Gender identity is about one’s own sense and feelings of gender. Gender identity is not about genitals, biology or appearance, but rather about how we experience our gender. Some people feel they are male, others female, some people feel they are a mix of both and others feel they are neither. Some people have operations or take hormones to change their bodies in line with their gender identity, whereas others don’t.
Cisgender a person whose gender identity and/or sex characteristics correlate to their assigned gende r(is neither trans nor intersex)
Trans woman (Male To Female/MTF) a woman who was assigned male at birth
Trans man (Female To Male/FTM) a man who was assigned female at birth
Gender reassignment a process some people go through to change their bodies in line with their gender identity
Transgender an umbrella term which includes all those that sit outside the realm of ‘traditional’ ideas of gender, which includes trans men, trans women, people who go through gender reassignment, people who choose not to, people who do not wish to identify as male or female and people who wish to identify as both.
Trans people experience a lot of prejudice. It is good to simply ask if you are unsure about names and pronouns. Trans people, however, get a lot of inappropriate questions, don’t assume that trans people will want to discuss their gender, bodies or gender past. Be open to the fact that gender isn’t just male or female, there is no single gender recipe and there is no right or wrong when it comes to gender!
