CareNotes

Transgender Glossary of Terms

November 17, 2022

To facilitate respectful conversations and provide a better understanding of the various terminology used by transgender and nonbinary people, we have collated a list of basic trans terminology from GLAAD. Please note, this is not a comprehensive glossary of trans terminology. Please view the resources on this page for more information. 

  • Transgender – An adjective that describes a person who does not identify as the gender they were assigned at birth.
  • Cisgender – An adjective that describes a person who identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth.
  • Transition – Any step(s) a person takes to affirm their gender identity; this may or may not include changes in one’s name, pronouns, physical appearance, taking hormones, undergoing surgery, among many other things. There is no one way to transition.
  • Sex (At Birth) – Infants are assigned a sex at birth, “male” or “female,” based on the appearance of their external anatomy, and an M or an F is written on the birth certificate. However, the development of the human body is a complex process, and sex is not solely determined by anatomy, nor is it strictly binary. As many as 1.7% of people are born with an intersex trait. Most people attempt to define biological sex one way (usually with external genitalia or chromosomes), but the reality is there are five main major components of biological sex: chromosomes, hormones, expression of hormones, internal genitalia, and external genitalia. Most folks exist within two binaries of classically ‘male’ and ‘female,’ but biological sex is a spectrum, and many people exist between the two main categories. These folks are called “intersex.”
  • Intersex – An adjective used to describe someone born with reproductive anatomy that does not fit typical definitions of “male” or “female.” It’s important to realize that intersex anatomy isn’t always discovered at birth. Sometimes a person isn’t found to have intersex anatomy until puberty, or finds themselves infertile as an adult, or even until a post-mortem autopsy. Some people live and die with intersex anatomy without anyone (including themselves) ever knowing they are intersex.
  • Gender Identity – A person’s internal sense of their own gender. This does not have to match “biological sex,” though it often does as most people are not transgender.
  • Gender Expression – External manifestations of gender, expressed through a person’s name, pronouns, clothing, haircut, voice, and/or behavior. Societies classify these external cues as masculine and feminine, although what is considered masculine or feminine changes over time and varies by culture. (For example, in some cultures men wear long hair as a sign of masculinity.) Most transgender people seek to align their gender expression with their gender identity to resolve the incongruence between their knowledge of their own gender and how the world “sees” them.
  • Transgender Man – A man who was assigned female at birth may use this term to describe himself. He may shorten it to trans man. (Note: trans man, not “transman.”) Some may prefer to simply be called men, without any modifier. Use the term the person uses to describe their gender.
  • Transgender Woman – A woman who was assigned male at birth may use this term to describe herself. She may shorten it to trans woman. (Note: trans woman, not “transwoman.”) Some may prefer to simply be called women, without any modifier. Use the term the person uses to describe their gender.
  • Cis Man – A person who was assigned male at birth and identifies as male.‍
  • Cis Woman – A person who was assigned female at birth and identifies as female.
  • Nonbinary –An adjective used by people who experience their gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside the binary gender categories of “man” and “woman.” Many nonbinary people also call themselves transgender and consider themselves part of the transgender community. Others do not. Nonbinary is an umbrella term that encompasses many different ways to understand one’s gender. Some nonbinary people may also use words like agender, bigender, demigender, pangender, etc. to describe the specific way in which they are nonbinary. Always ask people what words they use to describe themselves. Nonbinary is sometimes shortened to enby. Do not use NB, as that is often shorthand for non-Black. Nonbinary may also be written as non-binary. Both forms are commonly used within the community and both are acceptable. (See In Focus: Nonbinary People )
  • Gender Dysphoria – the discomfort or distress that arises from the incongruence of gender identity and gender assigned at birth. Often abbreviated to ‘dysphoria’ and not to be confused with body dysmorphia.
  • Gender-Affirming – Accepting someone’s true gender through explicit language or practices and treating them in ways that actively support them living authentically in that gender.

Terms to Avoid

The following terms should be avoided in favor of a person’s actual gender identity, for example: girl, woman, transgender girl, transgender woman, boy man, transgender boy, transgender man. When describing a person’s gender in relation to their assigned sex at birth, the terms cisgender, transgender, and/or nonbinary will usually be sufficient.

If there is a clear reason to refer to someone’s birth sex, the terms to use are: assigned male at birth, assigned female at birth, or designated male at birth, designated female at birth.

  • “Born a man,” “born a woman,” “biologically male,” “biologically female,” “biological boy,” “biological girl,” “genetically male,” “genetically female” – Phrases that oversimplify a complex subject and are often used by anti-transgender activists to inaccurately imply that a trans person is not who they say they are. “Biological boy” is a term anti-trans activists often use to disregard and discredit transgender girls and deny them access to society as their authentic gender identity. As mentioned above, a person’s sex is determined by a number of factors – and a person’s biology does not determine a person’s gender identity.
  • Transvestite/crossdresser – An outdated term referring to someone person who engages in an “opposite” gender expression, but who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth.
  • Transgendered -The adjective transgender should never have an extraneous “-ed” tacked onto the end. An “-ed” suffix adds unnecessary length to the word and can cause tense confusion and grammatical errors. Not using the “-ed” suffix also brings transgender into alignment with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer. You would not say that Elton John is “gayed” or Ellen DeGeneres is “lesbianed,” therefore you would not say Laverne Cox is “transgendered.” (Similarly, cisgender never needs an “-ed” at the end.) Instead, use transgender.
  • Transgender Individual/People –Referring to people who are trans as “individuals” contributes to dehumanizing them. Use transgender people or person instead.
  • Identifies as- Avoid saying that transgender people “identify as” their gender. That implies that gender identity is a choice. Avoid “Marisol identifies as a woman.” Transgender people are their gender the same way cisgender people are their gender. For example, “Marisol is a transgender woman.”
  • Female-to-male or male-to-female – This language is outdated. It implies someone is changing their gender from one binary gender to the other binary gender. In reality, the person’s gender is an innate sense of self that has not changed. It’s best to use transgender man, transgender woman, transgender person
  • Sex change, pre-operative, post-operative – These terms inaccurately suggest that a person must have surgery in order to transition. Avoid overemphasizing surgery when discussing transgender people or the process of transition. Use transition instead.
  • Preferred pronouns – Briefly the trans and nonbinary community did use this phrase. However, it began to seem as if cisgender people had pronouns, while trans people had “preferred pronouns.” Everyone uses pronouns and they are a fact, not a preference. Simply say pronouns. As in “Please consider putting your pronouns in your email signature,” or “I use he/him. What pronouns do you use?” 

Examples

  • Avoid: “Marisol was born a man but identifies as a woman.”
    Best Practice: “Marisol is a transgender woman.”
  • Avoid: “John’s coworkers didn’t know that he used to be a woman.”
    Best Practice: “John’s coworkers didn’t know that he is a trans man.”
  • Avoid: “The clinic offers gynecological services for female-to-male patients.”
    Best Practice: “The clinic offers gynecological services for trans men.”
  • Avoid: “The story is about a teenager who transitions from male to female in high school.”
    Best Practice: “The story is about a teenage trans girl who transitions in high school.”
  • Avoid: “Beth grew up male and became a woman at age 25.”
    Best Practice: “When Beth was younger, she was perceived to be male by others. At age 25, she disclosed that she is a trans woman and began her transition.”
  • Avoid: “The school board dismissed the parents’ complaint that Imani, a transgender girl, was participating in school athletics with biological females.”
    Best Practice: “The school board dismissed the parents’ complaint that Imani, a transgender girl, was participating in school athletics with cisgender girls.”

Resources:

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