There are so many terms used to describe people from the Trans* community, I thought it might be a helpful resource to have a quick overview of some of the more common terms in use, today.
Agender: A term for people whose gender identity, or gender expression, does not align with man, woman, or any other gender. A similar term, used by some, is gender-neutral.
Androgynous: A person who is identifying and/or presenting as neither, distinguishably, masculine or feminine.
Bigender: Someone whose gender identity encompasses both man and woman. Some people may feel that one side or the other is stronger, but both sides are present.
Binary: The gender binary is a system of viewing gender as consisting solely of two identities and sexes, man and woman or male and female.
Cisgender: A term used to describe a person whose gender identity directly aligns with their sex as assigned to them at birth.
Gender Dysphoria: Clinically defined as significant and durational distress caused when a person’s assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.
Gender Expression: This is the external appearance of a person’s gender identity, usually expressed through their behavior, clothing, haircut or voice, and which may, or may not, conform to socially defined masculine or feminine behaviors and characteristics.
Gender Fluid: A person who does not identify with a single fixed gender, and expresses a fluid or unfixed gender identity. One who is likely to change or shift their expression of gender identity depending on context.
Gender identity: A person’s innermost concept of self as man, woman, a blend of both, or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. Gender identity can be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth.
Gender non-conforming: A broad term describing people who do not behave in a way at conforms to the traditional expectations of their gender, or whose gender expression does not fit neatly into a category.
Gender questioning: A person who may be processing, questioning, or exploring how they want to express their gender identity.
Genderqueer: A term for people who reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as genderqueer may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female or as falling completely outside these categories.
Misgender: Refers to the addressing of someone using words and pronouns that do not correctly reflect the gender with which they identify.
Non-binary: Any gender that falls outside of the binary system of male/female or man/woman.
Passing: A term used by transgender people, which means that they are perceived by others as the gender with which they self-identify.
Queer: An umbrella term people often use to express fluid identities and orientations.
Sex: The classification of a person as male or female at birth. Infants are assigned a sex, usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy.
Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural and social expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth.