hello humans. we will be talking about some sexualities, terms, and genders. not all though. i don't know all the sexualities and genders to ever exist
AFAB, AMAB: acronyms meaning "assigned female/male at birth" (also designated female/male at birth or female/male assigned at birth). no one, whether cis or trans, gets to choose what sex they're assigned at birth. this term is preferred over "biological male/female", "male/female bodied", "natural male/female", and "born male/female", which are pretty disrespectful to say so don't say those...
agender: an umbrella term encompassing many different genders of people who commonly do not have a gender and/or have a gender that they describe as neutral. if someone uses this, it means that they do not have a gender. most of the time agender people go by they/them pronouns. but this is NOT always the case so PLEASE ask for their pronouns
ally: someone who advocates and supports a community other than their own. allies are not part of the communities they help (which is why i didn't include them in the chapter explaining the lgbtq+ acronym). these are typically straight cis people who support the community (not always though... it could be lgbtq+ people supporting other lgbtq+ people)
androgynous: someone who has feminine and masculine traits
bigender: people who identify as two genders. can also identify as multigender (identifying as two or more genders)
bottom surgery: surgeries that change your parts down there
cisgender: ADJECTIVE (emphasizing this for the transphobes) that means "identifies as their sex assigned at birth" that comes from the latin word meaning "on the same side." a cisgender/cis person is not transgender. "cisgender" does not indicate biology, gender expression, or sexuality/sexual orientation. in discussions regarding trans issues, one would differentiate between women who are trans and women who aren't by saying trans women and cis women. cis is NOT a "fake" word and is not a slur
FTM: someone who was born female and identifies as a male. the acronym means "female to male"
gender binary: a system of viewing gender as consisting solely of two, opposite categories, termed "male and female", in which no other possibilities for gender or anatomy are believed to exist. this system is oppressive to anyone who defies their sex assigned at birth, but particularly those who are gender-variant or do not fit neatly into one of the two standard categories
gender dysphoria: anxiety and/or discomfort regarding one's sex assigned at birth
gender expression: the physical manifestation of one's gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, voice, body shape, etc. (typically referred to as masculine or feminine). many transgender people (NOT ALL) try to make their gender expression (how they look) match their gender identity (who they are), rather than their sex assigned at birth
genderfluid: a gender identity that changes. for example, one day you could feel like a girl, and the next you can feel like a guy
gender identity: internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, or other gender(s). everyone has a gender identity, INCLUDING YOU, TRANSPHOBES! for transgender people, their sex assigned at birth and their gender identity are not necessarily the same
genderqueer: an identity commonly used by people who do not identify or express their gender within the gender binary. people who identify as genderqueer may identify as neither male nor female, may see themselves as outside of or in between the binary gender boxes, or may simply feel restricted by gender labels
intersex: a person with a less common combination of hormones, chromosomes, and anatomy that are used to assign sex at birth. there are many examples such as klinefelter syndrome, androgen insensitivity syndrome, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. parents and medical professionals usually assign intersex infants a sex and have, in the past, performed surgical operations to conform the infant's genitalia to either male or female. this is now much more controversial as many adult intersex people speak against it
MTF: someone who was born male and identifies as a female. the acronym means "male to female"
nonbinary: preferred umbrella term for all genders other than female/male or woman/man, used as an adjective (e.g. Jesse is nonbinary). not all nonbinary people identify as trans and not all trans people identify as nonbinary. sometimes (and increasingly), nonbinary can be used to describe the aesthetic/presentation/expression of a cisgender or transgender person
queer: a term for people of marginalized gender identities and sexual orientations who are not cisgender and/or heterosexual. used to be a slur but has been reclaimed by the majority of the lgbtq+ community
sexual orientation: a person's physical, romantic, emotional, aesthetic, and/or other form of attraction to others. gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same. trans people can be straight, bisexual, lesbian, gay, asexual, pansexual, queer, etc. just like anyone else. for example, a trans woman who is exclusively attracted to other women would identify as lesbian
top surgery: surgery for the parts on your chest? i'm trying to make this as pg as possible-
transgender or trans spectrum: an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. the term transgender is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, or how one is perceived in daily life
transition: a person's process of developing and assuming a gender expression to match their gender identity. transition can include: coming out to one's family, friends, and/or co-workers; changing one's name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) some form of surgery
trans men: generally a person assigned female at birth who identifies as a man
trans woman: generally a person assigned male at birth who identifies as a woman
well that's it for this chapter. feel free to correct me, ask questions, or add more terms/sexualities/gender identities
YOU ARE READING
lgbtq+ identities explained
Randomthis book is for anyone questioning their gender or sexuality, the straights who don't know that there are more sexualities than just straight and gay, and people who just want to know more about the community
