Transsexual is another, or third, recognised gender.
Executive summary
The label "transsexual" describes people who seek or have used medical means to align their bodies with a gender different from the sex assigned at birth; it is not a distinct "third gender" in the way that male/female/nonbinary are used as categories, but rather a term about transition and medical history that sits within broader gender-discourse [1] [2]. Major advocacy and health organizations typically treat transsexual as a subset or historical term within the wider transgender umbrella, while acknowledging that some people prefer the older label [3] [4].
1. What the word “transsexual” has meant historically and medically
Historically, "transsexual" referred to people who desire or undergo medical interventions—hormones or surgery—to change physical sex characteristics to match their gender identity; older psychiatric and diagnostic frameworks used the term and pathologized it until recent reclassifications, and modern descriptions still link transsexuality with medical transition in many sources [1] [5] [6].
2. Why it is not commonly framed as a separate "third gender"
Contemporary sources distinguish gender identity categories (man, woman, non-binary) from terms that describe transition or medical history; "transsexual" is typically used to describe a pathway or subset of people whose gender identity differs from assigned sex rather than a distinct, standalone gender category analogous to "male" or "female" [2] [3].
3. How major advocacy and medical groups place the term in current usage
Organizations such as GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign present "trans" or "transgender" as umbrella descriptors encompassing diverse experiences—including transsexual people when that term is chosen by individuals—and recommend using the language each person prefers rather than imposing "transsexual" as a category for everyone [4] [7] [3].
4. Non-binary and cultural conceptions complicate simple counting of genders
The rise and recognition of non-binary, genderqueer, agender and other identities has shown that gender need not be reducible to two fixed options or a single additional "third" slot; many people identify outside the binary or blend categories, and scholarly reviews note a proliferation of terms and cultural models rather than one unified taxonomy [8] [9].
5. Points of disagreement and personal preference
Some people who use "transsexual" embrace its emphasis on medical transition and personal history, while others reject it as outdated or pathologizing; scholars and activists note that "transgender" was adopted in part to be more inclusive, but also that not everyone who is described as transgender accepts that umbrella—research and activist writing document both positions [10] [3] [1].
6. Bottom line: answer to the question
"Transsexual" is not a separate grammatical or legal "third gender" category equivalent to male/female/non-binary; it is a term describing a set of experiences—often medical transition—that sits within broader gender discourse and is treated by major health and advocacy sources as a subset or historical label within the transgender landscape, with individual preference determining its use [1] [3] [7]. If the question is whether institutions universally recognize "transsexual" as a distinct gender category separate from man, woman, or non-binary, available reporting does not support that claim and shows instead a more nuanced, preference-driven reality [2] [8].