Bigots love to confuse people by twisting language and using words incorrectly. Here are some definitions to help understand the issues (click a category to see definitions in that section):

Basic Terms

• Sex: male or female biology, hormones, chromosomes, physical characteristics.
• Intersex: people born with variations of sex characteristics (hormones, chromosomes, genitalia) which do not always fit society’s perception of male or female bodies. More information here and here.
• Gender: the meaning attached to sex, including social roles, power relationships, expected behaviour, fashion, etc. This is shaped by culture, so it can change over time, and in different places. The concept was developed by feminists (see below), to talk about how people’s experiences and opportunities are limited by their biological sex.
  • Example: 200 years ago, Scottish women were expected wear dresses and skirts. Today, it is socially acceptable for women to wear trousers. Men are still expected to wear trousers, with kilts being a notable exception.

Gender Identity & Expression

• Gender Identity: a person’s sense of their own gender. For most people, this will match their biological sex.
• Gender Expression: the way a person shows the world their gender identity, for example through clothing, makeup, hairstyle and behaviour.
• Sex Assigned at Birth: where babies are identified as biologically male or female, based on their genitalia, or occasionally through genetic analysis. Most people’s sex assigned at birth will match their gender identity later in life.

Types of Gender Identity

• Trans or Transgender: anyone whose gender identity or gender expression does not fully correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth.
  • Origin: the prefix ‘trans’ means ‘on the opposite side,’ as in translate or transatlantic flight.
• Cis or Cisgender: anyone whose gender identity matches their biological sex. When discussing trans issues, cis means anyone who is not transgender.
  • Origin: the prefix ‘cis’ means ‘on the same side,’ and is used in chemistry, geography, and many other scientific contexts. More information here and here.
• Non-binary: a gender identity which is either in-between or beyond the two categories ‘man’ and ‘woman,’ or fluctuating between them, either permanently or some of the time. Non-binary genders are not legally recognised in the UK.

Words & Phrases Associated with Trans People

• Transition: the process of starting to live as a different gender. Social transition can include using a new name and wearing different clothing, hairstyle, etc. Medical transition can include hormone therapy, surgery and other treatments. A person does not need to undergo medical treatment to be considered trans.
• Misgendering: referring to someone as the wrong gender, for example calling a trans man a woman, or a trans woman a man.
• Deadnaming: purposefully referring to someone by their birth name, when they prefer to use a name that reflects their affirmed gender. It is deeply disrespectful, and can be a form of bullying.
• Pronoun: a word that substitutes for a noun, including he, she, they, we, us, you.
  • Trans and non-binary people often ask others to use specific pronouns: usually she/her for trans women, he/him for trans men, and they/them for nonbinary people – but other combinations are possible (if in doubt, ask!). It’s a sign of respect to use a person’s preferred pronouns.
  • For most cis people, the appropriate pronouns are obvious, especially in person, because their gender expression and sex are the same. However, some cis people experience misgendering online, when they have ‘ambiguous’ names (for example, Chris, Alex or Sam could be male or female – Christopher or Christina, Alexander or Alexandra, Samuel or Samantha).
• Pronouns in Email Signatures (etc): many people, cis and trans, add their preferred pronouns to email signatures, even when it may seem obvious. Not only does this help to remove stigma from a person stating their pronouns, it’s also helpful for people from other cultures, who may not make the same assumptions.

Medical Terms

• Gender Dysphoria: the medical term for feeling that one’s sex and gender do not align.
• Gender Affirming Care: a range of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions “designed to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity” (World Health Organisation) While this is usually discussed in relation to trans people, many elective medical treatments and procedures are designed to ‘enhance’ a cis person’s gender identity, for example breast implants and ‘butt lifts’ for women, or hair transplants and jawline surgery for men.
• Puberty Blockers: medication to delay puberty, which has been used safely for 40+ years to treat early or problematic puberty. More recently, puberty blockers have been used to delay puberty in transgender children, preventing them from going through the wrong puberty for their gender. The medication is completely reversible.
• Gender Identity Clinic (GIC): a specialist unit where multidisciplinary teams treat people who are dealing with issues of gender identity. The teams can include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, endocrinologists, and family therapists. There are four NHS GICs in Scotland, with waiting times for a first appointment of between two and five years. Accessing treatment at Scotland’s one private GIC can cost thousands of pounds.

Legal & Bureaucratic

• Equality Act 2010: law which gives people with protected characteristics, including trans people, equal rights and protection from discrimination.
• Gender Reassignment: The language used in the Equality Act 2010 to refer to any part of a process of transitioning to live in a different gender, regardless of whether any hormonal or surgical changes take place.
• Gender Recognition Act (GRA) 2004: law which sets out how trans people in the UK may legally change their sex and obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). More information here.
• Gender Recognition Certificate: paperwork to legally recognise a person’s affirmed gender. This allows them to update their birth, adoption, marriage or civil partnership certificates (if registered in the UK), to get married or form a civil partnership in their affirmed gender, and have their affirmed gender on their death certificate when they die. More information here.
  • A GRC is not required for a person to update their passport, driving licence, medical records, employment records or bank accounts.
  • Getting a GRC is a long and invasive process, requiring a person to show evidence that they have lived in their affirmed gender for at least two years, plus paperwork from two doctors (including a gender dysphoria specialist). Spousal approval is needed if the person is married.
• Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: a bill passed by the Scottish Parliament in December 2022, seeking to amend the GRA to make it simpler for people to obtain a GRC. In January 2023, the UK Government blocked the bill from receiving royal assent. It was the first time the UK Government used its veto power in this way. More information here.

Other Related Terms

• Sexual Orientation: who a person is sexually attracted to, including heterosexual/straight (attracted to people of the opposite sex), homosexual/gay or lesbian (attracted to people of the same sex), and bisexual, (attracted to both the same and the opposite sex). Just like a cis person, a trans person can have any sexual orientation.
• LGBTQ+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning. The ‘+’ indicates all other variations in sexual orientation and gender identity, including non-binary, pansexual (attracted to people of all sexes), asexual (does not experience sexual attraction), and many more.
• ‘Gender Critical’ or ‘Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist’ (TERF): people who are against trans rights. They may call themselves feminists, but their political project is ultimately patriarchal and anti-feminist, because they use biology to define and limit what a woman can be.

Feminism & Patriarchy

• Feminism: a social movement for equality between women and men, expanding possibilities and improving lives for both. There have been several ‘waves’ of feminism, each continuing and building on the work of previous generations:
  • First Wave Feminism: 19th and early 20th Century, focus on formal equality for women, including voting rights, access to education and the professions, property rights and divorce.
  • Second Wave Feminism: broadly the 1960s to 1980s, with additional focus on sexuality, reproductive rights, and roles in the workplace and family. During this era, feminists developed the concept of gender, to talk about how people’s experiences and opportunities were limited by their biological sex.
  • Third Wave Feminism: broadly the 1990s to 2010s, with additional focus on diversity, access to education and leadership roles, access to contraception and childcare, and work against sexual harassment, sexual abuse and domestic abuse, including support for survivors.
  • Fourth Wave Feminism: broadly ~2012 onwards, with additional focus on empowerment, improving representation in politics, business, media, etc, challenging gender roles and stereotypes, further work on sexual harassment and sexual violence (including #MeToo), and connection with other struggles including those of disabled, ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ people.
• Patriarchy: a form of social hierarchy, where most positions of power are held by men, and most decisions are made to favour the needs and desires of men.