A Basic Trans Glossary

Compiled by Chris Paige from various sources
(still somewhat in-progress)

Some General Terms Defined

Sexual identity - strictly biological, by definition. People here are either male, female or intersexed (though the individual may or may not "fit" the biology and therefore be cissexual or transsexual).

Gender identity - is socio-cultural, by definition. Here the terms girl or boy and woman or man are appropriate. What it means to be a girl or a boy, a woman or a man in any society can vary.

Gender roles - rules assigned by society that define what clothing, behaviors, thoughts, feelings, relationships, etc. are considered appropriate and inappropriate for members of a given gender. Which things are considered masculine, feminine, or unisex varies according to location, class, occasion, and numerous other factors.

Sexual orientation - denotes whom an individual is most typically attracted to or aroused by. This usually indicates romantic and/or erotic relation. Homosexual (gay, lesbian), heterosexual (straight), and bisexual (attracted to both genders) are most common. However, the absolute values androphilic (attracted to men), gynecophilic (attracted to women), ambiphilic (bisexual) help to avoid confusion when speaking of transgendered, intersexed, two-spirited persons et al.

• asexual - someone with no significant (to oneself) interest in sexual activity, or who identifies as asexual
• autosexual - one whose significant (to oneself) sexual activity is masturbation
• celibate - one who is not sexually active with anyone else -- may abstain from all sexual activity, or may be autosexual

Trans - Across, Through, Beyond

Transition - change from one state to another

Transformation - change the shape or character of

Transexual (TS) - A person whose mental sex or gender identity (i.e. "male" or "female") does not correspond to the sex or sexual identity they were born with; this condition is considered a physical birth defect

• gender identity dysphoria (GID) - clinically diagnosed depression caused by the sex or sexual identity that one is born with

• DSM-IV Description and Diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria
• DSM-IV - The Labeling of the Transgendered Community
• Myth, Stereotype and Cross-Gender Identity in the DSM-IV
• Benjamin Standards of Care for Gender Dysphoria
• The Harry Benjamin Minimum Standards of Care. A Brief Account of Their Clinical Use and Misuse
• 21 Ways to Improve the Standards of Care: My Recommendations to the HBIGDA SOC Committee

• genetic girl/woman/female (GG, GW, GF), genetic boy/man/male (GB, GM) - individuals who are not transexual and do not experience GID
• transition; transitioning - process of changing one's sex -- usually includes changes in name (and related legal documentation), prefered pronouns, and clothing. Transition is the period of time in between the start of the sex-reassignment treatment and the time when the individual is living completely as a member of the desired sex.
• sex reassignment treatment - process whereby an individual changes sex; includes hormone treatments, couseling, and real life training -- culminating in genital reconstruction
• hormone therapy - used to change secondary sex characteristics, including breast size, weight distribution, and hair growth
• real life training (RLT) - period where a transitioning individual lives as a member of the desired sex for a period of time while still having the genitalia of the former sex. This is to help the prospective transsexual determine if becoming a total member of that sex is right for him or her. Real life training (RLT) is required for a period of one year before surgery
• sex reassignment surgery (SRS) - The final stage in the sex-reassignement procedure, consisting of genital reconstructive surgery; a.k.a. sex-change operation
• pre-operative (pre-op) - a transexual who has started sex reassignment treatment (hormones, counseling, etc) and is anticipating sex reassignment surgery (SRS)
• post-operative (post-op) - a transexual who has completed the sex reassignment surgery (SRS)
• non-operative (non-op) - a transexual who has had all the sex reassignment treatments, except genital reconstruction. Generally non-ops have no desire (or are unable for other reasons) to proceed with genital reconstruction (i.e. SRS)
• male to female (MTF, M2F) - describes sex to gender; an individual with a physically male body, who identifies mentally as female; it is considered rude to refer to a MTF as a man who wants to be a woman, because a MTF considers themselves a woman
• female to male (FTM, F2M) - describes sex to gender; an individual with a physically female body, who identifies mentally as male; it is considered rude to refer to a FTM as a woman who wants to be a man, because a FTM considers themselves a man. Female to Male SRS is dramatically more expensive than the MTF procedure.
• related difficulties - identity-related depression; perpetually misunderstood as people try to fit transexuality into male/female and hetero/homosexuality categories; homophobia; physical violence; poor health care (incl. insurance) which does not respect the unique situation of transexuals; harassment during routine medical treatment by transphobic medical staff; rejection, even from gay and lesbian folk who often judge transexuals as "wannabes"
• note of clarification: Transexual identity in no way determines a person's sexual orientation. Transexuals may be attracted to and/or partnered with men or women, depending on personal preference. Not all transgendered people are transexual.
• for more information: FTM International, Renaissance Transgender Association, Transexual Women's Resources, GENDYS network

Translate - turn from one language to another

Crossing - intersect, pass over, go across

Crossdressers and Transvestites - persons who enjoy dressing as a member of the gender “opposite” from their birth gender, but have no desire to change their sex permanently.

• crossdresser (CD) - a person who, in order to relieve strees, dresses in clothes usually reserved for people not of their birth gender -- not the same as transvestitism
• transvestite (TV) - a person who is sexually aroused by dressing in the clothes usually reserved for people not of their birth gender; often referred to as a fetish -- not the same as crossdressing
• full-time - a person who presents themselves as their non-birth gender in all aspects of their life
• part-time - a person who presents themselves sometimes as their birth gender and sometimes as their non-birth gender
• passing - successfully presenting as your non-birth gender
• female impersonator - a man who passes as a woman
• male impersonator - a woman who passes as a man
• related difficulties: misunderstood as people try to fit crossdressing or transvestitism into male/female and hetero/homosexuality categories; homophobia; physical violence; rejection; subject to outdated gender-laws which facilitate arrest and/or harassment for impersonation
• note of clarification: Crossdressers and transvestites may or may not by homosexual. These practices in no way determine a person's sexual orientation. Many crossdressers and transvestites are happily married heterosexuals
• see also: transgender - drag queen, drag king, butch, femme
• for more information: Tri-Ess, Boychicks, International Foundation for Gender Education, The American Boyz, Pathfinders

Between - in the middle of two, of space, time; in the middle or intermediate space, midway

Inter - between, among, mutually

Intersexual - person born with mixed sexual physiology; an actual medical condition exhibiting the physical manifestation of genital/genetic/endocrinological differentiation which is different from the cultural norm

• sex/gender assignment - in current Euroamerican majority culture the assignment of sex/gender takes place immediately after birth and is (presumed to be) unchangeably fixed -- not because of the needs of the newborn but because of the needs of its social environment. Typically the only options considered are male and female.
• genital mutilation - intersexed children are routinely given surgery to make their genitalia unambiguous; such surgery is most often medically unnecessary, and can cripple sexual response. This sex assignment by surgery is referred to by many as genital mutilation and has come under well-founded attack as a hurtful violation of the person’s well-being.
• trauma and identity crises - Many intersexuals live their lives in the roles to which they were assigned -- but do not necessarily feel at peace with them and frequently suffer from identity crises. Intersexuals who are subjected to neonatal surgery undergo that early physical trauma and resulting lifelong trauma on many levels. Intersexuals who miss early surgery often grow up alone and confused... and often abused, because of their "in between" status. Surgery as young teens and adults to "correct" their bodies is also traumatic.
• hermaphrodite - (mythological) the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who became joined in the body with the nymph Salamacis; (sexual identity) label used interchangeably with intersexual, but which is offensive to some intersexuals. (1) Intersexuals are not creatures of myth (2) It is a term used by medical doctors and researchers, whose overly clinical treatment of intersexuals has been questioned (3) The term gives rise to a myth about intersexed people. Intersexed people are not "both sexes in one" but are a biological uniqueness of their own form.
• "true hermaphrodite" - label used in medical literature for persons having a mixed gonadal structure, (ovo-testis, or sometimes one ovary and one testis).
• "psuedo-hermaphrodite" - label used in medical literature for all other intersexuals.
• "pseudo" vs. "true" - As far as intersexuality itself goes, the seperation is arbitrary and of academic interest only. Gonadal cellular structure is but one aspect of human biology which affects sex and sexual identity.
• she-male - female with a penis, found in certain types of pornography. These people are not intersexuals. They are women with carefully done prostheses who are making pornography.
• herms, merms, ferms - These terms were used by Anne Fausto-Sterling in her 1993 article in The Sciences "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are not enough". Herm refers to "true hermaphrodite"; a merm would be a person born intersexed whose karyotype was XY and a ferm is an XX intersexed person. These delineations serve to educate people that sex is not a bipolar dichotomy, but they do not really classify intersexuals in a meaningful way.
• some medical terms for intersexuals - clitoromegaly, micropenis, hypospadias, ambiguous genitals, early genital surgery, adrenal hyperplasia, Klinefelter's, androgen insensitivity, testicular feminization.
• note of clarification: Some people identify themselves as "intersexed" when perhaps what they mean is "intergendered". Intersexual is a medical condition, not a point of self-understanding.
• for more information: Intersex Voices, Intersex Society of North America

Other - not the same; alternative, different

Transparent - letting light pass through

Bend - to curve, bow, turn

Blend - to mix or combine, and to harmonize.

Transgress - to break (a law); to sin; to cross a boundary

• transgressive - challenging the accepted expectations and rules of propriety
• queer - deriving from the expected, unconventional; often refers to gay, lesbian, bisexual, trangendered community at-large, but is often used to define transgressive individuals more broadly speaking as well
• nonconformist - one who does not comply to a rule, pattern, custom

Transgender - A general term which refers to anyone who does not fit into the sterotypical two gender labeling system. Transgressive of gender norms. Gender identification and/or presentation does not conform to culturally standard patterns. This term is commonly used as an umbrella term to include all manner of gender transgression, including transsexuals, crossdressers, transvestites, and intersexuals, as well as other self-defining people.

• transgender community (T*): A loose association of people who transgress gender norms in a wide variety of ways. Celebrating a recently born self-awareness, this community is growing fast across all lines, including social, economic, political, and philosophical divisions. A central ethic of this community is unconditional acceptance of individual exercise of freedoms including gender and sexual, identity and orientation.
• camp - a form of humor, in which one makes fun of one's oppression by taking on and exaggerating stereotypes; makes fun of the stereotype and laughs at the sting of the oppression
• drag queen - female-emulating male; usually campy; often but not always a gay man
• drag king - male-emulating women; often but not always lesbians
• femme - feminine-appearing person (male or female)
• butch - masculine-appearing person (male or female)
• gender-bender - a person who clearly identifies and knows themself as a particular sex (male or female) concurrently with gender presentations that often do not successfully communicate these facts to others
• genderf*ck, genderplay - sending mixed messages about one's sex/gender, usually through clothing (e.g. wearing a skirt and a beard)
• gender outlaw - person who defies traditional gender roles
• gender-blending, androgyne, inter-gendered, poly-gendered, bi-gendered, non-gendered, other-gendered or third-gendered - persons who feel that they belong to more than one gender, that they have no gender at all, or that they are their own gender -- something neither male nor female. These folks might dress differently than is typical of their birth gender; try to "pass" as another gender on a daily basis; or take hormones or get operations to modify their bodies -- the details will vary dramatically from person to person. They may present as male, female, mixed, neutural, or whatever they prefer. Such identifications are an attempt to transcend the male-female polarity altogether.
• note of clarification: Transgender folks may or may not have any interest or need for sex reassignment surgery (SRS). Transgendered identity in no way determines a person's sexual orientation. Transfolk may be attracted to or partnered with men or women, depending on personal preference.
• for more information: International Foundation for Gender Education, The American Boyz, Queer Gendered, Gender-Free Pronouns FAQ, Boychicks

Native American Sacred traditions

• two-spirits -
• berdache -

Support - offer your unconditional love; educate yourself; help your loved one communicate with significant and/or supportive individuals, including yourself; respect their self-definitions

Reconcile - adjust; settle; harmonize

Healing - restore to health; make well

Whole - complete; healthy; all complete thing or system

Otherwise - differently; in a different way

OtherWise

Bent - inclination; or turn of mind

Shape-shifting -

Holy - free from sin; set apart; sacred

Profane

Mundane

Intercourse - mutual dealings; communication; connection

radical - root; fundamental; thorough

"Trans Glossary" compiled by Chris Paige; https://www.angelfire.com/on/otherwise/glossary.html

Visit: Chris Paige

Email: Chris Paige

To return to TransFaith On-line...