Sex Characteristics and Intersex

Sex characteristics

• Sex characteristics, biological sex, refer to physical traits indicating biological sex, including chromosomes, genitalia, gonads, hormones, and reproductive organs.
• Primary sex characteristics are present at birth, such as vagina and penis.
• Secondary sex characteristics develop during puberty, such as larger breasts and Adam's apple.

Intersex

• Intersex individuals have primary and/or secondary sex characteristics that don't fit the expected patterns of "female" and "male".
• Their biological traits cannot be easily categorized.
• Intersex characteristics can be present at birth or develop during puberty.
• The term "hermaphrodite" is outdated and carries negative connotations.

Sex assigned at birth

• It refers to the categorization of a person as female or male based on external genitalia.
• In most countries, infants can only be assigned female or male.

Gender

• It encompasses cultural and societal expectations for girls, women, boys, and men.
• It categorizes a person's femaleness/womanhood or maleness/manhood based on sex assigned at birth.

Gender Identity (GI)

• It's a person's deeply felt internal experience of gender, whether female, male, or another identity.
• It may or may not align with sex assigned at birth.
• Cisgender refers to individuals whose gender aligns with their sex assigned at birth.
• Transgender describes individuals whose gender doesn't match their sex assigned at birth. It includes a broad spectrum of identities.

Non-binary genders

• These genders exist outside the woman-man binary and spectrum.
• They have existed throughout history in many cultures.

Transitioning

• A personal process transgender individuals undergo to live as their true selves.
• It can involve:
  • Internal transition: coming out to oneself as transgender.
  • Social transition: coming out to others and using gender-affirming name and pronouns, clothing, and other acts.
  • Legal transition: changing name or sex/gender marker in legal documents.
  • Medical transition: hormone replacement therapy or gender-affirming surgery.
• These are considered gender-affirming acts.

Gender Expression (GE)

• It refers to the external appearance of a person's gender, expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut, names, pronouns, or voice.
• It may or may not conform to gender identity or social expectations.
• When gender expression conforms to gender identity, it's called gender conforming.
• When gender expression doesn't match gender identity, it’s called gender non-conforming.

Sexual Orientation (SO)

• It describes a person's inherent and enduring capacity for emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other people.
• Heterosexual individuals are attracted to people of a different gender.
• Gay describes attraction to people of the same gender.
• Lesbian is used for women attracted to other women.
• Bisexual individuals are attracted to people of more than one gender.
• Asexual individuals experience a lack of sexual attraction, regardless of other forms of attraction.

LGBTQIA+

• Queer refers to individuals whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression doesn't conform to societal cisgender-heterosexual norms.
• Questioning refers to people exploring their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
• The + represents all other gender and sexual minority identities.

Gender-affirmative terms:

• Use sexual orientation instead of sexual preference.
• Use gay/lesbian instead of homosexual.
• Use heterosexual instead of straight.
• Use asexual, bisexual, and gay as adjectives instead of nouns.
• Use the initialism **LGBTQIA+ ** to describe a group of people, not an individual.
• Avoid using homosexual/gay/lesbian couple, homosexual relations, or homosexual relationship.
  • Instead, ask individuals for their preferred terms.
• Use marriage equality instead of gay marriage or same-sex marriage.