Gender Identity: A person's self-identified sense of being male, female, neither or both; how we think about and express our gender. An easy way to think of the difference between sex and gender is: “sex is between your legs, and gender is between your ears.”

Transsexual: Someone whose gender identity is different from the biological sex that they were assigned at birth. A transsexual person might: change their physical sex by having surgery (known as Sex Reassignment Surgery or SRS), take hormones (testosterone or estrogen), do electrolysis, or wear gender specific clothing. This process of change is known as transitioning. Transsexuals may be referred to as female-to-male (ftm: a transman) OR male-to-female (mtf: a transwoman). A transwoman should absolutely be referred to as 'she' and a transman as 'he'. TS/TG (short for transsexual/transgendered) people may identify as gay, lesbian, straight or bisexual or otherwise.

Transgendered: Is a self-identifying term for someone whose gender identity or expression differs from traditional gender roles. Transgendered is also a political umbrella term in English-speaking North America to refer to everyone who crosses gender roles in one way or another including transsexuals, drag queens, transvestites etc. "Transgendered" is used for people and "transgender" as an adjective, i.e. a transgender book or support group.

TS/TG or Trans: A short form for transsexual and transgendered

Two-Spirited: A term for First Nations peoples who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or transsexual. Particularly refers to gender. Two-Spirited people had positive and elevated status among many Aboriginal nations prior to the arrival of Europeans.

Intersexed: Refers to people who were born with a combination of male and female anatomy. The term "hermaphrodite" used to be used, but is now considered inappropriate and offensive.

Drag King/Drag Queen: A cross- dresser from man-to-woman (queen) or woman-to-man (king) who dress up and performs for show and entertainment. Drag is often associated with LGBTQ communities.

Gender Role: Refers to characteristics attached to culturally defined notions of masculinity or femininity.

Post-operative: A transsexual who had a genital transformative surgery.

Pre-operative: A transsexual who has not had a surgery but is planning on having one.

SRS: Stands for “sex reassignment surgery,” which is the technical term for genital conversion surgeries.

Transgenderists: People who live in a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth but without wanting to change their genitals.

Transphobia: “The groundless fear and hatred of cross-dressers, transsexual, and gender-benders and what they do, and everything that results from this, from disrespect, to denial of rights and needs, to violence.”

Assigned gender: It is the gender you are attributed at birth to fit your genitals.

Assigned sex: It is the sex you are attributed at birth based on a very cursory examination of your genitals.

Bigendered: “Those who feel they have both a male and a female side to their personalities.”

Cross-dresser: Someone who chooses to wear clothing that is associated with the opposite gender. It is a word that has replaced “transvestite” which many feel has too much of a fetishistic and pathological connotation attached to it.

Gender expression: Androgynous, masculine, feminine, butchy-femme, femmy-butch, and a multitude of other variations and combinations.

Genetic woman/man: It means someone who is not a transsexual.

Non-operative: Refers to transsexuals who cannot or do not want to have a genital transformative surgery because of financial, health (HIV status for example), political, or spiritual motives. Some other people decide not to have the surgery because they are concerned about their ability to achieve orgasm postoperatively.

(Source: T.E.A.C.H. – www.teachtoronto.ca)