"Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender."
A person's internal experience of their gender which might be different from the sex assigned at birth. Gender identity is personal and individual and not related to one's sexual orientation.
Gender Identity: It refers to a person's deeply felt sense of being male, female, or non-binary. It is a deeply personal aspect of a person's identity.
Sexual Orientation: It refers to an individual's emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction to others. Sexual orientation includes heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, and pansexual attractions.
Gender Expression: It refers to the external characteristics and behaviors that are associated with gender, such as clothing, hairstyles, and voice.
Transgender: It refers to a person whose gender identity does not match the gender assigned at birth. Transgender people may seek hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgeries to align their physical appearance with their gender identity.
Cisgender: It refers to a person whose gender identity matches the gender assigned at birth.
Non-binary: It refers to a person who does not identify as strictly male or female. Non-binary people may identify as both, neither, or a combination of both.
Gender Dysphoria: It refers to the emotional distress experienced by a person whose gender identity does not match their assigned gender at birth.
Gender Affirmation: It refers to the process of acknowledging and validating a person's gender identity.
Pronouns: It refers to the words used to refer to a person, such as he/him, she/her, or they/them.
Gender Roles: It refers to the societal expectations and norms associated with gender, such as men being assertive and women being nurturing.
Intersectionality: It refers to how one's gender identity intersects with other identities such as race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality.
Advocacy: It refers to actively promoting and advocating for the rights and well-being of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
Gender-based violence: It refers to harmful acts committed against individuals due to their gender identity or expression, often including physical or sexual violence.
Queer theory: It refers to a field of study focused on the relationships between sexuality, gender, and power.
Social constructs: It refers to the idea that concepts such as gender and sexuality are not inherent, but rather constructed by society and culture.
Cisgender: A person whose gender identity matches the sex assigned to them at birth.
Transgender: A person whose gender identity does not match the sex assigned to them at birth.
Non-binary: A term for gender identities that are not exclusively male or female, including identities like genderqueer, genderfluid, bigender, and more.
Genderfluid: A gender identity that fluctuates between masculine, feminine, and other non-binary gender expressions.
Agender: A gender identity characterized by the absence of any gender identity or expression.
Demigender: A gender identity that is partially, but not fully, male or female.
Two-Spirit: A term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe an individual who carries both a masculine and feminine spirit.
Intersex: A term for individuals born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit typical male or female definitions.
Androgynous: A gender identity and expression that is a combination of masculine and feminine features.
"Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it."
"While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role, such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity."
"The term gender identity was coined by psychiatry professor Robert J. Stoller in 1964."
"The gender binary refers to a basic division between gender attributes assigned to males and females in most societies."
"Some of those people may call themselves transgender, gender non-binary, genderqueer, gender expansive, or something else."
"Some societies have third gender categories."
"Gender identity develops surprisingly rapidly in the early childhood years, and in the majority of instances appears to become at least partially irreversible by the age of 3 or 4."
"Considerable scientific evidence has emerged demonstrating a durable biological element underlying gender identity."
"There do not seem to be external forces that genuinely cause individuals to change gender identity."
"Essentialists argue that gender identity is determined at birth by biological and genetic factors."
"Social constructivists argue that gender identity and the way it is expressed are socially constructed, instead determined by cultural and social influences."
"The term gender identity was...popularized by the controversial psychologist John Money."
"The gender binary includes expectations of masculinity and femininity in all aspects of sex and gender: biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation."
"In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the individual's gender identity."
"With exceptions, 'Gender identity develops surprisingly rapidly in the early childhood years.'"
"Individuals may make choices due to other factors in their lives, but there do not seem to be external forces that genuinely cause individuals to change gender identity."
"Gender identity and the way it is expressed are socially constructed, instead determined by cultural and social influences."
"Individuals may make choices due to other factors in their lives."
"Gender identity...appears to become at least partially irreversible by the age of 3 or 4."