GENDER IDENTITY
There is a difference between your sex, gender,
gender identity, and sexual identity.
LABELS, CHOICES, & PREFERENCES
your sex and your gender are two different things
Sex
Sex is a label — male or female or intersex — that you’re assigned by a doctor at birth based on the genitals you’re born with and the chromosomes you have.
Male is the label given to people born with a penis and XY chromosomes.
Female is the label given to people born with vaginas and XX chromosomes.
Intersex is the label given people born with a combination of male and female biological characteristics, such as chromosomes or genitals. Being intersex is a naturally occurring variation in about 1 in every 100 humans, and is not a medical problem.
Gender
Gender is a social and legal status, and a set of expectations from society about behaviors, characteristics, and thoughts.
Every culture has different standards about how people should act or dress based upon their gender. Currently, in many societies, the most common genders are man and woman. While your sex is about your body parts or chromosomes, gender is about how you’re expected to act or dress based on the social rules of where you are.
Gender identity is about who you are and the label you give to yourself regardless of your sex.
Gender pronouns (she/he/they/them/em/eir/ze + others) Many people have a specific pronoun they would like used for them. Be sure to politely ask people what pronouns they prefer to be called before you assume.
YOUR IDENTITY
Gender identity is how you feel inside and how you express your gender through clothing, behavior, and personal appearance. It’s a feeling that begins very early in life, but your gender identity and sexual identity can evolve over time as you grow up.
Some people feel that the sex label they were assigned at birth doesn’t match their gender identity, or the gender that they feel they actually are inside. This is called transgender.
Some people who identify as neither man or woman identify as nonbinary. Binary means a system based on two things, in this case it refers to the gender binary of male or female. Nonbinary people don’t identify as either gender.
Some people’s gender identity changes frequently. These people identify as gender fluid.
When someone feels their gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth, this is called cisgender.
A person’s gender identity is separate from their sexual orientation. So you can be any gender identity and have any sexual
