This questionnaire is for individuals who are
blood relations (parents, children, brothers, sisters, grand parents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews) of
transvestites, crossdressers, drag queens or transsexuals

Please select one of the other questionnaires if this is inappropriate

The object of this research is to try to obtain quantitative data about attitudes and reactions of family members to transgenderism. The information requested goes into some personal areas including sexuality as this may influence those views. I emphasise that no attempt will be made at all to identify respondents. Data and comments may be extracted - but will be kept totally annonymous. I need you to be as frank as possible please.

Definitions for terms used in questionnaire. Again, I accept that others' interpretations may differ

Transvestite (TV)
Cross Dresser (CD)		 one who wears clothes usually associated with the opposite sex but normally live as their physical sex
Transsexual
(TS)		 one who lives or intends to live full time in their true gender role rather than their physical sex role and who hopes/ plans to ultimately undergo SRS/GRS (or has undergone surgery)
Transgendered
(TG)		 within this questionnaire one who lives substantially in their preferred gender role but who does not currently intend to transition fully or undergo surgery. (I realise that many use TG as an umbrella term - but this will help me classify information).
Shemale
(DQ)		 for the purposes of this questionnaire, one who takes female hormones to develop a feminine body, or who has breast implants but does not intend to undergo SRS.
Drag Queen
(DQ)		 someone who cross dresses in a "theatrical" manner - rather than as the "woman next door"
T* anyone who is TV/ CD/ TS/ TG/ DQ - or in any way transgendered
Question Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions:
1 Is the individual who is T*:

Transsexual    Transvestite/Cross dresser    Transgendered ;
Drag Queen    Shemale    Unsure - possibly TS
other please state:

2 What is your relationship to the T* Individual?
mother    father    daughter    son    sister    brother
grandmother    grandfather    grandson    granddaughter
aunt    uncle    niece    nephew
cousin (female)    cousin (male)   
3 How old are you now?
under 16    16-20    21-25    26-30    31-35    36-40    41-50    51- 60    over 60
4 How old were you when you learnt that your relation was T*?
Under 16    16-20    21-25    26-30    31-35    36-40    41-50    51- 60    over 60
5 Did YOU seek counselling with regard to your relation's cross dressing/ transsexualism?
yes   no
your own instigation   because of pressure from your relation or others to seek "help"
how long did your counselling last
sessions over years months

what did you hope to gain from the counselling:
to try to find ways of stopping your relation dressing    to come to terms with your relation's dressing/ transsexualism
other - please specify

did the counselling achieve what you hoped it would (partly or completely)?
yes    no
did it help in ways which you had not expected
yes    no
If it helped in unexpected ways, please specify:

Did you consider the counselling to be
no use at all    some minimal benefit   quite useful    very useful   extremely beneficial
6 What was your reaction to learning that your relation cross dressed (tick all that apply)?

total rejection
anger/ hurt that your relation had kept it secret
asked that your relation seek help to stop
asked if your relation was gay
asked if your relation planned to have sex change
concern about what neighbours/ family would think
asked that it be kept secret from your children
you would prefer that your relation stop - but ignore it
tolerance - providing you did not see your relation dressed and your relation was discrete
you asked questions and tried to understand
you sought help from other sources to understand the condition
you sought counselling for yourself
acceptance; you had no significant problem with seeing your relation dressed but would not get involved
actively involved, you help your relation with make up advice, shopping etc
total involvement - you go out with your relation dressed

Other comments:
7 Has your attitude changed since learning about your relation cross dressing?
yes   no

if yes has your attitude become
more tolerant/ understanding   less tolerant/ understanding
8 What was your reaction to learning that your relation is transsexual (tick all that apply)?

total rejection
anger/ hurt
extreme concern and a desire that your relation seek help to get cured
you accepted the situation
you sought help to understand the condition
concern about what the neighbours/ family would think
you wanted it kept secret from children as long as possible
actively involved, you helped your relation with make up advice, shopping etc

9 Has you attitude changed since learning that your relation is TS
yes   no

if yes has your attitude become
more tolerant   less tolerant

If your attitude has become more tolerant, how long did this take?
less than 6 months    6 to 12 months    1 to 2 years    2 to 3 years    more than 3 years

10 How would you describe your relationship now?
antagonistic
cool. We talk politely when necessary
Quite amicable
Close
about the same as it was before learning that they are TS
11 please consider the usual claimed causes of transgenderism and indicate what you consider to be their order of importance
1 most important, 4 least important - leave blank any factors you consider not at all relevant:

conditioning / the way we were brought up
genetic influences
influences during the development of the foetus during pregnancy eg effect of testosterone
other causes (please specify)
I do not know/ have no opinion
12 what do you think of transvestism/ cross dressing:
tick all you think apply

1 disgusting
2 a sickness which can be cured
3 should not be allowed in public
4 they should not be allowed near children
5 ridiculous
6 they are all gay
7 they do it to attract men for sex
8 if that's what they want to do, let them get on with it - so long as I don't see it
9 it's sinful
10 not interested in understanding it
11 a medical condition which should be accepted
13 what is your view of transsexualism:
tick all you think apply

1 disgusting
2 a sickness which can be cured
3 it's wrong to mutilate a healthy body by having sex change
4 should not be allowed in public
5 it's a sin
6 they should not be allowed near children
7 ridiculous
8 they are all gay
9 they do it to attract men for sex
10 if that's what they want to do, let them get on with it - so long as I don't see it
11 they are failed "men"
12 whatever they do they'll never be real women
13 treatment should not be allowed on the National Health Service
14 a medical condition which should be accepted
14 Would you agree or disagree with the view that
"Transsexualism is a medical condition - whilst transvestism/ cross dressing is a perversion?"

strongly agree
tend to agree
neither agree nor disagree/ no opinion
tend to disagree
strongly disagree
15 Sexuality - if you are over 16 do you consider yourself to be
heterosexual    gay/ lesbian    bisexual    a-sexual (no interest in sex)
16 For male relations only: have you, personally, ever crossdressed?
No - not even for a joke
Yes but only for a joke/ party/ fancy dress/ charity collection etc
Yes occasionally
Yes I am also TV/CD
I am transsexual
17 If you are also TG, does your relation know?
No    Yes
18 Ethnic Background; are you:
Asian    Afro-caribbean    White    Mixed    Other
19 Religious Background; are you:
Christian - Roman Catholic    Christian - Anglican    Christian - Non Conformist/Other
Jewish    Buddhist    Muslim    Other    None

Thank you very much for your patience. I will publish summaries of the results as soon as I can

Helen Dale

I am also trying to collate some "control" data on childhood experiences, education and interests from the general public to use as a comparison with the response from TGs. If you can spare the time to complete a further questionnaire (if you have not already done so for me), it would be very much appreciated.

Please use your browser "back" button to return to this form after submitting your response then click on:

Background Questionnaire
Personal Pages - Including my views of what makes us TG and my diary including my thoughts prior to coming out to my family and others. If you are looking to understand TGism, you might find it helpful

I really do appreciate that having a relative who is Transgendered - especially one who is TS - is not easy and that filling in this questionnaire may have been painful. So please accept my grateful thanks for your time and trouble

By the way, a mailing list I belong to has partners/ relations of TG individuals and are currently (28/9/99) talking of setting up a support network for other partners and families of TGs. Please e-mail me if you would like details. e-mail me at trojan@globalnet.co.uk