An Inclusive Litany

1/9/01

From "Using Students as Discussion Leaders on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues in First-Year Courses," in the Journal of Legal Education, December 1999:
One of the authors, Nyquist, is a nongay white biologically male law teacher. Ruiz is a heteroqueer evolved male (the now-antiquated term is "transsexual") Hispanic law student. Smith is a gay white biologically male law student. Both Ruiz and Smith are active in the Les-Bi-Gay-Trans Caucus at the New England School of Law and have been involved in LBGT issues for many years.
Further explanation can be found in footnote #1:
Ruiz prefers the term "evolved male" to "transsexual" as a description of his gender. He is a biological female who is in the process of aligning his body with his male gender identity. "Heteroqueer" refers to Ruiz' sexual orientation; "heterosexual" is too simple a term for his situation. "Hetero" refers to Ruiz' attraction to women and "queer" to his evolved male status.
...and more from footnote #22:
For example, when Ruiz first arrived at the school, Nyquist and Smith identified him as a lesbian. In our initial planning session for the class, Ruiz corrected us: "A lesbian is a biological woman who identifies herself as a woman and is sexually attracted to women. Although I have a woman's body and am attracted to women, I identify my gender as male.... The term I prefer, 'evolved male,' implies not only a physical transition, but also a personal journey, psychological growth, and a physical emergence. The term also serves to distinguish evolved males from biological males."