Definitions

Androgyne: A person whose biological sex is not readily apparent, who is intermediate between the two traditional genders, and/or who rejects gender roles entirely

Bi-gender: An individual who feels that they have both a "male" and "female" side to their personality.

Crossdresser: An individual who dresses in clothing that is culturally associated with members of the "other" sex.  Most crossdressers conduct their crossdressing on a part time basis.

FTM: An acronym that stands for Female to Male.  This includes a broad range of experiences, from those who identify as male or as men to those who identify as transsexual, trans men, or FTM as their gender identity.

Gender: A complicated set of socio-cultural practices whereby human bodies are transformed into "men" and "women." Gender refers to that which a society deems masculine or feminine. Gender identity refers an individual’s self-identification as a man, woman, transgendered or other identity category.  Most contemporary definitions stress how gender is socially and culturally produced and constructed, as opposed to being a fixed, static, coherent essence.

Gender Identity: Refers to an individual’s innate sense of self as a man, woman, transgender or other gender category. Gender identity may change over time.

Genderqueer: A term which refers to individuals or groups who “queer” or problematize the hegemonic notions of sex, gender and desire in a given society. Genderqueers possess identities which fall outside of the widely accepted sexual binary. Genderqueer may also refer to people who identify as both transgender AND queer, i.e. individuals who challenge both gender and sexuality regimes and see gender identity and sexual orientation as overlapping and interconnected.

Gender variant (gender nonconforming): A term which refers to individuals who stray from socially-accepted gender roles in a given culture.  These individuals may or may not identify as transgendered.

Hate Crime: A crime that occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group, usually defined by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation.

Intersex: Individuals born with genitals that show characteristics of both sexes or differ from their genetic sex. Many are surgically “corrected” in infancy. Some grow up to feel that they have been the victims of mutilation and abuse, or have had an essential part of themselves taken away without their consent.
 
LGBT (or GLBT): An acronym referring collectively to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans people.

MTF: An acronym that stands for Male to Female.  This includes a broad range of experiences, from those who identify as female or as women to those who identify as transsexual, trans women, or MTF as their gender identity.

Trans: An umbrella term which refers to cross-dressers, transgender people, transsexuals, genderqueers, and others who permanently or periodically dis-identify with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Transgender: A range of behaviors, expressions and identifications which challenge the pervasive binary gender system in a given culture. Transgender was originally a word coined to describe individuals who desired to change their gender expression without making hormonal or surgical changes to their bodies. While retaining its use as an identity descriptor for some, it has also evolved into an umbrella term including many categories of people who transcend traditional gender roles. This can include (but is not limited to) people who identify as transsexuals, cross-dressers, masculine-identified females, feminine-identified males, two-spirit people, MTFs, FTMs, trans men, trans women, and other differently-gendered people.

Transsexual: An individual who strongly dis-identifies with their birth sex and wishes to utilize hormones and sex reassignment surgery (or gender confirmation surgery) as a way to align their physical body with their internal gender identity. A transsexual can be MTF or FTM.  He or she can also be pre-operative (“pre-op”), post-operative (“post-op”) or not intend to have an operation (“non-op.”)