A person with no, or very little, connection to the concept or traditional system of gender; someone who does not align with the traditional concepts of either being a man or woman, and/or someone who sees themselves as not having a gender at all (i.e. “without gender”), or an experience of gender that is not commonly understood.
a ("lacking, without") + gender
Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 13th January, 2022
A nonbinary gender identity associated with androgynous individuals; typically having a gender that is simultaneously feminine and masculine – but not necessarily in equal amounts. Androgynes may identify further as transgender, nonbinary and/or genderqueer.
Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
an individual that sees themselves as having ‘two’ or ‘double’ genders, either simultaneously or varying between the two. Typically these genders are seen as male and female, or, indeed, masculine and feminine, but may also include nonbinary identities. Bigender individuals may further identify as being more masculine/male or feminine/female leaning.
Bigender individuals may present as androgynous, or present as more masculine or feminine dependent on circumstances or feelings. They may also experience a fluctuation in dysphoria.
Not to be confused with bisexual or biromantic.
Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
a culturally specific term in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lexicon to refer to transgender, nonbinary and other gender diverse individuals who have a ‘male‘ spirit and take on male roles within the community.
This is a culturally-specific term, and should not be used as a gender identity by those not from that culture.
Originally published: 9th December, 2020
Last modified: 15th January, 2022
Somebody who is not transgender and/or nonbinary. An individual whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth; for example, a cisgender man is someone who presently identifies as being “male” or a “man”, and was also assigned male at birth. Cisgender individuals may also be hetero, homo, bi(+) or asexual; it is not necessarily related to their sexual identity.
cis ("on the same side") + gender
Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 15th January, 2022
an individual who identifies partly, but not wholly, as a man/boy or masculine regardless of their designated sex at birth. This may be an individual designated male at birth who only identifies partly with being a man, or, a transmasculine person who identifies more with being male than female, but not entirely or to the point of identifying as a man.
Alternative: demiman, demimale.
Related: demigirl, deminonbinary
Originally published: 21st July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
an alternate identity to demigirl.
Originally published: 4th December, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
an individual who describes their gender identity as only partially genderfluid. An example may be an individual assigned female at birth who feels part of their gender identity is statically female, but another part is fluid between male and nonbinary.
Originally published: 4th December, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
a gender identity which comprises of the words ‘demi’ (half) + gender. Demigender is an umbrella term for the various nonbinary identities beginning with demi: e.g. demigirl, demiboy, deminonbinary, demifluid.
Although the term linguistically states half, the idea behind demigender is that one identifies partly with a gender, rather than wholly, regardless of their assigned gender at birth.
Originally published: 21st July, 2020
Last modified: 21st July, 2020
an individual who identifies partly, but not wholly, as a woman/girl or feminine regardless of their designated sex at birth. This may be an individual designated female at birth who only identifies partly with being a woman, or, a transfeminine person who identifies more with being female than male, but not entirely or to the point of identifying as a woman.
Alternative: demiwoman, demifemale.
Related: demiboy, deminonbinary
Originally published: 21st July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
an alternate identity to demiboy.
Originally published: 4th December, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
an alternate identity for demiboy.
Originally published: 4th December, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
Originally published: 21st July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
an alternate identity for demigirl.
Originally published: 4th December, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
relating to being a woman, women, girl/girls, or femininity, or the qualities of such; for example, female scientists describes scientists who are women.
Female is also a gender identity that may be used in conjunction with other identities (such as a bisexual female, a transgender female, etc), as well as being a classification used for one’s sex assigned at birth.
A nonbinary person may describe themselves as being female-aligned.
In binary sex, individuals are often classified as being either female or male.
Originally published: 7th December, 2020
Last modified: 7th December, 2020
a gender identity in which an individual’s gender identity fluctuates over time, or varies in intensity.
Originally published: 22nd July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
as an identity, it is an alternative term for agender, but can also refer to the vast array of gender identities that are partly genderless or neutral.
Elsewhere, genderless also refers to activities, clothes, traits, etc, that are seen in society as being gender-universal, that is, not prescribed, suited to or exclusive to one particular gender over another – that is, gender neutral.
Increasingly, some people are choosing to raise their children in a genderless/gender neutral way – that is, in a manner that does not prescribe gender norms or expectations.
Originally published: 7th December, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
a gender identity used to describe by people who do not identify as a binary man or woman; also used as an umbrella term for non-conforming or nonbinary identities, for example genderfluid, bigender, agender, etc.
Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
relating to being a man, men, boy/boys, masculinity, or the qualities of such; for example, a male choir is a choir made up of men.
Male is also a gender identity that may also be used in conjunction with other identities (such as a bisexual male, transgender male, etc), as well as being a classification for an individual’s sex assigned at birth.
A nonbinary person may describe themselves as being male-aligned.
In binary sex, individuals are often classified as being either male or female.
Originally published: 7th December, 2020
Last modified: 7th December, 2020
an adult male person; a gender identity, that may also be used in conjunction with other identities – such as a bisexual man, a gay man, an asexual man, etc.
Men typically have male sex characteristics. A cisgender man is a man who was assigned male at birth, a Trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth.
An intersex man is a man who was born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical notions of male biology, and as such, some may have had “corrective surgery” performed on them whilst young to “normalise” their body into being typically male (that is, to look ‘typical’ of what an endosex male body would look like).
However, men may not have typical male sex characteristics, and still be cisgender and endosex (for example, a man who cannot produce sperm).
People who were known to be mwn, and identified as such, may no longer identify as women: such as Trans women, or nonbinary people.
Originally published: 7th December, 2020
Last modified: 7th December, 2020
a nonbinary gender identity and umbrella term in which a person describes themselves as having multiple genders, for example, being genderfluid, bigender, polygender, pangender, etc; this is opposed to being agender, cisgender or binary transgender.
Originally published: 7th December, 2020
Last modified: 15th January, 2022
a broad nonbinary/transgender identity in which individuals have a desire to make a gender neutral presentation; many define neutrois as being different to androgyne because whilst androgynous identities blend or encompass both masculine and feminine characteristics, those who are neutrois possess neither.
Originally published: 21st July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
a gender identity in which individuals do not identify as being strictly male or female. It is also an umbrella term for a wide variety of gender identities on the gender spectrum which are not strictly male or female; that is, as the name suggests, identities that are not binary.
Nonbinary individuals are typically transgender, as they have transitioned away – in some form – from their sex assigned at birth, although not all nonbinary individuals may identify themselves as such. Many, but not all, nonbinary people have experienced gender dysphoria.
Originally published: 21st July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
a nonbinary gender identity in which an individual possesses and/or expresses all gender identities, or, possesses all of the broad gender categories: male, female and nonbinary/other.
Pangender individuals may also further describe their gender with other identities, such as genderfluid.
Originally published: 23rd December, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
a nonbinary gender identity in which an individual considers themselves to have, or express, multiple genders.
This is different to being pangender (having or expressing ‘all’ genders), agender (no gender) or bigender (having or expressing two genders, or simultaneously male/female). Polygender individuals may also identify with other nonbinary gender identities, such as being genderqueer or genderflux/genderfluid.
Originally published: 7th December, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
a culturally specific term in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lexicon to refer to transgender, nonbinary and other gender diverse individuals who have a ‘female‘ spirit and take on female roles within the community.
This is a culturally-specific term, and should not be used as a gender identity by those not from that culture.
Originally published: 9th December, 2020
Last modified: 15th January, 2022
A nonbinary and/or transgender identity in which individuals do not identify as male or female, but a third gender. Also an umbrella term for a wide-variety of gender identities.
The term third gender has also been used in non-Western societies to describe individuals who fall outside of traditional gender norms, roles and expectations, and those societies and cultures that recognise more than two genders.
Sometimes synonymous with nonbinary.
Originally published: 17th July, 2020
Last modified: 17th July, 2020
A man who was assigned female at birth; somebody who is a man and transgender.
Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 16th July, 2020
A woman who was assigned male at birth; somebody who is a woman and transgender.
Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 16th July, 2020
an individual who was assigned male at birth, but identify with femininity to a greater extent than they do with masculinity.
An identity in its own, transfeminine individuals may also identify in a multitude of other ways, such as being a Trans woman, demigirl, multigender/polygender, genderfluid, demifluid or nonbinary.
Originally published: 21st July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
Used as an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from their sex assigned at birth. Individuals may identify as male, female, nonbinary or a number of other gender identities.
Not to be confused with transsexual, although many transsexuals may also identify as transgender: but certainly, not all transgender individuals are, or identify with, transsexual.
Originally published: 17th July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
an individual who was assigned female at birth, but identify with masculinity to a greater extent than they do with femininity.
An identity in its own, transmasculine individuals may also identify in a multitude of other ways, such as being a Trans man, demiboy, multigender/polygender, genderfluid, demifluid or nonbinary.
Originally published: 21st July, 2020
Last modified: 12th January, 2022
a term originating in Indigenous North American communities in 1990, to describe people who fulfill a traditional third-gender or gender variant role in traditional societies; the “two-spirit” relates to individuals who possess the traditional masculine and feminine qualities.
It should be noted, however, that not all two-spirit individuals associate themselves with the LGBTQIA+ community.
This is a culturally-specific term, and should not be used as a gender identity by those not from that culture.
Originally published: 16th July, 2020
Last modified: 15th January, 2022
an adult female person; a gender identity, that may also be used in conjunction with other identities – such as a bisexual woman, a gay woman, an asexual woman, etc.
Women typically have female sex characteristics. A cisgender woman is a woman who was assigned female at birth, a Trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth.
An intersex woman is a woman who was born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical notions of female biology, and as such, some may have had “corrective surgery” performed on them whilst young to “normalise” their body into being typically female (that is, to look ‘typical’ of what an endosex female body would look like).
However, women may not have typical female sex characteristics, and still be cisgender and endosex (for example, a woman who cannot produce ova).
People who were known to be women, and identified as such, may no longer identify as women: such as Trans men, or nonbinary people.
Originally published: 7th December, 2020
Last modified: 7th December, 2020