This page includes a list of significant glossaries, language guides for specific topics, and definitions for terms relevant to this LibGuide. You can utilize these resources to help answer questions of terminology relating to transgender health care.
Some terms that were once common are now rare. And some terms that are currently common may one day be rare. This resource guide communicates a best understanding of current terminology from the creators of the guide.
PFLAG: A national organization providing educational resources related to the LGBTQ+ community. They provide a detailed and searchable glossary of terms.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC): The largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, the HRC provides educational resources on LGBTQ+ topics, including this broad glossary.
Trans Student Educational Resources (TSER): “The only national organization run by young transgender people.” They provide educational resources on transgender topics, programming for special events, and scholarships.
Fenway Institutes National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center Glossary: Provides a glossary of terms that may be helpful for health care providers when interacting with patients.
GLAAD Terminology Media Guide: Provides detailed terminology information for some LGBTQ+ terms. It is intended as a reference guide for people creating media about LGBTQ+ topics and individuals. Also contains some terms that may be best to avoid for each terminology topic.
APA Guide on Bias-Free Language: APA provides the writing style standard for many individuals and groups. This guide provides education and advice on writing in a way that reduces bias in the language used.
The Trans Language Primer: Provides guided tours on terminology for individual topics, such as a tour of medical terminology related to transgender individuals. Aims to document transgender terminology while acknowledging the complexity of culture that impacts that terminology.
Pronoun Dressing Room: Provides a tool to learn about or practice using different pronouns in textual form. Individuals can input a pronoun set or select from a range of pre-made pronoun sets to view how those pronouns could be used in sentences and paragraphs.
Other organizations provide information on the language of pronouns as they relate to individuals. Information on the singular they pronoun is provided by language organizations APA, MLA, Merriam-Webster, and the Oxford English Dictionary. And the Human Rights Campaign provides information about neo-pronouns, pronouns that are less standardized within the language.
The following definitions of terms are based on the definitions from the PFLAG glossary and the Fenway Institute Health Education Glossary.
Sex Assigned at Birth: Sometimes called biological sex, this refers to anatomical, physiological, genetic, or physical attributes that determine if a person is male, female, or intersex.
Gender Identity: A person’s deeply held core sense of self in relation to gender. Gender identity does not always correspond to biological sex. People become aware of their gender identity at many different stages of life, from as early as 18 months and into adulthood.
Transgender: Often shortened to trans, from the Latin prefix for “on a different side as.” A term describing a person’s gender identity that does not necessarily match their assigned sex at birth. Transgender people may or may not decide to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically to match their gender identity.
Cisgender: A term used to refer to an individual whose gender identity aligns with the sex assigned to them at birth. The prefix cis- comes from the Latin word for “on the same side as.”
Non-Binary: Refers to people who do not subscribe to the gender identity binary. They might exist between or beyond the man-woman binary. Some use the term exclusively, while others may use it interchangeably with terms or combined with other descriptors.
Gender Non-Conforming (GNC): An umbrella term for those who do not follow gender stereotypes, or who expand ideas of gender expression or gender identity. GNC does not mean non-binary, and cisgender people can be GNC as well.
Intersex: Intersex is the current term used to refer to people who are biologically between the medically expected definitions of male and female. This can be through variations in hormones, chromosomes, internal or external genitalia, or any combination of any or all primary and/or secondary sex characteristics. As intersex is about biological sex, it is distinct from gender identity and sexual orientation.
LGBTQIA+: An acronym that collectively refers to individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, or intersex. It is sometimes stated as LGBT or LGBTQ
Queer: Reclaimed from its earlier negative use, the term is considered by some to be inclusive of the entire LGBTQIA+ community and by others who find it to be an appropriate term to describe their more fluid identities. Due to its varying meanings, use this word only when self-identifying or quoting an individual who self-identifies as queer.
Transition: A term used to refer to the process--social, legal, and/or medical--one goes through to affirm one’s gender identity. For some, this means changing hair styles, clothing, and other forms of gender expression. For others, this means changing names, pronouns, and identification documents, while for others, this may include gender-affirming medical care such as taking puberty blockers, taking hormones, and having gender-affirming surgeries.
Gender Affirming Care: The provision of health services to support a person’s process of living in alignment with their gender identity. Services may include but are not limited to gender-affirming hormone therapy, affirming clothing, and/or gender-affirming surgeries.