At Dow Janes, we believe in fostering an environment where everyone feels welcomed and understood. This guide aims to clarify some common terms related to gender, helping our members to navigate conversations and interactions with sensitivity and awareness. Understanding gender terminology is not just about being informed — it's about being inclusive and respectful to all.
LGBTQ+ people use a variety of terms to identify themselves, not all of which are included in this glossary. Always listen for and respect a person’s self identified terminology.
1. Ally: A term to describe someone who is actively supportive of LGBTQ+ people.
2. Perceived Gender/Gender Attribution: How the world sees and understands someone’s gender.
3. Gender Identity: An individual's personal sense of their own gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth.
4. Gender Expression: How an individual chooses to express their gender identity externally, through clothing, behavior, hairstyle, voice, and behavior.
5. Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth. A transgender woman is someone who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a woman. Conversely, a transgender man is someone who was assigned female at birth but identifies as a man.
3. Non-Binary: A term used to describe individuals who do not exclusively identify as a man or a woman. Non-binary people may identify as both, somewhere in between, or somewhere completely outside these categories and may use other terms like genderqueer to describe their identity.
4. Cisgender: A person is cisgender if their gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, someone who was assigned female at birth and identifies as a woman is cisgender.
5. Gender Fluid: A person who does not identify with a fixed gender or has a fluid or unfixed gender identity.
Understanding these terms is a key step in respecting each individual's unique identity and fostering an inclusive community. At Dow Janes, we're committed to creating a space where everyone feels valued and respected. We encourage our members to join us in this journey of learning and understanding.
This list is not exhaustive and should serve as a starting point for respectful and inclusive communication.
Complete and continuously updated glossaries can be found at: