Assigned sex
The sex written on your birth certificate when you are born, usually based on your genitals.
Autism/Autistic
A disability characterised by challenges such as stimulation, social skills, and repetitive behaviours.
Cisgender (cis)
“often shortened to ‘cis’ this term refers to someone whose gender matches their assignment at birth” (Vincent, 2018, et al.)
Cisnormativity
“The belief that being cisgender is normal and being transgender is abnormal, and the structures and systems caused and sustained by this belief.” (CN Lester, Masculinites, 2020, et al.)
Dan and Phil
Daniel Howell and Phil Lester are a duo of YouTubers who, after years of fan speculation, both came out as gay in 2019
Detransition
The process someone may go through to undo the medical/social transitioning they’ve undertaken so as to return to living as the gender they were assigned at birth.
Dysphoria
Medical term referring to the distress caused by the difference between a trans person’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth. This can be physical dysphoria, about the body; or social dysphoria, about social interactions (such as being misgendered). Not all trans people experience dysphoria but in order for a trans person to medically transition, they must be diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Emmerdale
A British soap opera based in the Yorkshire countryside.
Fat
Not a negative word, just describes a body that is bigger than average.
Gay
Someone who is attracted to people of the same gender. A more modern and less medicalised version of homosexuality.
Gender affirming surgery
Any surgery a trans person might undergo to make their body feel more closely aligned with their internal understanding of their gender.
Gender fluid
A gender that isn’t static and may change over time.
Gender Identity Clinic (GIC)
A clinic from which trans people receive treatment, or referrals for treatment. This term usually refers to NHS services.
Gender Identity Development Services (GIDS)
NHS GIC for trans and gender questing young people.
Gender reassignment surgery
An outdated term, now usually referred to as gender affirming surgery, because reassignment implies that trans peoples’ bodies are wrong/need fixing.
Homosexual
A medicalised term for gay.
Hormone Blockers
A treatment which stops your body producing oestrogen or testosterone. Blockers are often prescribed to trans and gender questioning young people to pause puberty. They don’t make any permanent changes but do give the young person time to decide what they need without having to go through the trauma of a puberty that may permanently change their bodies in ways that will make them incredibly dysphoric.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
A treatment some trans people use to change the primary hormone in their body from testosterone to oestrogen or vice versa.
Intersex
“this is an umbrella term referring to conditions where sex-differentiation is not uniformly achieved, resulting in variation in their gendered physiology and/or anatomy” (Vincent, 2018, et al.).
Kinsey scale
A scale which ranks a person’s sexual orientation on a scale from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (exclusively homosexual) (The Kinsey Scale, n.d.).
LGBTQ
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer.
Microdosing
A way of taking hormones that involves taking a smaller dosage than would usually be prescribed so as to slow the effects.
Mountain Goats, The
“an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina.” (wikipedia, n.d.)
Neurotypical
Someone who has the most common neurology, someone who doesn’t have autism or ADHD, for example.
Neurodiverse
Umbrella term for anyone who isn’t neurotypical, for example someone with autism and/or ADHD.
Non-binary
Anyone who identifies outside of the traditional western binary idea of one’s gender being exclusively male or female. Often used as an umbrella term.
Passing
When a trans person is perceived by others as the gender they identify as.
Phalloplasty
Surgical construction of a penis.
Pronouns
Used here to refer to the specific words people choose to be addressed by, eg he/she/they/it/etc.
Queer
An umbrella term for those who are not heterosexual and cisgender.
Same food
A term used by autistic and neurodiverse people to refer to a certain food they will eat regularly, similar to comfort food but usually eaten daily.
Sex change
Outdated term which refers to the medical steps a trans person may take to transition.
Sodomy
Anal sexual intercourse, historically associated with gay men.
Special interest
A subject of particularly overwhelming interest for someone who is autistic. Having a special interest is a significant trait of autism.
Straight size
A body that is average size, not fat or thin.
Testosterone (T)
Used here to refer to a synthetic testosterone hormone that some trans people may choose to take.
Top surgery
A surgery which reduces breast tissue to make a trans person’s chest flatter.
Trans
An umbrella term for anyone who identifies as a different gender to the one they were assigned at birth.
Transition
The process a trans person goes through to live as the gender they identify as. This can be socially transitioning, like changing their name and wearing different clothes; or medically transitioning, which may involve treatments such as HRT, chest surgery, genital surgery, and facial feminisation/masculinisation surgery.
Transsexual
An outdated term that refers to someone who changes their sex.
Transvestite
An outdated term for someone who cross-dresses.
Vaginoplasty
Surgical construction of a Vagina.