GenderQueer: An identity commonly used by people who do not identify or express their gender within the gender binary. For transgender people, their sex assigned at birth and their gender identity is not necessarily the same. Everyone has a gender identity, including you. Gender Identity: One’s internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, or other gender(s). Gender Fluid: A changing or “fluid” gender identity. Someone with a gender nonconforming gender expression may or may not be transgender. Many transgender people seek to make their gender expression (how they look) match their gender identity (who they are), rather than their sex assigned at birth. (typically referred to as masculine or feminine). Gender Expression: The physical manifestation of one’s gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, voice, body shape, etc. Gender Dysphoria: Anxiety and/or discomfort regarding one’s sex assigned at birth.
This system is oppressive to anyone who defies their sex assigned at birth, but particularly those who are gender-variant or do not fit neatly into one of the two standard categories. Gender Binary: A system of viewing gender as consisting solely of two, opposite categories, termed “male and female”, in which no other possibilities for gender or anatomy are believed to exist.
Note that cisgender does not have an “ed” at the end.Ĭissexism: Systemic prejudice in the favor of cisgender people. Cis is not a “fake” word and is not a slur. In discussions regarding trans issues, one would differentiate between women who are trans and women who aren’t by saying trans women and cis women. “Cisgender” does not indicate biology, gender expression, or sexuality/sexual orientation. Do not confuse this term with Two-Spirit, which is specifically associated with Native American and First Nations cultures.īottom Surgery: Genital surgeries such as vaginoplasty, phalloplasty, or metoidioplasty.Ĭisgender: Adjective that means “identifies as their sex assigned at birth” derived from the Latin word meaning “on the same side.” A cisgender/cis person is not transgender. Can also identify as multigender (identifying as two or more genders).
This may be used as an umbrella term for other emotional attractions such as demisexual.īigender: Refers to those who identify as two genders. A person should not self-identify as an ally but show that they are one through action.Īsexual: The lack of a sexual attraction, and one identifying with this orientation. Allies are not part of the communities they help. As a new and quickly-evolving term, it is best you ask how someone defines agender for themselves.Īlly: Someone who advocates and supports a community other than their own. This term is preferred to “biological male/female”, “male/female bodied”, “natal male/female”, and “born male/female”, which are defamatory and inaccurate.Īgender: An umbrella term encompassing many different genders of people who commonly do not have a gender and/or have a gender that they describe as neutral. No one, whether cis or trans, gets to choose what sex they’re assigned at birth. However, this is a strong reference guide.ĪFAB, AMAB: Acronyms meaning “assigned female/male at birth” (also designated female/male at birth or female/male assigned at birth). This is not an expansive list of all queer and trans spectrum community language. The Gender Unicorn, Trans Student Educational Resources