TERM: Transgender
DEFINITION: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.

TERM: Sex
DEFINITION: The classification of a person as male or female. At birth, infants are assigned a sex, usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy.

TERM: Gender Identity
DEFINITION: A person's internal sense of their gender. For transgender people, their own internal gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. Most people have a gender identity of man or woman. For some people, their gender identity does not fit neatly into one of those two choices.

TERM: Gender Expression
DEFINITION: External manifestations of gender, expressed through a person's name, pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, and/or body characteristics.

TERM: Transition
DEFINITION: Altering one's birth sex is not a one-step procedure; it is a complex process that occurs over a long period of time. Transition can include some or all of the following personal, medical, and legal steps: telling one's family, friends, and co-workers; using a different name and new pronouns; dressing differently; changing one's name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) one or more types of surgery. The exact steps involved in transition vary from person to person.

TERM: Cisgender
DEFINITION: A term used by some to describe people who are not transgender.

TERM: Non-binary and/or genderqueer
DEFINITION: Terms used by some people who experience their gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside the categories of man and woman.