Confused by the terms used when reading about or discussing the Transgender community? Hopefully this glossary of commonly used terms will help!
The new gender of a person who has had their gender reassigned and/or legally recognised. It is possible for an individual to transition fully without surgical intervention.
See also: Gender Recognition CertificateA gender identityi that allows expression of both gender roles.
"A sexual orientationi describing individuals who do not experience sexual attraction or do not have interest in or desire for sex. Sometimes, it is considered a lack of a sexual orientationi. One commonly cited study placed the incidence rate of asexuality at 1%."
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexual
A person who feels that his/her gender includes both male and female elements.
"A sexual orientationi in which an individual can enjoy emotional and sexual relationships with persons of both genders."
from http://www.ifsha.org/glossary.htm#h
is a person who sometimes wears what social norms currently describe as clothes of the other gender. Cross dressers want to appear as convincing as possible as their other selves. The term is generally preferred to the term transvestite.
Living in the gender rolei of the opposite anatomical sex group.
is the practice of treating one person or group less fairly or less well than others. It can be direct or indirect. Direct discriminationi takes place when a person treats another person, on the basis of an attribute or characteristic, less favourably than a person without that attribute or characteristic. Indirect discriminationi takes place when a person imposes a condition, requirement or practice which is unreasonable or disadvantages a member of a group who shares or is believed to share an attribute on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, family responsibilities, sexuality, ethnicity, age, disability or physical characteristics.
See also: HarassmentThe field of medicine concerned with hormones, including the sex hormones: oestrogen and testosterone.
Facial feminization surgeryi (FFSi) refers to surgical procedures that alter the human face to bring its features closer in shape and size to those of an average female human. FFSi includes various bony and soft tissue procedures (see below) though the term "FFSi" is generally not regarded to include facial hair removal.
Synonyms: FFSFemale to male transsexuali person. A person who is changing, or has changed, gender rolei from male to female.
Usually a term for a male homosexuali although some (typically younger) female homosexuals also use the term.
"Once you have completed your RLE, and you and your clinic feel that you are ready, you may have surgery to permanently alter your sex.
For transi men, this may involve a hysterectomy (removal of the womb), a salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries), and the construction of a penis using a phalloplasty or a metoidioplasty. A phalloplasty uses the existing vaginal tissue and skin taken from the inner forearm to create a penis, and a metoidioplasty involves creating a penis from the clitoris, which has been enlarged through hormone therapy.
The aim of this surgery is to create a functioning penis, which allows you to pass urine standing up and retain sexual sensation. You may need more than one operation to achieve this.
For transi women, surgery may involve an orchidectomy (removal of the testes), a penectomy (removal of the penis), and the construction of a vagina from the left-over tissue of the penis (known as a vaginoplasty).
The vagina is created and lined with skin from the penis, and tissue from the scrotum (the sack that holds the testes) is used to create the labia. The urethra (urine tube) is then shortened and repositioned. The aim of this surgery is to create a functioning vagina, with acceptable appearance and retained sexual sensation.
After surgery, the vast majority of transsexuals are happy with their new sex and feel comfortable in their gender identityi."
refers to the dissatisfaction with one’s gender (masculinity or femininity) which is in conflict with one’s physical sex. The term is usually restricted to those who seek medical and surgical assistance to resolve their difficulty.
a person’s internal sense of being male, female or something in between.
The presentation of one's self either through personality or clothing is what is perceived by others. Typically, transsexuali people seek to make their gender presentationi match their gender identityi, rather than their birth sex.
"Genderqueer and intergender are catchall terms for gender identities other than man and woman. People who identify as genderqueer may think of themselves as being both male and female, as being neither male nor female, or as falling completely outside the gender binary. Some wish to have certain features of the opposite sex and not all characteristics; others want it all."
A full Gender Recognition Certificatei shows that a person has satisfied the criteria for legal recognition in their acquired genderi. It recognises that the recipient of the certificate, for all intents and purposes, is the sex listed on the certificate from that moment onward, not their birth sex.
See also: Acquired Gender Synonyms: GRCHow a person expresses himself or herself in terms of traits commonly associated with masculinity or femininity. Gender rolei is largely a social construct, since every society has different ideas about what sort of dress or behaviour is appropriate for males or females.
Gender variancei is a term that refers to those expressions of gender (masculinity and femininity) that do not conform to the dominant gender norms of Western culture.
Synonyms: Gender VarianceA woman who was born with female anatomy, as opposed to a woman who was born with male anatomy.
Synonyms: Genetic Girl, GG, Natal Female, Natal WomanA man who was born with male anatomy, as opposed to a man born with female anatomy.
is behaviour intended to trouble or annoy someone.
See also: Discrimination, Transphobic Hate Crime"A person who prefers to have sexual and emotional relationship with members of the opposite gender."
from http://www.ifsha.org/glossary.htm#h
A person who prefers emotional and sexual relations with a member of the same gender.
is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. Terms such as VSD (Variations in Sexual Development) are sometimes used to replace intersexi. The related term hermaphrodite was introduced in the nineteenth century and is used by some intersexi people but is now considered problematic.
Women whose emotional and/or sexual attraction is primarily towards women (it is the most common term for female homosexuals).
Lesbiani, gayi, bisexuali and transgenderi/transsexuali
Male to female transsexuali person. A person who is changing, or has changed, gender rolei from male to female.
Primary Care TrustMore...">i
Polygenderi individuals are transgenderi. Polygenderi individuals are not "switching" from female to male or vice versa; but are going from living as female to living as both female and male, or living as a gayi man and a lesbiani and a teenage boy and a drag king, or living as no gender at all, ambiguously, or as something entirely other.
LGBTi pridei or gayi pridei is the concept that lesbiani, gayi, bisexuali, and transgenderi (LGBTi) people should be proud of their sexual orientationi and gender identityi. The movement has three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientationi and gender identityi, that diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientationi and gender identityi are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered.[1] The use of the abbreviated gayi pridei and pridei have since become mainstream and shorthand expressions inclusive of all individuals in various LGBTi communities.
Primary care is the care provided by people you normally see when you first have a health problem. It might be a visit to a doctor or a dentist, an optician for an eye test, or just a trip to a pharmacist to buy cough mixture. NHS walk-in centres and the NHS Direct phone line service are also part of primary care. All of these services are managed for you by your local primary care trustMore...">i (PCTi). There are currently 152 PCTs in England.
Real life experiencei (RLE), sometimes called real life test (RLT), is the process where transsexuali and transgenderi people live in their preferred gender rolei for a period of time, in order to demonstrate that they can function in their acquired genderi.
"A sexual preference or choice that determines whether one chooses a member of the same or the opposite sex, or both, for sexual satisfaction."
from http://www.ifsha.org/glossary.htm#s
A generic term generally used by those who identify themselves as transgenderi, transsexuali or cross dresseri. The term should only be used as an adjective.
A term used to denote both transexual and transgenderi men.
A term used to denote both transexual and transgenderi women.
refers to any gender varianti person. It is a broad, relatively recent term referring to people whose gender identityi or expression falls outside of stereotypical gender norms. This includes people who both identify as transgenderi and those who do not, but whom may be perceived by others as such. The term is sometimes used to describe ‘the transgenderi community’ as a whole.
An individual who lives 'in role' as their acquired genderi, yet is not interested in gender confirmation surgeryi.
describes the process of adopting a lifestyle and / or bodily characteristics better corresponding to a person’s gender identityi. It may take some time, involve any number of social, legal or medical processes and may or may not involve surgery or therapy.
is the irrational, persistent fear of those who are gender atypical to any degree. It is often accompanied by an inability to deal with gender ambiguity and discomfort with, or hostility towards, people who do not conform to stereotypical gender norms.
See also: Transphobic Hate CrimeThe Police Service define a transphobic incident to be any incident which is perceived to be transphobic by the victim or any other person.
You should report any hate crime as soon as it is safe to do so.
a person who identifies as a gender other than the one to which they were assigned at birth. Some transsexuali people undergo medical treatment to change their physical sex through hormone therapy and surgery (gender confirmation surgeryi).
A third party reporting mechanism for transphobic and other hate crimes. Reporting centres include local libraries and Mesmac. You can also report online at www.reportit.org.uk.
The World Professional Association for Transgenderi Health, Inc. (WPATHi) (formerly, the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoriai Association, Inc. (HBIGDA)) is a professional organization devoted to the understanding and treatment of gender identityi disorders.
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