Pronouns and Terms

Advocate:  A person who actively works to end intolerance, educate others, and support social equity for a marginalized group. To actively support or plea in favor of a particular cause, the action of working to end intolerance or educate others.

Agender: A person with no (or very little) connection to the traditional system of gender, no personal alignment with the concepts of either man or woman, and/or someone who sees themselves as existing without gender. Sometimes called gender neutrois, gender neutral, or genderless.

Ally: A term used to describe someone who is actively supportive of LGBTQ people. It encompasses straight and cisgender allies, as well as those within the LGBTQ community who support each other (e.g., a lesbian who is an ally to the bisexual community).

Androgyny (androgynous): A gender expression that has elements of both masculinity and femininity; occasionally used in place of “intersex” to describe a person with both female and male anatomy, generally in the form “androgyne.”

Androsexual / androphilic: Being primarily sexually, romantically and/or emotionally attracted to men, males, and/or masculinity.

Aromantic: Experiencing little or no romantic attraction to others and/or has a lack of interest in romantic relationships/behavior. Aromanticism exists on a continuum from people who experience no romantic attraction or have any desire for romantic activities, to those who experience low levels, or romantic attraction only under specific conditions. Many of these different places on the continuum have their own identity labels (see demiromantic). Sometimes abbreviated to “aro” (pronounced like “arrow”).

Asexual: An umbrella term used to encompass identities for people who do not experience sexual and/or romantic attraction. Aromantic is another term to apply to the latter.

Bicurious: A curiosity toward experiencing attraction to people of the same gender/sex (similar to questioning).

Bigender: A person who fluctuates between traditionally “woman” and “man” gender-based behavior and identities, identifying with both genders (or sometimes identifying with either man or woman, as well as a third, different gender).

Binder: An undergarment used to alter or reduce the appearance of one’s breasts (worn similarly to how one wears a sports bra).

Binding: Ahe (sometimes daily) process of wearing a binder. Binding is often used to change the way other’s read/perceive one’s anatomical sex characteristics, and/or as a form of gender expression.

Biological sex: A medical term used to refer to the chromosomal, hormonal and anatomical characteristics that are used to classify an individual as female or male or intersex. Often referred to as simply “sex,” “physical sex,” “anatomical sex,” or specifically as “sex assigned at birth.”

Biphobia: The fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, people who love and are sexually attracted to more than one gender.

Bisexual/Pansexual: An identity for people who are sexually and/or emotionally attracted to men and/or women and/or individuals who fall outside of the gender binary. Usage of one term or the other may vary from person to person; some may use the terms interchangeably.

Cisgender: A person whose gender identity does not differ significantly from their sex assigned at birth.

Cisnormativity: The assumption, in individuals and in institutions, that everyone is cisgender, and that cisgender identities are superior to trans* identities and people. Leads to invisibility of non-cisgender identities.

Cissexism: Behavior that grants preferential treatment to cisgender people, reinforces the idea that being cisgender is somehow better or more “right” than being transgender, and/or makes other genders invisible.

Closeted: An individual who is not open to themselves or others about their (queer) sexuality or gender identity. This may be by choice and/or for other reasons such as fear for one’s safety, peer or family rejection, or disapproval and/or loss of housing, job, etc. Also known as being “in the closet.” When someone chooses to break this silence they “come out” of the closet.

Coming Out: The process in which a person first acknowledges, accepts and appreciates their sexual orientation or gender identity and begins to share that with others.

Demiromantic: Little or no capacity to experience romantic attraction until a strong sexual connection is formed with someone, often within a sexual relationship.

Demisexual: Little or no capacity to experience sexual attraction until a strong romantic connection is formed with someone, often within a romantic relationship.

FtM / F2M: Female-to-male transgender or transsexual person.

Gay: An identity for people who identify as men or non-binary and who are sexually and/or emotionally attracted to men. This term may also be used as an umbrella term analogous to queer.

Gender-affirming medical interventions:Hormone therapy or surgery to affirm one’s gender identity. This may include feminizing or masculinizing hormone therapy, chest/breast surgery, genital reconstructive surgery, and facial feminization surgery. Transgender and nonbinary individuals may or may not undergo one or more gender-affirming medical interventions.

Gender binary: A system in which gender is constructed into two strict categories of male or female. Gender identity is expected to align with the sex assigned at birth and gender expressions and roles fit traditional expectations.

Gender dysphoria: Clinically significant distress caused when a person's assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.

Gender-expansive: A person with a wider, more flexible range of gender identity and/or expression than typically associated with the binary gender system. Often used as an umbrella term when referring to young people still exploring the possibilities of their gender expression and/or gender identity.

Gender expression: A set of social and emotional traits, often influenced by societal expectations, that classify an individual as feminine, masculine, androgynous, etc.

Gender-fluid: A person who does not identify with a single fixed gender or has a fluid or unfixed gender identity.

Gender identity: Self-identification as boy/man, girl/woman, or other gender, such as gender nonbinary or genderqueer.

Gender nonbinary: An umbrella term used to describe gender identities that do not fit within the binary of boy/man, girl/woman. Some nonbinary individuals identify also as transgender; others do not.

Gender nonconforming: A term used by some to describe people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from what is typical or expected based on their sex assigned at birth and the gender binary.

Gender pronouns: Pronoun that specifically refer to people that you are talking about.

Genderqueer: Genderqueer people typically reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as "genderqueer" may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female or as falling completely outside these categories.

Heteronormativity: The assumption, in individuals and/or in institutions, that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is superior to all other sexualities. Leads to invisibility and stigmatizing of other sexualities: when learning a woman is married, asking her what her husband’s name is. Heteronormativity also leads us to assume that only masculine men and feminine women are straight.

Heterosexism: A term that applies to attitudes, bias, discrimination, and systemic forms of oppression that are in favor of heterosexual sexuality and relationships. It includes the presumption that everyone is or should be straight.

Heterosexual/straight: Experiencing attraction solely (or primarily) to some members of a different gender.

Homophobia: Refers to a fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or all LGBQ people. This can be understood as a destructive force that prevents many LGBQ people from securing safer, open, and equal lives.

Metrosexual: A man with a strong aesthetic sense who spends more time, energy, or money on his appearance and grooming than is considered gender normative.

MtF / M2F: male-to-female transgender or transsexual person.

Pansexual: Describes someone who has the potential for emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to people of any gender though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree. Sometimes used interchangeably with bisexual.

Passing: Trans* people being accepted as, or able to “pass for,” a member of their self-identified gender identity (regardless of sex assigned at birth) without being identified as trans*; an LGB/queer individual who is believed to be or perceived as straight.

Pronouns: Are words that refer to either the people talking (like you or I) or someone or something that is being talked about (like she, they, and this).

Puberty suppression: Early medical intervention to halt feminization and masculinization during pubertal development using GnRH analogues.

Queer: Originally a derogatory slur, it has been reclaimed by some to be an inclusive term for those within the LGBTQ+ community. Some individuals claim this identity to recognize the fluidity of sexual attraction and gender identity.

Questioning: An identity for people who are uncertain of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

QPOC / QTPOC: Initialisms that stand for queer people of color and queer and/or trans people of color.

Sex assigned at birth: Assignment as male, female, or a different sex at birth, typically based on the appearance of one’s external genitalia.

Sexual orientation: An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people. Note: an individual’s sexual orientation is independent of their gender identity.

Trans*: An umbrella term covering a range of identities that transgress socially-defined gender norms.  Trans with an asterisk is often used in written forms (not spoken) to indicate that you are referring to the larger group nature of the term, and specifically including non-binary identities, as well as transgender men (transmen) and transgender women (transwomen).

Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs significantly from their sex assigned at birth.

Transition: Social and/or physical changes a transgender individual may make to affirm their gender identity.

Transitioning: A series of processes that some transgender people may undergo in order to live more fully as their true gender. This typically includes social transition, such as changing name and pronouns, medical transition, which may include hormone therapy or gender affirming surgeries, and legal transition, which may include changing legal name and sex on government identity documents. Transgender people may choose to undergo some, all or none of these processes.

Transphobia: Refers to a fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against transgender, gender nonbinary, and nonconforming people. A destructive force that prevents members of these communities from securing safer, open, and equal lives.

Two-spirit: Is an umbrella term traditionally within Native American communities to recognize individuals who possess qualities or fulfill roles of both genders.

Ze / Zir: Alternate pronouns that are gender neutral and preferred by some trans* people. They replace “he” and “she” and “his” and “hers” respectively. Alternatively some people who are not comfortable/do not embrace he/she use the plural pronoun “they/their” as a gender neutral singular pronoun.