"Sexuality: The components of a person that include their biological sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual practices, etc.
Sexual Orientation: An enduring emotional, romantic, sexual or affectional attraction or non-attraction to other people. Sexual orientation can be fluid. A person may use multiple labels to represent their sexual orientation.
Gender/Gender identity: Gender is a social construct used to categorize a person as a man, woman, or other identifier (ie: agender, transgender, gender-fluid) and their social roles. Gender is often socially tied to the gender binary. Gender identity is fundamentally different from the sex one is assigned at birth or biological sex. It is a person’s inner sense of being a female/girl/woman, boy/man/male, both, neither, or beyond the gender binary.
Pronouns: The words used in place of a person’s name, or to refer to someone in the third person. Oftentimes, pronouns are tied to one’s gender identity. Examples are she/her/hers, he/him/his, and they/them/theirs. People may identify with multiple pronouns to be used interchangeably or depending on their preference.
LGBTQIA+: Acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and more. The “+” represents other identities that are not specified in this acronym, for example: pansexual, gender fluid, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, etc.
Drag / Drag King / Drag Queen: The theatrical performance of one or multiple genders via dressing in the clothing of a different gender, or in a manner different from how one would usually dress. Drag queens perform in distinctly feminine attire. Drag kings perform in distinctly masculine attire. Drag is a form of gender expression and is not an indication of gender identity. Individuals who dress in drag may or may not consider themselves to be transgender. They may identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, or some other sexual orientation.
Internalized homo / trans / bi / etc-phobia: The fear and self-hate of one or more of a person’s own identities that occurs for many individuals who have learned negative ideas about their identities throughout their life. One form of internalized oppression is the acceptance of the myths and stereotypes applied to the oppressed group.
Transgender/Trans: An adjective used most often as an umbrella term and frequently abbreviated to “trans.” Identifying as transgender means that one’s internal sense of gender does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth, based on societal and cultural expectations. Transgender is an umbrella term that can describe someone who identifies as a gender other than woman or man, like nonbinary, genderqueer, agender, multiple genders, etc.
Gender Euphoria: A euphoric feeling often experienced when one’s gender is recognized and respected by others, when one’s body aligns with one’s gender, or when one expresses themselves in accordance with their gender.
Gender Dysphoria: Used to describe when a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their sex assigned at birth and their gender identity. Dysphoria can also be distress experienced when a person's gender identity and/or gender expression is not affirmed. The degree and severity of gender dysphoria is highly variable among transgender and gender diverse people.
Deadname / Deadnaming: A deadname is a name that a trans+/nonbinary person no longer uses. Usually, it is the name assigned at birth. When someone uses this name, whether intentionally or not, it is referred to as deadnaming. Deadnaming is a form of misgendering.
Misgendering: To refer to someone in a way that does not affirm or align with that person's gender identity; for example, by using incorrect pronouns or by deadnaming. Misgendering someone can happen both intentionally and unintentionally.
Transphobia: Discrimination towards, fear, marginalization, and hatred of transgender and gender diverse people or those perceived as transgender or gender diverse.
Transmisogyny: Transmisogyny describes the intersecting oppressions and discriminations of transphobia and misogyny. Transphobia is the discrimination and oppression of trans people for their gender expression. Misogyny is the hatred and devaluation of women and of femininity. Transmisogyny primarily affects trans women and transfeminine people. However, it also affects trans and nonbinary folks who may be perceived as feminine.
TERF: The term TERF is an acronym for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist.” used to describe anti-trans activists who seek to limit full equality for transgender people and exclude trans women from women’s spaces. Recently anti-trans activists have argued that TERF is a slur and have adopted the euphemism “gender critical” to describe their beliefs.”
*All terms and definitions from the University of California San Francisco LGBTQIA+ Glossary