Policy and guidance on trans staff and students Appendix 1

Glossary of terms

Acquired gender

The new gender of a person who has had their gender reassigned and/or legally recognised. It is possible for an individual to transition fully without surgical intervention.

FtM

Female-to-male transsexual person. A person who is changing, or has changed, gender from female to male.

Gender

Gender consists of two related aspects: gender identity, which is the person’s internal perception and experience of their gender; and gender role or expression, which is the way the person lives in society and interacts with others, based on their gender identity and anatomical sex. Gender is less clearly defined than anatomical sex, and does not necessarily represent a simple binary choice: some people have a gender identity that is neither clearly female nor clearly male. It should be noted that, for the purposes of the law, gender is binary – people can only be male or female.

Gender dysphoria/gender identity disorder

The medical term for the condition in which a person has been assigned one gender (usually at birth on the basis of their sex), but identifies as belonging to another gender, or does not conform to the gender role society ascribes to them. Gender dysphoria is not a form of sexual deviancy or a sexual orientation.

A person with gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder can experience anxiety, uncertainty or persistently uncomfortable feelings about their birth gender. They may feel that their gender identity is different from their anatomical sex. This, in turn, may lead to a fear of expressing their feelings and a fear of rejection, which may lead to deep anxiety, and to chronic depression and possibly attempted suicide. Sometimes a person with gender dysphoria assumes an identity in the opposite sex. This may involve undergoing hormone and, perhaps, surgical treatment to change their sex physically, although medical treatment is not a prerequisite of transsexualism or of being recognised in the acquired gender.

Gender presentation/gender expression

While gender identity is subjective and internal to the individual, the presentation of one’s self, either through personality or clothing, is what is perceived by others. Typically, trans people seek to make their gender expression or presentation match their gender identity, rather than their birth-assigned gender.

Gender reassignment/transitioning

Gender reassignment is a process that is undertaken under medical supervision for the purpose of reassigning a person’s gender by changing physiological or other characteristics of sex or presentational characteristics of gender, and includes any part of such a process. Gender reassignment or transition includes some or all of the following cultural, legal and medical adjustments: telling one’s family, friends, and/or co-workers; changing one’s name and/or sex on legal documents; living in the other gender for at
least two years, hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) some form of chest and/or genital alteration.

Gender Recognition Certificate

A certificate issued by a Gender Recognition Panel under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 means that a holder of a full Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) is legally recognised in his or her acquired gender for all purposes. This means that the person in question now belongs to the opposite gender in both a legal and a social context. The GRC will be issued to an applicant if they can satisfy the panel that they fulfil all the criteria outlined in the Gender Recognition Act 2004. The Act requires that the applicant
has, or has had, gender dysphoria, has lived in the acquired gender for two years prior to the application, and intends to live permanently in the acquired gender. A full GRC also gives the holder the means to obtain a new birth certificate.

Intersex

Intersex people are individuals born with anatomy and physiology that differs from contemporary ideals of what constitutes ‘normal’ male and female. Intersex conditions may arise as a result of certain congenital or hormonal factors in the foetus or placenta. Anatomical sex at birth may differ from the chromosomal or gonadal sex. Genitalia may be ambiguous, but can often appear totally female or totally male. Very rarely, individuals may have both testicular and ovarian tissue, with a mixture of secondary
sexual characteristics. This may be accompanied by varying degrees of gender dysphoria, although this is rare.

Legal definition of sex

In the past, the legal sex of someone was defined by their birth certificate and could not be changed. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 means that people can now apply to gain recognition of their change of gender for all legal purposes.

LGBT

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender/transsexual. The forms of prejudice and discrimination directed against trans people can be very similar to those directed against lesbian, gay or bisexual people, which is why action and support groups often occur in an LGBT context.

MtF

Male-to-female transsexual person. A person who is changing, or has changed, gender from male to female.

Physical (anatomical) sex

Sex as determined by the match between body and sex organs – male, female or intersex. Sex refers to someone’s physical or anatomical sex – in other words, the type of genitals they possess. Except in very rare cases of people who are intersexed, anatomical sex is well defined and easy to interpret.

Real-life experience

Refers to the phase during gender reassignment in which the individual must live and work in their acquired gender before certain medical procedures will be carried out.

Sexual orientation

An orientation (or sexual attraction) towards persons of the same sex (lesbians and gay men), or an orientation towards a person of the opposite sex (heterosexual), or an orientation towards persons of the same sex and the opposite sex (bisexual). Sexual orientation is different from gender identity, and the two are not related. Trans people, like any other people, can be heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Trans

An inclusive term for those who identify themselves as transgender, transsexual or transvestite. The word ‘trans’ can be used without offence to cover people undergoing gender transition; people who identify as someone with a different gender from that assigned to them at birth, but who may have decided not to undergo medical treatment; and people who choose to dress in the clothing typically worn by the other sex. This term should only be used as an adjective.

Transgender

An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from their birth - assigned gender. The term may include, but is not limited to, transsexual people and others who see themselves as not clearly fitting into male or female identities. Transgender people may or may not choose to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically. The term transgender should only be used as an adjective, for example, ‘transgender people’.

Transsexual person

A person who feels a consistent and overwhelming desire to transition and fulfil their life as a member of the opposite sex. Someone in this position will have the medical condition gender dysphoria. This term should only be used as an adjective: individuals should be referred to as ‘transsexual people’ not ‘transsexuals’.

Transvestite

A person who dresses in the clothing typically associated with the opposite gender. Generally, transvestites do not wish to alter their body and do not necessarily experience gender dysphoria.