gender glossary
Understanding the terminology used by LGBTQ+ communities is essential for fostering respectful, inclusive, and culturally safe healthcare environments. This glossary provides definitions of key concepts related to gender.
Agender: A term for people who do not identify themselves as having a particular gender. They may also identify as genderqueer or nonbinary
Assigned sex: Classification of people as male or female at birth, usually based on the body/genitalia. Also known as natal sex
Binding: Flattening the breasts using constrictive materials
Bisexual: Sexual attraction or sexual behavior toward both males and females
Bottom surgery: A surgery process that allows correction of body incongruence
Cisgender: Person whose gender identity and perception of their body aligns to their assigned sex
Dead name: A person’s birth name prior to social transition
De/Re-transition: The process of changing one’s gender presentation and/or sex characteristics back to one’s assigned sex after an earlier transition
Gatekeeping: Any requirement that controls or accesses services available to transgender people
Gender: A cognitive construct, representing the internal state of being “male” or “female,” as defined by social and cultural expectations rather than biological factors
Gender dysphoria: Conflict between a person’s physical or assigned gender and discomfort with the body or feeling of being in the “wrong” body
Gender expression: The ways in which people externally communicate gender identity to others (e.g., feminine, masculine, butch, androgynous, femme)
Gender fluid: The experience in which a person’s internal sense of gender varies. At different times, the person may identify as male, female, neutral, a nonbinary identity, or a combination of identities
Gender identity: A person’s internal sense of being male, female, both, neither, or other gender(s)
Gender marker: The legal indicator on birth certificates, driver’s licenses, passports, and other forms of government identification that indicate male (“M”) or female (“F”)
Gender nonbinary/gender nonconforming: Expressing oneself in ways that are not consistent with the societal norms for one’s assigned sex
Genderqueer: An umbrella term that encompasses many types of queer identities. It has been used as an adjective to refer to people who do not adhere to distinctions of gender, regardless of their self-defined gender identity
Intersectionality: The interconnected nature of social categorizations, such as race, class, and gender. These categorizations may apply to an individual or group and create overlapping systems of discrimination
LGBTQ+: An acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and all others within the queer community, based on one’s gender identity and sexual or romantic orientation
Microaggression: Everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slight, usually unintentional, that communicates derogatory or negative messages
Misgendering: Referring to someone using a word, especially a pronoun or form of address, that does not correctly reflect the gender with which the person identifies
Nonbinary, nonbinary gender: Any gender identity that does not fit the male and female binary. This is also known as genderqueer
Pass: A person’s ability to be regarded at a glance as either a cisgender man or woman
Queer: An umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities who are not heterosexual and/or not cisgender
Questioning: The questioning of one’s own gender, sexual identity, or sexual orientation; the process of exploration by people who may be unsure, still exploring, or concerned about applying a social label to themselves
Sexual orientation: An enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, affectional, and relational attraction to other people
Social transition: A process that occurs when a person makes changes in appearance or presentation in social situations to reflect gender identity
Top surgery: A surgery process that allows correction of body incongruence; for transfeminine people, this may involve breast augmentation; for transmasculine people, it may involve bilateral mastectomy and male chest reconstruction
Transgender/trans: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth
Transition: Process of developing and assuming a gender expression that corresponds with gender identity
Transphobia: The fear or, hatred of, and discrimination against, individuals who are transgender or gender nonbinary
Two-spirit: Term used by certain indigenous peoples to signify a third gender
