The Library
Gender Identity & Expression
A person's internal sense of gender and how they present it, distinct from sexual orientation or biological sex.
All 13 terms
- AgenderAgender describes having no gender identity, or identifying as being genderless or without gender altogether. It is a distinct identity — not simply a subset of non-binary, though some agender people also use non-binary as an umbrella term — and it reflects a person's internal sense of self, separate from their sexual orientation or how they express themselves outwardly.
- AndrogynousAndrogynous describes a gender presentation that blends traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics, or that reads as neither distinctly one nor the other. It refers primarily to expression—appearance, style, mannerisms, voice—and is not by itself a statement about a person's gender identity or sexual orientation.
- BigenderBigender describes having two gender identities, experienced either at the same time or shifting between them over time. These identities can be any combination — for example woman and man, or non-binary and a binary gender — and the experience is personal to each bigender person.
- CisgenderCisgender (often shortened to 'cis') describes a person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. It is the most common gender experience but simply one pattern among many, and it is a neutral descriptive term, not a slur or a judgment.
- DemigenderDemigender is a nonbinary gender identity describing a partial, rather than complete, connection to a particular gender. A demigender person feels only partly aligned with a gender (such as demigirl or demiboy), with the remaining portion often being another gender, no gender, or an undefined gender. It matters because it gives language to genuinely felt in-between experiences that a strict man/woman binary can't capture.
- Gender NonconformingGender nonconforming (GNC) describes presenting or behaving in ways that don't match conventional social expectations for one's gender or assigned sex. It's a descriptor of expression, not a specific gender identity — people of any identity, cisgender or transgender, can be gender nonconforming.
- GenderfluidGenderfluid describes a gender identity that shifts or moves between different genders over time, rather than remaining fixed. A genderfluid person's sense of gender may change over hours, days, months, or years, and each of those experiences is authentic and valid.
- GenderqueerGenderqueer is a gender identity that intentionally sits outside, between, or beyond the binary categories of man and woman. Some people use it as a specific identity, others as a broad umbrella term for any nonconforming relationship to gender, and it can describe identity, expression, or both.
- Non-BinaryNon-binary is an umbrella term for gender identities that do not fit exclusively into the categories of man or woman. Non-binary people (sometimes called 'enby') may experience their gender as a blend, as neither, as fluid, or as something entirely outside the binary — and their identities are valid regardless of appearance, medical steps, or pronouns.
- TransfeminineTransfeminine (or transfem) is an umbrella term for people assigned male at birth whose gender identity or expression moves toward the feminine. It includes trans women as well as non-binary and other people who don't identify fully as women but experience a feminine-leaning gender.
- TransgenderTransgender (or trans) describes people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. It is an aspect of gender identity — who a person knows themselves to be — and is entirely separate from sexual orientation, who a person is attracted to.
- TransmasculineTransmasculine (or transmasc) is an umbrella term for people who were assigned female at birth and whose gender identity or expression leans masculine, whether or not they identify fully as a man. It centers a masculine direction of gender rather than a single fixed destination, making room for binary trans men, some non-binary people, and others who feel most at home somewhere on the masculine side of the spectrum.
- Two-SpiritTwo-Spirit is a contemporary pan-Indigenous English term describing certain gender identities and social/ceremonial roles found in some Indigenous North American cultures, often understood to embody both masculine and feminine spirit. It is a culturally specific identity used only by Indigenous people, and it is not interchangeable with mainstream LGBTQ+ labels.
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