Words are powerful. They help people to understand themselves, each other, and the world around them. Words are used to help generate ideas, learn and grow, and share stories and information with others. Many LGBTQIA+ people use specific labels to express who they are and to give names to their lived experiences. These terms can help others to understand them and how they wish to be seen.
A guide to LGBTQIA+ terms and their definitions
If you’re not certain about the difference between sex and gender, or how they relate to someone’s identity, you’ve come to the right place! Language is constantly evolving, and sometimes a word doesn’t exist yet for a certain experience, so a new one must be created. This guide does not include everything. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please contact us, and be sure to check back here regularly for updates!
What words should I use to describe LGBTQIA+ people?
Rather than making assumptions or deciding we know best, it’s important to use the terms that a person uses to describe their own identity. If you’re not sure how to respectfully refer to someone, simply ask them privately.
A
Ace
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- Short for asexual, meaning the sexual orientation, or spectrum of identities, associated with experiencing no sexual attraction towards anyone.
Agender
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- A person who does not identify with any gender.
Aggressive, AG
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- A masculine lesbian gender identity, which originated in the African-American community.
AIS (androgen insensitivity syndrome)
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- A biological intersex condition that makes a fetus with XY chromosomes unable to develop male sex organs, causing female genitals at birth and throughout life. Usually raised as girls, individuals with AIS do not have reproductive organs, do not menstruate, are infertile, and can have vaginas that are too shallow for penis-in-vagina sex.
Ally
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- A heterosexual and/or cisgender person who supports and advocates for LGBTQIA+ people.
Androgynous, Androgyne
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- A gender expression that is gender neutral, or mixes masculinity and femininity.
Androgens
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- Hormones that stimulate male genital development in the womb and secondary male sex characteristics during puberty. Large amounts are produced in testicles and small amounts are produced in ovaries. The most common androgen is testosterone.
Aromantic
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- A person who does not experience romantic or emotional attraction. Aromantics may experience little or no emotional attraction, or experience some emotional attraction but not be interested in romantic relationships. People who are aromantic may still identify with a specific sexual and/or romantic orientation such as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, queer, etc.
Asexual, Ace
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- A person who does not experience sexual attraction. Asexuals may experience little or no sexual attraction, or experience attraction but not feel the need to act it out sexually. Many people who are asexual still identify with a specific sexual and/or romantic orientation such as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, queer, etc.
Assigned Sex
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- The sex assigned to an infant at birth based on the appearance of the child’s genitalia. See also: Gender, Intersex, Sex
B
Bigender
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- Someone who identifies with two distinct genders, such as man/woman or woman/androgyne.
Biphobia
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- Intolerance, bias, or prejudice towards bisexual people, often based on stereotypes, including inaccurate associations with infidelity, promiscuity, and transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
Bisexual, Bi
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- Any person who experiences sexual attraction to people of their own gender as well as other genders. People may experience this attraction in differing ways and degrees over their lifetime. Bisexual people do not need to have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual. Some people use the label biromantic instead of bisexual to refer to romantic or emotional attraction. Some people use the word bisexual as an umbrella term to describe individuals that are attracted to more than one gender. See also: Pansexual, Omnisexual
Butch
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- A masculine gender expression. Butch is sometimes used as a derogatory term for lesbians, but it can also be claimed as an affirmative identity label. In many communities of color in the United States, words like “stud” and “aggressive” are commonly used instead.
C
Cisgender, Cis (pronounced sis-gender)
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- A person who feels comfortable with the gender identity commonly associated with the sex they were assigned at birth: in other words, a person who is not transgender. The term cisgender is sometimes shortened to cis. A cisgender or cis woman is a woman who was assigned female at birth. A cis man is a man who was assigned male at birth.
Civil Union
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- A form of legal relationship recognition for same-sex couples that offers some or all of the rights, protections, and responsibilities of marriage. While many countries have now legalized marriage for same-sex couples, others only legally recognize same-sex relationships through civil unions.
Closeted
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- A person who is not open about their sexual orientation. It is better to simply refer to someone as “not out.” Some individuals may be out to some people in their life, but not out to others. This may be due to fear of rejection, harassment, violence, losing one’s job, or other concerns.
Coming Out
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- A process of understanding and accepting one’s own sexual orientation and/or gender identity. For many people this involves sharing that identity with others, which makes it more of a lifetime process rather than just a one-time experience.
Cross-dresser
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- A person, typically a cisgender man, who sometimes wears feminine clothing for emotional satisfaction, for fun, to entertain, for sexual enjoyment, or to make a political statement about gender roles.
D
Demiboy
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- A gender identity leaning towards feminine but not quite identifying as female. Sort of a middle ground between boy/man and nonbinary.
Demigirl
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- A gender identity leaning towards masculine but not quite identifying as male. Sort of a middle ground between girl/woman and nonbinary.
Demisexual
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- Someone who can only be sexually attracted to people they are already romantically or emotionally attracted to, and/or after a strong intimate bond is formed.
Down-low (According to Wikipedia)
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- Down-low is an African American slang term that typically refers to a subculture of Black men who usually identify as heterosexual, but who have sex with men; some avoid sharing this information even if they have female sexual partners, they are married to a woman, or they are single.
Drag
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- The act of performing a gender or presenting as a different gender, usually for the purpose of entertainment (i.e., drag kings and queens). Many people who do drag may not wish to present as a different gender all of the time. Being transgender is not the same thing as being a drag queen, drag king, or the more outdated terms crossdresser or transvestite (both of which are often considered offensive). Drag queens and drag kings represent characters, while transgender people are real-life people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.
F
Fa’afafine
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- Faʻafafine are people who have a third gender or nonbinary role in Samoa, American Samoa, and the Samoan diaspora. Fa’afafine is a Samoan word which can be translated to “in the manner of a woman.” See also: Fakaleitī, Māhū
Fakaleitī, Leiti, Fakafefine
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- A Tongan individual assigned male at birth who has a feminine gender expression. The term fakaleitī can be translated to “in the manner of a lady.” Many fakaleitī prefer to call themselves leitī or ladies. They may or may not associate with Western LGBTQIA+ identities and communities. See also: Fa’afafine, Māhū
Female-to-male Transgender
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- A trans person whose sex assignment at birth was female but whose gender identity is male. May prefer the identity trans man, or simply man. These identities can also refer to someone who was surgically assigned female at birth, in the case of intersex people, but whose gender identity is male.
Femme (pronounced ‘fem’)
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- A feminine gender identity that is heavily associated with working-class lesbian history, but can be used by a LGBTQIA+ person of any gender.
Feminine
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- Characteristics and ways of appearing and behaving that a culture associates with being a girl or a woman.
Futch
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- A gender identity that is a combination of femme and butch, so one containing feminine and masculine elements.
G
Gay
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- Men who are attracted to men. Gay is also often used as an umbrella term for anyone who is attracted to people of their same gender. Avoid identifying gay people as “homosexuals” or “homos,” this is derogatory and offensive.
Gay Bashing
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- Physical or verbal violence against people who are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
Gay Liberation Movement
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- The civil rights movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender women and men from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s.
Gender
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- A complex system of identities, expressions, and roles that are usually assigned to people based on the appearance of their genitals at birth, for example: woman, man. How gender is represented and defined varies from culture to culture and from person to person. The gender that someone is assigned at birth may be different to their gender identity and/or their gender expression. Gender is different from sex, although they are often confused. Sex is a medical term, describing a set of factors related to the human reproductive system, for example: female, male, intersex. See also: Intersex, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, Romantic Orientation, Sex, Sexual Orientation
Gender Affirmation Surgery
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- Medical procedures that some people choose to undergo to change their physical appearance to more closely resemble their gender identity. Avoid using inaccurate phrases such as “sex change,” “gender reassignment surgery,” or “pre- or post-operative.” In general, avoid overemphasizing surgery when discussing transgender people or the process of transition.
Gender Assignment
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- The medical and legal description of one’s sex, determined at birth.
Gender Binary
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- The idea that men and women are the only two genders, that these are opposites, and that every person must be comfortable in their gender identity, expression, and role that is assigned to them at birth. The gender binary is limiting, and does not reflect the diversity of genders that exist.
Gender Conforming
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- A person whose gender expression is consistent with cultural norms expected for the gender assigned to them. These norms include the ideas that “boys and men should be masculine,” and “girls and women should be feminine.” Not all cisgender people are gender conforming, and not all transgender people are gender nonconforming.
Gender Dysphoria
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- Distress and discomfort caused by a dissonance between a person’s gender identity and their sex characteristics, by restrictions and barriers to gender affirming medical care and/or by social pressures to present themselves as a gender at odds with their identity. Not all transgender people experience gender dysphoria, nor is all stress or discomfort experienced by transgender people considered gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is the medical diagnosis for being transgender as defined by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5). This is controversial because it implies that being transgender is a mental illness rather than a valid identity. At the same time, a formal diagnosis is generally required in order to receive or provide treatment in many countries, so this enables access to medical care for some people who wouldn’t otherwise be eligible to receive it. Although some transgender people seek routes to medically affirm their gender, not everyone does.
Gender Euphoria
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- A psychological condition of comfort or joy when thinking about or expressing one’s true gender identity.
Gender Expansive
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- An umbrella term for people who do not identify with traditional gender roles but are otherwise not confined to one gender narrative or experience.
Gender Expression
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- How someone expresses themselves in relation to gender. This can include clothing, hairstyle, makeup, way of speaking, body language, names, pronouns, etc. Gender expression is typically categorized as masculine, feminine, or androgynous. All people express a gender. Gender expression may or may not be in line with what is expected based on a person’s assigned sex or gender identity.
Gender Fluidity
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- A sense that one’s gender identity or expression can change over time or even from day to day. For some people, gender fluid is a gender identity. A gender fluid person may feel male on some days, female on others, both male and female, or neither. A gender fluid person might also identify as genderqueer.
Gender Identity
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- A person’s internal sense of who they are, and the gender with which they identify themselves. Gender identities other than man or woman are considered to be nonbinary. Gender identity is often confused with sexual orientation, but they are separate concepts. Gender identity is about who you are, while sexual orientation is about who you are attracted to. Some people identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, while others identify only partly or not at all with the gender they were assigned at birth. Gender identity is internal and not visible to others, the visible part is called gender expression. There are many different gender identities, including: agender, bigender, boy/man, fa’afafine, genderqueer, girl/woman, māhū, neutrois, nonbinary, two-spirit, and stud, among others.
Gender Marker
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- The designation (M for male, F for female, or X for nonbinary) that appears on a person’s official records, such as a birth certificate or driver’s license. Usually the gender marker shows a person’s assigned sex. In some parts of the world it is possible for transgender people to legally change the gender marker on their documents to reflect their gender identity.
Gender Non-binary
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- When a person’s gender identity doesn’t fit inside traditional male or female categories.
Gender Nonconforming
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- A gender nonconforming person, either by nature or by choice, does not conform to cultural gender-based expectations. For example, some boys might be seen by others as “not masculine enough” while some girls or women are seen as “not feminine enough.” Not all transgender people are gender nonconforming, and not all gender nonconforming people identify as transgender. Cisgender people may also be gender nonconforming. Gender nonconformity is often inaccurately confused with sexual orientation.
Gender Norms
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- Social standards on appropriate feminine and masculine behavior.
Gender Roles
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- The two main established gender categories are girl/woman and boy/man. Around the world, gender categories carry with them different expectations for how people will behave in the world. These roles and stereotypes include ideas like “girls should play with dolls” and “boys don’t cry.”
Gender Scripting
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- The socialization process by which one is conditioned over their lifetime to adopt certain attitudes, behaviors, and preferences considered appropriate for one’s gender, either feminine or masculine.
Gender Stereotype
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- Expectations of the way boys/men or girls/women should behave.
Gender Transition
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- The process of adopting a new public gender identity, changing gender markers and/or names in documentation, and/or medically altering one’s body to better match with the gender and/or sex with which one identifies.
Genderfluid
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- A gender identity which refers to a gender which varies over time.
Genderqueer
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- Someone whose gender identity is neither man nor woman, who is between or beyond genders, or is a combination of genders.
H
Hermaphrodite
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- An outdated and often offensive term for someone who is intersex. Many intersex people find this term offensive, though some don’t. Only refer to someone as a hermaphrodite if they tell you that’s how they identify.
Heterosexism
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- The belief that heterosexuality is better than other sexual orientations.
Heterosexual, Straight
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- Someone who is attracted to people of the opposite sex, for example women who are attracted to men and men who are attracted to women. Heterosexuals may be cisgender or transgender. For example, some transgender men identify as straight because they are attracted to women.
Hijra
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- A Hindustani word for eunuchs, intersex people, and transgender people. Hijras have a recorded history in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times and are officially recognized as a third gender. The hijra community in India prefer to call themselves kinnar or kinner, referring to the mythological beings of the same name that excel at song and dance. In Pakistan, the term Khawaja Sira is the equivalent of transgender in the Urdu language.
Homophobia
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- Intolerance, bias, or prejudice towards people who are attracted to the same sex.
Homosexual
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- An outdated clinical term for gay men, which is considered derogatory and offensive.
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
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- A combination of hormones (like estrogen or testosterone) or hormone-blockers used in transgender care to help a person have secondary sex characteristics in line with their gender identity.
Hyperfemininity
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- The exaggeration of gender-stereotyped feminine behavior.
Hypermasculinity
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- The exaggeration of gender-stereotyped masculine behavior.
I
Infatuation
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- Intense, usually short-lived, emotional or sexual attraction to another person.
Intersex
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- An umbrella term that describes a person with reproductive or sexual anatomy and/or a chromosome pattern that does not fit typical binary notions of a male or female body. These variations are also sometimes referred to as differences of sex development (DSD). There is a growing movement worldwide to stop harmful and medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex babies. Intersex individuals may shift along the sex spectrum during different life stages such as puberty. The existence of intersex people shows that there are more than just two sexes, and the lines between sexes can be blurry. Avoid the outdated and derogatory term “hermaphrodite.” Some people who are intersex may identify with the gender assigned to them at birth, while many others do not. While some people may be intersex and also identify as transgender, these two concepts are not the same thing.
Internal Sex and Reproductive Organs
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- The organs inside the body that are responsible for reproduction. Internal reproductive organs that respond to sexual stimulation (like the vagina) are also called sex organs.
Intersectionality
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- When ethnicity, race, class, gender, and/or ability intersect or meet and a person or group experiences discrimination or a disadvantage. Example: If we are aware of intersectionality, we can acknowledge our differences and better support each other.
L
Lhamana
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- A third gender among members of the Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. Lhamana wear a mixture of women’s and men’s clothing, move between the rights and responsibilities of males and females, and act as a bridge and balance in Zuni society. Some lhamana participate in the North American two-spirit community.
Lesbian
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- A woman who is attracted to other women. Some lesbians prefer to identify as gay women. Lesbians may be cisgender or transgender. Avoid calling lesbians “homosexuals,” this is an offensive and derogatory term.
LGBTQIA+
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- Acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, plus. The “plus” is a shortened way to include identities such as queer, questioning, asexual, intersex, two-spirit, and others. You may see other arrangements of these letters such as LGBTQ, LGBTQIA, LGBTQ2S.
Lust
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- Sexual desire for someone.
M
Māhū
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- In Native Hawaiian and Tahitian cultures māhū are third gender persons with traditional spiritual and social roles within the culture, similar to Tongan fakaleitī and Samoan fa’afafine. Both historically and today, māhū can be assigned female or male at birth. See also: Fakaleitī , Fa’afafine
Marriage
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- In some places people of any gender can get married, while in some places only heterosexual couples can marry. Use the terms marriage equality and marriage for same-sex couples. The terms “gay marriage” and “same-sex marriage” should be avoided, as they can suggest that marriage for same-sex couples is somehow different than other marriages. See also: Civil Union
Masculine
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- Characteristics and ways of appearing and behaving that society associates with being a boy or a man.
Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH)
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- An intersex condition in which the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped or absent.
Metrosexual
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- An urban heterosexual male who enhances his physical appearance by stylish coordinated clothing, is well groomed, and may have “gay characteristics” even though he is straight.
MTF (M2F) (male-to-female trans)
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- A trans person who was assigned male at birth, but whose gender identity is female. May prefer the identity trans woman, or simply woman. It can also refer to someone who was surgically assigned male at birth, in the case of intersex people, but whose gender identity is female.
Muxe
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- In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca, a muxe is a person assigned male at birth who dresses and behaves in ways otherwise associated with women.
N
Neurodiversity
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- The natural variations in the human brain around sociability, learning, attention, mood, and other cognitive functions. This diversity is a normal part of the human genome. Example: Society is neurodiverse.
Neurodivergence
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- Difference(s) in mental or neurological function from what is considered average or typical. Several recognized types of neurodivergence include autism spectrum, dyslexia, dyscalculia, epilepsy, hyperlexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tourette syndrome (TS), and PTSD. Example: The neurodivergent person celebrated their individuality.
Neurotypical
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- Neurotypical means being “neurologically typical” — within the average or typical range for human neurology. The opposite of neurodivergent. Example: As a neurotypical person, they were trying to learn more about their neurodivergent friend.
Neutrois
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- Neutrois is a nonbinary gender identity that falls under the genderqueer and/or transgender umbrellas. Neutrois people may identify as neither male nor female, genderless, or gender-neutral and some may medically and/or socially transition in order to remove or change attributes such as their name, pronouns, gender marker, and/or physical appearance. See also: Agender, Genderqueer
Neuroqueer
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- People who identify as neuroqueer often reject binary ideas of gender and sexual orientation. They can be nonconformists who think more radically about the term queer and disabled identities.
Nonbinary, Enby
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- A nonbinary gender is a gender identity other than man or woman. Nonbinary is an umbrella term for a spectrum of gender identities and expressions, including agender, bigender, genderqueer, neutrois, and genderfluid. Nonbinary can be shortened to Enby. To prevent confusion, avoid shortening nonbinary to NB — this acronym is also used to refer to Non-Black People of Color.
O
Omnisexual
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- Someone attracted to people of any gender identity. See also: Bisexual, Pansexual
Openly Gay
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- Someone who self-identifies as gay in their personal, public, and/or professional lives.
See also: openly lesbian, openly bisexual, openly transgender, openly queer
While this phrase is accurate and commonly used, it still implies that publicly acknowledging one’s sexual orientation or gender identity involves an element of confession. See also: Out.
- Someone who self-identifies as gay in their personal, public, and/or professional lives.
Out
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- A person who self-identifies as LGBTQIA+ in their personal, public, and/or professional lives. For example: Ricky Martin is an out pop star from Puerto Rico. Use “out” instead of “openly gay.”
Outing
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- The act of publicly declaring (sometimes based on rumor and/or speculation) or revealing another person’s sexual orientation or gender identity without that person’s consent. This is considered inappropriate by a large portion of the LGBTQIA+ community.
P
Panromantic
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- People who have romantic feelings for others regardless of their sex or gender, including genderqueer or agender people.
Pansexual, Pan
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- Pansexual can refer to a person who has the potential to be attracted to members of any gender and/or sex. Some people use the label Panromantic to refer to emotional or romantic expression. See also: Bisexual, Omnisexual
Platonic
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- Not sexual.
Pride
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- Pride events around the world celebrate LGBTQIA+ identities and global LGBTQIA+ communities’ resistance to discrimination and violence. Many pride events happen during June to commemorate the Stonewall riots which took place in New York City in June 1969.
Primary Sex Characteristics
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- Body parts that are related to reproduction or sexual functioning (like the penis, scrotum, vulva, vagina, uterus, and ovaries). It also includes the ability to produce eggs or sperm.
Pronouns
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- The words we use to refer to another person, such as he, she, they, zie/zir, and per. Some people prefer that their name is used instead of a pronoun. Avoid making assumptions. It’s best to ask which pronouns a person uses.
Q
Queer
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- An umbrella term for a range of people who are not heterosexual and/or cisgender. Queer has been historically used as a slur. Some people have reclaimed it as affirming, while others still consider it derogatory. Some people feel that terms like lesbian, gay, and bisexual are too limiting or carry cultural connotations they feel don’t apply to them, so they use the word queer to describe their sexual orientation. Some people use queer, or genderqueer, to describe their gender identity and/or gender expression. See also: Nonbinary, Genderqueer
Questioning
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- A time in many people’s lives when they question or experiment with their gender expression, gender identity, and/or sexual orientation. For some people questioning can last a lifetime or be repeated many times over the course of their life.
R
Romantic Orientation
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- Which gender or genders someone is romantically or emotionally attracted to. Sexual orientation is the tendency to feel sexual desire toward people of certain genders. Many of the terms used are the same or similar to the words used to describe sexual orientation (gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, queer, aromantic, panromantic, etc.) and apply to romantic orientation as well. Someone’s sexual orientation spectrum is not necessarily the same as their romantic orientation. A person may be physically attracted to or sexually intimate with someone that they are not romantically attracted to or “in love with.” They may also have loving and romantic attractions to people who they are not physically attracted to.
Secondary Sex Characteristics
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- Features of the body that are caused by hormones. They develop during puberty, or can be brought on by hormone replacement therapy (HRT). For people with vaginas, these include breast development and widened hips. For people with penises, they include facial hair development and voice deepening. And everyone develops pubic hair and underarm hair.
S
Sex
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- Sex is often confused with gender, but they are two different things. Sex is a medical term, describing a a set of factors related to the human reproductive system. These include chromosomes, hormones, internal and external sex organs, and secondary sex characteristics like breast tissue or facial hair. At birth, infants are commonly assigned a sex based on the appearance of their genitals. Aside from male and female, there are many different sexes: intersex is an umbrella term for these variations. See also: Intersex, Gender, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, Romantic Orientation, Sexual Orientation
Sex Assignment
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- The designation of biological sex (female, male, or intersex) usually made by a doctor at the birth of a child. The sex that appears on a person’s birth certificate.
Sex Spectrum
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- The concept of a continuum of anatomical sexes starting at one side with people that have typical male physiology, and moving towards people with typical female physiology on the other side, with intersex people in the middle. The sex spectrum is a rejection of the idea that there are only two binary sexes: male and female.
Sexophobia
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- Fear of sex/sexuality.
Sexual Minority
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- An individual or group whose gender identity, sexual behavior, sexual orientation, or sexual preference is thought to be outside socially accepted norms. Generally any group/identity that is outside of heterosexual, cisgender, or monogamous.
Sexual Norms
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- Social standards based on a society’s attitudes, customs, and expectations regarding sex and sexuality. In other words, things that are considered sexually “normal.”
Sexuality
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- Sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual preference, and the way these things interact with emotional, physical, social, and spiritual life. Sexuality is shaped by your family and the social norms of your community.
Sexual Orientation
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- Which gender or genders someone is sexually or physically attracted to. For example: gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, asexual, etc. For many people, gender or sex have a big impact on how sexually attractive they find someone, but this doesn’t mean that people who are attracted to a particular gender are attracted to all people of that gender or always unattracted to people of other genders. People do not need to have had any sexual experiences to know their own sexual orientation. A person’s sexual orientation may change during the course of their lifetime. Many people choose to label their sexual orientation, while others do not. What someone looks for in a sexual partner is not always the same as what they look for in a romantic partner, including gender. See also: Romantic Orientation
Sexual Preference
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- People, activities, or other things that you like, sexually.
Skoliosexual
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- Someone who experiences attraction toward nonbinary or agender people. Some people use the label Skolioromantic to refer to emotional or romantic attraction.
Stemme, Stem
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- A stud-femme. Someone whose gender expression is both masculine and feminine. See also: Androgynous, Butch, Stud, Femme.
Straight
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- Being attracted to people of the other gender. Heterosexual.
Stud
-
- A dominant lesbian identity and/or a masculine gender expression. The term originated in the African-American lesbian community.
T
Takatāpui
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- The Māori word meaning a devoted partner of the same sex. In modern terminology, a person who identifies as takatāpui is a Māori individual who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
Transgender, Trans
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- Someone whose gender does not match the sex assigned to them at birth. Transgender is a term and concept that includes a wide variety of gender labels including male, female, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, genderqueer, transmasculine, transfeminine, agender, and more. A transgender woman is a person who was assigned male at birth based on her anatomy but who identifies as a woman. A transgender man is a person who was assigned female at birth based on his anatomy but who identifies as a man. Some men who were assigned female at birth do not embrace trans labels, and some women who were assigned male at birth do not embrace trans labels. These people may identify themselves simply as a man or a woman. Avoid using transgender as a noun, as in “a transgender,” or with an extra -ed on the end, as in “transgendered.” Also avoid joining the word trans together with someone’s gender (e.g., transman, transwoman). This should be written as two separate words: trans man, trans woman. See also: Agender, Cisgender, Nonbinary
Transition
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- The process through which some transgender people change their gender expression to more closely resemble how they view their gender identity. This can include personal, medical, and legal steps, such as: using a different name and pronouns, dressing differently, changing one’s name and/or sex on legal documents, hormone therapy, and/or gender affirmation surgery. Some transgender people may not choose to make these changes or may only make a few. The experience of transition is different for every individual; there is no right or wrong way to transition.
Transphobia
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- Fear and hatred of people who are, or are perceived to be, trans-identified or gender non-conforming.
Transsexual
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- An older medical term for someone who has undergone, or wishes to undergo, gender affirmation surgery. While still used as an identity label by some, “transgender” has generally become the term of choice.
Transvestite
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- An outdated term for a cross-dresser. Considered offensive by many.
Two-Spirit
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- A general term for people within Native American communities who blend the masculine and feminine, and can have defined spiritual and societal roles. Many Indigenous communities have unique terms for gender-variant members in their respective languages. Two-spirit culture was and remains threatened by extinction in the face of European and American colonization.
X
Xe (xe, xem, xyr, xyrs, xemself)
-
- A gender-neutral pronoun (or set of pronouns) some people use for themselves to replace “he,” “she,” or “they.”
Xx chromosomes
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- The pair of sex-differentiating chromosomes that leads to someone being born with a vagina, vulva, uterus, and ovaries. Babies with xx chromosomes are usually assigned female at birth.
Xy chromosomes
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- The pair of sex-differentiating chromosomes that leads to someone being born with a penis and scrotum. Babies with xy chromosomes are usually assigned male at birth.
Y
Yan Daudu
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- Shorthand for “men who act like women” in northern Nigeria’s Hausa language. The phrase means “sons of Daudu,” a fun-loving, gambling spirit worshipped in the Muslim Bori practice. Yan daudu people can have a variety of different sexual or romantic orientations: including straight, gay, or bisexual, among others.
Z
Ze (ze, zir, zirs, zirself)
-
- A gender-neutral pronoun (or set of pronouns) some people use for themselves to replace “he,” “she,” or “they.”
