Androgynous

reflecting an appearance which appears neither masculine or feminine, or is in some way "in between".

Bi-Gendered

refers to those who feel they have both a male and a female side to their personalities. Some bigendered people cross-dress, others may eventually have a sex-change operation, others may do neither.

Binary Gender

A system of viewing gender as consisting solely of two categories, termed male and female, in which no other possibilities for gender or anatomy are believed to exist. This system is oppressive to gender-variant people who do not fit neatly into one of these categories.

Birth Sex

the sex one is assigned at birth due to the presence of whatever external sex organs. Once this determination is made, it becomes a label used for raising the child in either one gender image or another (male or female).

Cross Dresser

anyone who wears the clothing generally ascribed to the opposite gender.

Drag Queen/Drag King

gender benders or cross-dressers who wear women's clothing (drag queens) or men's clothes (drag kings) often in a theatrical manner

Female to Male (FTM)

A person who is assigned a female gender at birth, but now identifies as male.

Full-Time

Living one's life, presenting completly as the opposite gender from that assigned at birth. (presenting male for an FTM; female for an MTF)

Gender Dysphoria

Unhappiness with one's physical/anatomical gender. Also, dissatisfaction with one's gender socialization. Terms such as "gender identity disorder" and "gender dysphoria syndrome" were created by mental health providers and carry a stigma of presenting gender-variant people as mentally unstable. Therefore trans people do not frequently use these words to describe themselves.

Gender Expression

The way a person presents their gender to the world.

Gender-Fluid

a person whose gender identity or expression is subject to periodic change.

Genderqueer

A mindset of viewing gender as having more than two options. This is also called having an understanding of non-binary gender. Individuals who identify as genderqueer may prefer not to identify as either male or female, may see themselves as outside of the binary gender boxes, may feel restricted by gender labels, categories, and pronouns, or may be themselves comfortable identifying as male or female, while recognizing that these categories do not fit everyone

Genderphobia

Fear or discomfort with the idea that some people may not fit into the two restrictive categories imposed by the binary gender system. A recent term, meaning the same thing as non-binary gender phobia.

Girl-Mode

A slang term for presenting a female identity.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

For transsexual people HRT replaces the hormones naturally occuring in the bodies to those of the desired gender. For male to females, this may include etrogens, anti-androgens and progesterone. For female to males, this would be testosterone.

HRT in non-trans women is a system of medical treatment to combat the changes to ones body brought on by menopause using the same drugs as in transsexual HRT (yes, even testosterone sometimes).

Intersex

The physical characteristic of having been born with genitalia which do not conform completely to binary medical stereotypes of the male penis and testes or the female clitoris and vaginal canal. Roughly 1 in 2000 infants is born with what doctors consider ambiguous genitalia, putting them at risk for intersex genital mutilation. An even higher proportion of the population is intersex in some way. These people were formerly referred to in medical literature as hermaphrodites, but this language is now recognized as both incorrect and offensive.

Male to Female (MTF)

A person who is assigned a male gender at birth, but now identifies as female.

Non-Binary Gender

A system of viewing gender as having more than two options.

Non-Op

transsexuals who may or may not seek hormone treatment and who live as their chosen gender, but for a variety of reasons, may not feel that surgery is neccesary for the completion of their transition.

Passing

Being perceived by others as a member of a particular identity, gender, age, etc., regardless of how the individual in question identifies.

i.e. passing as straight, passing as a woman, passing as a youth.

Post-0p

A transsexual person who has had sexual reassignment surgery.

Pre-Op

A transsexual person who has not yet had sexual reassignment surgery, but plans on doing so.

Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS)

Surgery to give a person the physical anatomy corresponding to their chosen, binary gender.

Transwoman

See MTF. Also called transgirl or t-girl.

Transgender

1. An umbrella term for transgression of the binary gender system. May include surgical, hormonal, or non-hormonal changes to one's body or identity, which result in a gender identity different from the one assigned at birth.

2. Within the binary gender system, transgender is often used to refer to people who have or are now transitioning surgically or hormonally from either male to female (MTF) or female to male (FTM).

Transman

See FTM. Also called transguy.

Transphobia

Fear and discomfort with gender variant or transgendered people.

Transsexual (TS)

Within the binary gender system, a person who identifies as a gender ‘opposite’ the sex they were assigned at birth. Transsexuals may or may not opt to pursue hormone treatment and sex reassignment surgery.

Transvestite (TV)

A person who dresses in clothing of the "opposite" gender for whatever reason. Often people labeled as transvestite are heterosexual and cross dress as part of sexual play.