Transgender 101 – A GLOSSARY OF TERMS

What does “GENDER IDENTITY” MEAN?  

Gender identity is one’s internal, core sense of belonging to a particular gender, such as male or female.  Gender Identity is innate and cannot be altered by external forces.

What does TRANSGENDER” OR “TRANS” MEAN?

A person whose gender identity differs from the person’s six assigned at birth.  A transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. A transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. 

What does “SEX ASSIGNED AT BIRTH” mean?

This is he gender assigned to a newborn by a medical provider based on a cursory examination of external genitalia

What does the word,” CISGENDER”, mean?

(It is the opposite of the term transgender.)  A person whose gender identity aligns with (is the same as) the person’s sex assigned at birth.

Who does “NON-BINARY” refer to?

It if one of many terms describing the identity of a person who identifies outside of the traditional male-female binary.

What does “GENDER DYSPHORIA” refer to?

Gender Dysphoria refers to a condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) marked by a strong and persistent discomfort with a person’s sex assigned at birth.

According to Dr. Deanna Adkins of Duke University's Center for Child and Adolescent Gender Care, “Treatment for gender dysphoria focuses on alleviating distress through supporting outward expression of the person’s gender identity and bringing the body in alignment with that identity to the extent deemed medically appropriate.”

[Based on information presented by the American Civil Liberties Union in the Winter 2017 edition of their magazine, “STAND,” https://www.aclu.org/ .]