Definitions and Terminology

Androgyne:
1. A person whose biological sex is not readily apparent, whether owing to chance or choice;
2. A person who is intermediate between the two traditional genders;
3. A person who rejects gender roles entirely.
Assigned gender:
1. The gender one is considered to be at birth, due to the presence of their external sex organs;
2. Gender is determined by bodily characteristics: chromosomes, hormones, internal reproductive organs, genitals, and hair growth patterns (alt. term: Sex)
Bigendered: Those who feel they have both a male and a female side to their personalities.
Bisexuality: A sexual orientation; an emotional, social, and physical attraction to, and/or behavior with persons of both sexes.
Butch: Masculine appearing person.
Coming out: Slang term describing the process of identifying to oneself, and then to others, ones homosexual or bisexual orientation.
Cross dresser:
1. A person who puts forth the effort to dress in non-biologic gender dress. Gender identity is not necessarily related to cross dressing;
2. An individual who regularly or occasionally wears the clothing socially assigned to the opposite sex. Cross-dressers are typically comfortable with their sex assigned at birth and do not wish to change it. Most men who cross dress as women are heterosexual. Very few women call themselves cross dressers.
Cross living: Living full-time in the preferred gender image, opposite to one's assigned sex at birth, generally in preparation for a SRS.
Drag: Originally used in Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to mean Dressed As Girl, referring to male actors playing female roles. Now, mainly used by gender benders and cross dressers of both directions to mean "in women's clothes".
Drag king: FTM cross dresser.
Drag queen: A gay man who on occasion wears women's clothes generally without attempting to be "convincing".
Femme: Feminine appearing person.
FTM: Female to male (see 'transition').
Gay: Can be male or female, but more commonly used to describe a male whose primary erotic, psychological, emotional, and social interest is in other men.
Gender: Sex is a set of biological differences between people. Gender is a set of social statuses built on the backs of those differences.
Gender dysphoria: The state of discontentment with one's biological sex or sex or rearing. Not all transgender people are gender dysphoric.
Gender identity:
1. The perception that we have of ourselves as male or female;
2. Describes one's internal, personal sense of being a man or woman. For transgender people, the birth-assigned sex and their own internal sense of gender identity to not match exactly;
3. A complex interaction of genetic predisposition, physiological factors and the process of socialization. A sense of belonging tone of the gender categories. How one sees themselves socially.
Gender expression: Refers to the ways in which people externally communicate their gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, haircut, voice, and emphasizing, de-emphasizing or changing their bodily characteristics.
Gender role:
1. The behaviors one engages in to disclose a status of boy/man or girl/woman;
2. Expression of gender signals through appearance, dress, performance or gender behavior and expected social tasks.
Hermaphrodite: A person biologically intermediate between male and female. A person with both ovarian and testicular tissue. ('intersexual' is preferred).
Heterosexism: Belief that a heterosexual relationship is preferable to all others.
Heterosexuality: A sexual orientation; an emotional, social, and physical attraction to, and/or behavior with persons of the opposite sex.
Homophobia: The fear of any sexual orientation other than heterosexuality. Often expressed through negative feelings, attitudes, actions and/or behaviors against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals.
Homosexuality: A sexual orientation; an emotional, social, and physical attraction to, and/or behavior with persons of the same sex.
Intersexual: A person biologically intermediate between male and female. Born with (full or partial) sex organs of both anatomical genders or with underdeveloped or ambiguous sex organs.
Lesbian: A woman whose primary erotic, psychological, emotional, and social interest is in other women.
MTF: Male to female (see 'transition').
Pass: To be in your preferred gender image, and to be able to do so convincingly.
Queer: A term that is currently being used by many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons to describe their pride in being different.
Sex: A classification based on reproductive biology. A continuum ranging from male to female.
Sex change operation: Not an acceptable term. See "transition" and "SRS".
Sex reassignment surgery (SRS): This generally means genital alteration, and is only one small part of transition.
Sexual behavior: A person's actual sexual expression.
Sexual identity: How one chooses to label oneself (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual).
Sexual orientation: The direction (male, female, both) of our emotional, social, and physical attractions.
Sexual preference: An outdated term that means the same as 'sexual orientation'.
Straight: Term to describe a heterosexual person.
Transgender: A broader term for all gender-variant people, including transsexuals, cross-dressers and people who identify as neither of the two sexes as they are currently defined. Originally coined by Virginia Price.
Transexual: An individual who does not identify with the sex which they were assigned at birth. Transexuals may be male to female (MTF) or female to male (FTM). Transexuals may or may not alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically. Transexuals may be considered "pre-op" or prior to SRS, "post-op" or following SRS, or "non-op," meaning they do not plan to have SRS.
Transition: A complex process that occurs over an extended period of time and includes some or all of the following: changing one's name and/or sex on legal documents, hormone therapy, and possibly some form of chest and/or genital alteration.
Transvestite: Not an acceptable term. See "cross-dresser".