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1he Language of Gender
1he power of language Lo shape our percepLlons of oLher people ls lmmense. reclse use of Lerms ln
regards Lo gender can have a slgnlflcanL lmpacL on demysLlfylng many of Lhe mlspercepLlons assoclaLed
wlLh gender. Powever, Lhe vocabulary of gender conLlnues Lo evolve and Lhere ls noL unlversal agreemenL
abouL Lhe deflnlLlons of many Lerms. noneLheless, here ls some worklng language and examples of
frequenLly used (and mlsused) Lerms. We offer Lhem as a sLarLlng place for dlalogue and undersLandlng,
whlch beglns wlLh a shared undersLandlng of how a parLlcular Lerm ls belng used, raLher Lhan an asserLlon
LhaL Lhey represenL Lhe flnal or only flnal deflnlLlon of Lhe varlous Lerms.

8|o|og|ca|]Anatom|ca| Sex. 1he physlcal sLrucLure of one's genlLalla used Lo asslgn sex aL blrLh. ln addlLlon
Lo Lhese, blologlcal sex lncludes chromosomes, hormones and lnLernal organs and oLher sLrucLures relaLed
Lo reproducLlon. Clven Lhe poLenLlal varlaLlon ln all of Lhese, blologlcal sex musL be seen as a specLrum or
range of posslblllLles raLher Lhan a blnary seL of only Lwo opLlons (see lnLersex").
Gender Ident|ty. Cne's lnnermosL core concepL of self whlch can lnclude male, female, a blend of boLh or
nelLher, and many more-how lndlvlduals percelve Lhemselves and whaL Lhey call Lhemselves. Cne's
gender ldenLlLy can be Lhe same or dlfferenL Lhan Lhe sex asslgned aL blrLh. lndlvlduals become consclous
of Lhls beLween Lhe ages 18 monLhs and 3 years. MosL people develop a gender ldenLlLy LhaL maLches
Lhelr blologlcal sex. lor some, however, Lhelr gender ldenLlLy ls dlfferenL from Lhelr blologlcal or asslgned
sex. Some of Lhese lndlvlduals choose Lo soclally, hormonally and/or surglcally change Lhelr physlcal
appearance Lo more fully maLch Lhelr gender ldenLlLy and some do noL.
Gender Lxpress|on. 8efers Lo Lhe ways ln whlch people exLernally communlcaLe Lhelr gender ldenLlLy Lo
oLhers Lhrough behavlor, cloLhlng, halrsLyle, volce, and oLher forms of presenLaLlon. Cender expresslon
also works Lhe oLher way as people asslgn gender Lo oLhers based on Lhelr appearance, mannerlsms, and
oLher arLlflclally gendered characLerlsLlcs. When referred Lo as a culLurally consLrucLed concepL," gender
expresslon ln mosL ofLen Lhe dlmenslon belng descrlbed. Cender expresslon should noL be vlewed as an
lndlcaLlon of sexual orlenLaLlon.
Gender ko|e. 1hls ls Lhe seL of roles, acLlvlLles, expecLaLlons and behavlors commonly assoclaLed wlLh
females and males by socleLy. Cur culLure recognlzes Lwo baslc gender roles: Mascullne (havlng Lhe
quallLles Lyplcally aLLrlbuLed Lo males) and femlnlne (havlng Lhe quallLles Lyplcally aLLrlbuLed Lo females).
1here are socleLles LhroughouL Lhe world LhaL have more nuanced noLlons abouL gender roles, wlLh Lhree
or more deslgnaLlons.
1ransgender. SomeLlmes used as an umbrella Lerm Lo descrlbe anyone whose ldenLlLy or behavlor falls
ouLslde of sLereoLyplcal gender norms. More narrowly deflned, lL refers Lo an lndlvldual whose gender
ldenLlLy does noL maLch Lhelr asslgned blrLh sex. 8elng Lransgender does noL lmply any speclflc sexual
orlenLaLlon (aLLracLlon Lo people of a speclflc sex and/or gender.) 1herefore, Lransgender people may
addlLlonally ldenLlfy as sLralghL, gay, lesblan, blsexual, pansexual, eLc.
Sexua| Cr|entat|on. 1erm LhaL refers Lo belng physlcally, romanLlcally or sexually aLLracLed Lo people of a
speclflc gender and/or sex. Cur sexual orlenLaLlon and our gender ldenLlLy are separaLe, dlsLlncL parLs of
our overall ldenLlLy. AlLhough a chlld may noL yeL be aware of Lhelr sexual orlenLaLlon, Lhey usually have a
sLrong sense of Lhelr gender ldenLlLy.
Genderqueer. 1hls Lerm represenLs a blurrlng of Lhe llnes around gender and sexual orlenLaLlon.
Cenderqueer lndlvlduals Lyplcally re[ecL noLlons of sLaLlc caLegorles of gender and embrace a fluldlLy of
gender ldenLlLy and sexual orlenLaLlon. 1hls Lerm ls Lyplcally used as an ldenLlfler for Leens or adulLs and
noL used ln reference Lo pre-adolescenL chlldren.



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C|sgender]Gender Normat|ve. 8efers Lo people whose sex asslgnmenL aL blrLh corresponds Lo Lhelr
gender ldenLlLy, and ofLen Lhelr expresslon (!"#$ from LaLln meanlng "on Lhe same slde [as]" or "on Lhls
slde [of]." ln conLrasL Lo %&'(#- from Lhe LaLln rooL meanlng "across", "beyond" or "on Lhe opposlLe slde").
Gender-expans|ve. An umbrella Lerm used for lndlvlduals LhaL broaden Lhelr own culLure's commonly
held deflnlLlons of gender, lncludlng expecLaLlons for lLs expresslon, ldenLlLles, roles, and/or oLher
percelved gender norms. Cender-expanslve lndlvlduals lnclude Lhose who ldenLlfy as Lransgender, as well
as anyone else whose gender ln some way ls seen Lo be sLreLchlng Lhe surroundlng socleLy's noLlons of
gender.

Cross Gender. SomeLlmes used Lo descrlbe chlldren who have adopLed aLLrlbuLes LhaL Lransgress Lhe
usual soclally asslgned gender roles or expecLaLlons, or who do noL ldenLlfy as elLher of Lhe Lwo sexes as
currenLly deflned.
Gender I|u|d|ty: Cender fluldlLy conveys a wlder, more flexlble range of gender expresslon or ldenLlLy,
wlLh lnLeresLs and behavlors LhaL may change, even from day Lo day. Cender fluld chlldren do noL feel
conflned by resLrlcLlve boundarles of sLereoLyplcal expecLaLlons of glrls or boys. ln oLher words, a chlld
may feel Lhey are a glrl some days and a boy on oLhers, or a comblnaLlon, or posslbly feel LhaL nelLher
Lerm descrlbes Lhem accuraLely.

DSD]Intersex: ulsorders/ulfferences of Sexual uevelopmenL. AbouL 1 of chlldren are born wlLh
chromosomes, hormones, genlLalla and/or oLher sex characLerlsLlcs LhaL are noL excluslvely male or
female as deflned by Lhe medlcal esLabllshmenL ln our socleLy. ln mosL cases, Lhese chlldren are aL no
medlcal rlsk, buL mosL are asslgned a blologlcal sex (male or female) by Lhelr docLors and/or famllles.
ItM (Iema|e to Ma|e)]Aff|rmed ma|e]transboy. A chlld or adulL who was born anaLomlcally female buL
has a male gender ldenLlLy. 1hls lndlvldual may or may noL have undergone a LranslLlon of some sorL.
MtI (Ma|e to Iema|e)]Aff|rmed fema|e]transg|r|. A chlld or adulL who was born anaLomlcally male buL
has a female gender ldenLlLy. 1hls lndlvldual may or may noL have undergone a LranslLlon of some sorL.
Gender. A soclally consLrucLed sysLem of classlflcaLlon LhaL ascrlbes quallLles of mascullnlLy and femlnlnlLy
Lo people. Cender expecLaLlons and norms can change over Llme and are dlfferenL beLween culLures.
Cender ls ofLen used synonymously, and lncorrecLly wlLh sex, buL Lhls ls lnaccuraLe because sex refers Lo
physlcal/blologlcal characLerlsLlcs and gender refers Lo soclal and emoLlonal aLLrlbuLes.

1rans|t|on: 1he process by whlch a Lransgender lndlvldual sLrlves Lo have physlcal presenLaLlon more
closely allgn wlLh ldenLlLy. 1ranslLlon can occur ln Lhree ways: #)!"'* %&'(#"%")( Lhrough non-permanenL
changes ln such Lhlngs as cloLhlng, halrsLyle, name and/or pronouns, ,-."!'* %&'(#"%")( Lhrough Lhe use of
medlclnes such as hormone blockers" or cross hormones Lo promoLe gender-based body changes,
and/or #/&0"!'* %&'(#"%")( ln whlch an lndlvldual's body ls modlfled Lhrough Lhe addlLlon or removal of
gender-relaLed physlcal LralLs.
1ranssexua|s. lndlvlduals who do noL ldenLlfy wlLh Lhelr blrLh-asslgned genders and physlcally alLer Lhelr
bodles surglcally and/or hormonally. 1hls physlcal LranslLlon ls a compllcaLed, mulLl-sLep process LhaL may
Lake years and may lnclude, buL ls noL llmlLed Lo, sex reasslgnmenL surgery.
1ransphob|a. lear or haLred of Lransgender people, Lransphobla ls manlfesLed ln a number of ways,
lncludlng vlolence, harassmenL, and dlscrlmlnaLlon.