Know Your Terms

Trans or Transgender is an umbrella term to describe people whose gender is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth

Non-binary is an umbrella term sometimes used by people who don’t feel that “man/boy” or “woman/girl” describes their identity.

A term that describes the process of understanding and trying out different genders. 

This is our internal sense of self. Gender identity is also the name we use to describe our own gender.

Gender expression is how we present our gender and how it is perceived by society.  It often relates to our physical presentation.

The words people use to describe themselves and how they would like others to address them i.e. he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/theirs, xe/xem/xyr.

Intersectionality is the idea that people experience discrimination or multiple discriminations differently depending on their overlapping identities. Intersectionality is based in anti-racist feminist scholarship and was originally coined by American black feminist scholar Kimberle Crenshaw as a framework to describe how individuals with multiple marginalized identities can experience multiple and unique forms of discrimination that cannot be looked at separately.

The term used for people whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, and the + is shorthand to be inclusive of other genders and sexual orientations.  This acronym may also be seen with other letters such as A for asexual, or shortened to only LGBT.

Queer is used as an umbrella term that refers to anyone who is not cisgender or straight. It is also often used by people who do not feel represented by or do not want to use specific labels related to their gender or sexuality. It was historically a used as a slur against LGBT people, and although some still view it that way, it has been reclaimed and embraced since the late 1980s by LGBTQI+ communities.

This guide views gender equality as ensuring that individual of ALL genders have an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives.

As opposed to treating every individual identically, gender equity means working to give people equal opportunities to thrive by recognising and addressing unfair discrimination and treatment.

The historical way that society has seen only two genders: masculine/men/boys and feminine/women/girls.

Someone’s sex is assigned at birth based primarily on their genitalia.  You may see the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ interchanged to mean male and female, often in official forms.

Refers to someone who does not conform to commonly recognised genders. This can include cis men and cis women who do not present according to gender norms. 

Someone whose sex assigned at birth was male but who identifies as woman or girl.

Someone whose sex assigned at birth was female but who identifies as man or boy.

The term intersex was coined by science and applies to people whose biological sex cannot be classified as clearly male or female. An intersex person may have the biological attributes of both sexes or lack some of the biological attributes considered necessary to be defined as one or the other sex.

A policy that uses language and has specific measures and actions for inclusion and equality of all genders.