because I have to hide it. You're fine with calling me Nicky, but for future reference to anybody I might ever meet in RL in the future, I want to be called Nick.

if that doesn't confuse you even more....