#xdds

TRANSGENDER: A word describing someone who identifies with a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth (Ex: I, Aaron, am a transgender dude, who was thought to be a girl until I came out at age 12!)

NON-BINARY: A word describing someone who identifies with a gender other than male or female- Non-binary people may or may not identify as transgender. (Ex: Phoenix, another of the people in this group, is non-binary!)

CISGENDER: A word describing a person who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth (Ex: Cori and Mandi, the other two members of our group, are both cis girls!)

GENDER DYSPHORIA***: A problem faced for many (but not all) transgender people. This can be extreme discomfort with one’s body, the pronouns others use for a person (Ex: if your pronouns are “he/him” but people call you “she/her”), and other things like this. It is most simply described as “A disconnect between the gender one was assigned at birth/is viewed as and the gender that one identifies with”

AFAB/AMAB*: Terms used to describe the gender one was assigned at birth- Assigned female at birth/Assigned male at birth.

TRANSPHOBIA**: Discrimination and/or hatred against transgender and non-binary individuals for being trans/non-binary.

TRANSMISOGYNY**: Discrimination and/or hatred against transgender women and non-binary people who were assigned male at birth or are intersex and do not identify as cis. (Yes, it is necessary to be this specific. Transgender women arguably face more hatred for being trans women than trans men and non-binary people face for being trans.)

CISSEXISM**: The assumption that certain characteristics are inherently female or male (Ex: menstruation being a feminine thing, a deep voice being a masculine thing)

*Edit: Not all people are assigned a gender at birth. Defining AFAB/AMAB but neglecting to include the term intersex in this post was intersexist on my part. Intersex is a term used to describe people who have various conditions which cause their chromosomes/genitals/etc. to fall outside of the "typical" medical requirements for "male" or "female" assignments at birth. They can, however, be coercively assigned male or female at birth (CAMAB/CAFAB). When someone who is CAFAB is a woman, she might consider herself to be cis and intersex. When someone who is CAMAB is a man, he might consider himself to be cis and intersex.

**Note: These are problems that will be talked about on the blog very often. These are very common causes of mental health problems in transgender/non-binary people, and we hope that this blog can help cis individuals to unlearn some of their transphobia and cissexism. We also hope that we can help people struggling with gender identity to understand themselves!

ASK US QUESTIONS! This is why we made this blog. We will turn on anonymous messaging as soon as possible- don’t be embarrassed by any questions that you want to ask. (Unless you’re just saying something like “You’re not REALLY that gender!” or “They/Them pronouns aren’t grammatically correct!” Don’t be a jerk.)