Transgender: 

When one’s gender identity (internal sense of gender) does not align with one’s sex assigned at birth. As an example, if someone was assigned female at birth and identifies as a boy/man they would be a transgender man or a trans man. It’s important to note that trans is an adjective, such as “blonde”, so you wouldn’t say transman in the same way you wouldn’t say blondeman.

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Cisgender: 

When one’s gender identity (internal sense of gender) aligns with their sex assigned at birth. As an example, if someone assigned male at birth identifies as a man, they are a cisgender man or cis man.

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Non-Binary:

The umbrella term for gender identities which fall outside of traditional male/female and man/woman categories.

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Gender Identity: 

One’s internal sense or experience of gender, regardless of their sex assigned at birth. Gender identity can be experienced as boy/man, girl/woman, a combination of both, or neither. There are many different labels for diverse gender identities.

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Gender Expression:

The ways in which we externally present ourselves to the world through behaviour, mannerisms, clothing, hobbies, etc.

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Sexual Orientation:

Who we are sexually attracted to. It is important to distinguish between sexual orientation (who someone goes to bed with) and gender identity (who someone goes to bed as).

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Sex assigned at birth: 

The sex assigned to you at birth based on the appearance of your genitals and your biological profile, including hormonal profiles, internal & external sex organs, and chromosomes. This can be categorized as male, female, or intersex. There are many variations of intersex conditions.

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For a more comprehensive list of key concepts and terms, please visit Trans Care BC's Glossary.

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