March 22–26 is National LGBT Health Awareness Week.
In honor of National LGBT Health Awareness Week, I plan to share several articles this month to promote awareness and provide education regarding the unique needs of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Language is dynamic; it evolves over time, morphing terms and altering definitions. Terms and definitions associated with gender identity are no different.
Here are three insights to shed light on the misinformation surrounding gender identity.
1. Gender Identity and Gender Expression are Different
First, LGBTQ individuals identify based on several things: race/ethnicity, geographic region, and socioeconomic status, to name a few. Gender identity is internal and based on a person’s sense of being female, male, or something else. This means that gender identity isn’t always obvious to others until it is uniquely expressed by the individual.
According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, “Gender identity is each person’s internal and individual experience of gender. It is a person’s sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum. A person’s gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-assigned sex.”
Whereas gender expression is the way a person publicly presents or expresses their gender and may include behavior, body language/voice, and outward appearance involving dress, makeup, and hair. A person’s chosen name and pronoun expresses gender as well. An individual’s gender identity is not related to their sexual orientation.
When addressing a transgender person — or any person with whom you’re uncertain — simply ask which sex they prefer to identify with.
2. Understanding Essential Terms Promotes Cultural Competence
Bigender: An individual who identifies as both female and male genders. Some persons may feel that one identity is predominant over the other, but both are present.
Gender non-conforming: An individual who expresses their gender in a way that is different from societal expectations in relation to their perceived gender.
Genderqueer: A term used by individuals who may not completely identify as either female or male.
Transgender: An individual whose expression and/or gender identity is different from that associated with their assigned sex at birth. Traditionally, this term has encompassed several gender minorities such as transsexuals, androgynous people, genderqueers, cross-dressers, and gender non-conforming people.
FTM: Refers to individuals who transition from female-to-male. This person was assigned the female sex at birth but identifies and lives as a man. This person is also known as a transgender man.
MTF: Refers to individuals who transition from male-to-female. This person was assigned the male sex at birth but identifies and lives as a female. This person is also known as a transgender woman.
Transexual: An individual whose gender identity differs from their assigned sex at birth. This term has nothing to do with sexual preference.
The terms gender and sex are not synonyms, and the binary paradigm of male and female to determine gender has fallen away.
Even though sex is assigned at birth, gender is not.
3. The LGBTQ+ Population is NOT Monolithic
As you can see from the numerous terms used to define these individuals, it’s clear that nobody is the same. Every individual is splendidly unique.
The acronym LGBTQ+ was coined to help us identify a community of individuals who, in some way, may be attracted to members of the same sex, and because of this, we forget that sex has nothing to do with their actual identity. In fact, the “T” in LGBTQ+ doesn’t relate to sexual attraction at all but refers to an individual’s sense of gender, also known as their gender identity.
Even though we’ve coined an acronym to help the non-LGBTQ+ people understand the unique place of LGBTQ+ persons, that doesn’t mean their needs are monolithic.
Society strives to put people in boxes, but people just don’t fit into one box.
A gay man’s experiences are different from a transgender man or a lesbian.
The challenges of a transgender person are different from a gender non-conforming or a genderqueer person.
The field of gender identity development is fresh and raising awareness daily regarding the truth behind the notion of gender. Gender isn’t exclusively determined at birth when a particular sex is assigned. Rather, gender identity is determined by a person’s belief, sense, and ultimate self-expression.
Here’s to the health and happiness of every fellow LGBTQ+ human!
xox
