Knowing helpful terms

Other terms that might come up in a discussion about being transgender or gender diverse include:

• Agender. A person who doesn't identify with any gender label or who doesn't use gender as part of their identity.
• Cisgender. An individual whose gender identity and gender expression align with the sex assigned at birth.
• Gender-fluid. Displaying flexibility in gender identity and expression. Gender-fluid people typically aren't limited by gender norms and expectations. They may identify and express themselves as masculine, feminine, some combination of both or neither.
• Gender role. The norms and expectations a society associates with a person's sex assigned at birth.
• Gender minority stress. Stress related to stigma, prejudice and discrimination toward individuals with diverse gender identity and expression.
• Nonbinary. A person whose gender identity is a combination of or goes beyond the gender binary of female and male.
• Sex. A person's physical characteristics that traditionally are labeled as male or female.
• Transgender man and transgender woman. Terms used to describe a transgender individual's gender identity or expression within the gender binary. For example, the term "transgender woman" may be used for someone whose sex at birth was assigned male and who identifies as a woman. Not all transgender and gender-diverse people use these terms to describe themselves.

For more information about transgender and gender-diverse topics, consider exploring resources offered through organizations such as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the Fenway Institute.