SEXUAL ORIENTATION
"Sexual orientation" is the preferred term used when referring to an individual's physical and/or emotional attraction to the same and/or opposite gender. "Gay," "lesbian," "bisexual" and "straight" are all examples of sexual orientations. A person's sexual orientation is distinct from a person's gender identity and expression.
gENDER IDENTITY
The term "gender identity," distinct from the term "sexual orientation," refers to a person's innate, deeply felt psychological identification as a man, woman or some other gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth (e.g., the sex listed on their birth certificate).
GENDER EXPRESSION
Gender expression refers to all of the external characteristics and behaviors that are socially defined as either masculine or feminine, such as dress, grooming, mannerisms, speech patterns and social interactions. Social or cultural norms can vary widely and some characteristics that may be accepted as masculine, feminine or neutral in one culture may not be assessed similarly in another.
Gender role
Gender Role refers to a pattern of appearance, personality and behavior that, in a given culture, is associated with being a boy/man/male or being a girl/woman/female. A person's gender role may or may not conform to what is expected based on a person's sex assigned at birth. Gender role may also refer to the social role one is living in (e.g., as a woman, a man or another gender), with some role characteristics conforming and others not conforming to what is associated with girls/women or boys/men in a given culture and time.
tRANSGENDER
Transgender – or trans – is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity or expression is different from those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth (e.g., the sex listed on their birth certificate). Not all people who consider themselves (or who may be considered by others as) transgender will undergo a gender transition
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GENDER TRANSITION
Transitioning is the process some transgender people go through to begin living as the gender with which they identify, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. This may or may not include hormone therapy, sex reassignment surgery and other medical procedures.
CROSS-DRESSER
Cross-dressing refers to people who wear clothing and/or makeup and accessories that are not traditionally associated with their biological sex. Cross-dressers are sometimes called "transvestites," but that term is considered pejorative.
Many people who cross-dress are comfortable with their assigned sex and generally do not wish to change it. Cross-dressing is a form of gender expression that is not necessarily indicative of a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation.
Many people who cross-dress are comfortable with their assigned sex and generally do not wish to change it. Cross-dressing is a form of gender expression that is not necessarily indicative of a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation.
GENDER DYSPHORIA
Gender dysphoria is a psychological diagnosis recognized by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). This disorder is marked by clinically significant distress caused by a marked difference between the
individual’s expressed/experienced gender and the gender others would assign him or her.
In 2012, the APA announced that the term "gender identity disorder" would be replaced by the more neutral term "gender dysphoria" in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
individual’s expressed/experienced gender and the gender others would assign him or her.
In 2012, the APA announced that the term "gender identity disorder" would be replaced by the more neutral term "gender dysphoria" in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
Gender Expansive
Conveys a wider, more flexible range of gender expression, with a range of interests and behaviors. Expanding beyond traditional gender stereotypes. It reinforces the notion that gender is not a binary, but a continuum; and that many children and adults express their gender in multiple ways.
InterSexuality
“Intersex” is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. Or a person may be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types—for example, a girl may be born with a noticeably large clitoris, or lacking a vaginal opening, or a boy may be born with a notably small penis, or with a scrotum that is divided so that it has formed more like labia. Or a person may be born with mosaic genetics, so that some of her cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY.