Glossary
Sex is determined based on physical characteristics that are observed and recorded at a person’s birth, often used to assign a gender identity in line with a binary model of male or female.
This is an initial categorization that may not reflect the complex reality of a person’s gender identity, which might emerge over the course of their life.
People who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth are commonly referred to as "cisgender," while those who do not identify with that gender are often called "transgender."
It is important to note that these labels can be limiting and do not encompass the wide range of human experiences related to gender identity.
A person born with sexual characteristics that do not fit the typical binary notions of the male or female body.
There are various forms of intersexuality that can include physical variations in genitalia, gonads, genetic markers, hormones, chromosomes, reproductive organs, and the overall somatic appearance of a person's sexual gender.
Not all forms of intersexuality are visible at birth: some, like hormonal intersexuality, become apparent only from puberty onwards; others, such as chromosomal intersexuality, are invisible forms that can only be discovered through specific medical tests.
For this reason, sometimes an intersex person may not even be aware of their intersex condition.
A model of behavioral, expressive, role, and socially-based expectations to which a person may feel they belong.
Most cultures use a gender binary, with two genders, male and female.
Those outside these two genders fall under the umbrella terms non-binary or genderqueer.
The characteristics that define genders are variable depending on the historical and social context and may include assigned sex at birth (that is, being male, female, or intersex), sex-based social structures (that is, gender roles), or gender identity.
Some cultures have specific gender roles that are distinct from "man" and "woman," such as hijra in South Asia and two-spirit in Native North American communities, often referred to as a third gender.
A person's sense of belonging to one or more genders, regardless of how they express it or them.
The way each individual expresses their gender in interpersonal relationships.
It can be defined as the public expression of gender identity.
A person who does not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.
The term Trans* is used as an umbrella term for both binary and non-binary trans identities, and includes both people who choose to undergo a transition through hormone therapy and surgery, as well as those who do not feel the desire or need to do so.
A person who identifies with the gender assigned at birth.
Umbrella term for subjectivities that do not identify as male or female, or not only as those genders.
This term encompasses many nuances, including gender fluid, agender, and bigender.
People who tend to fluctuate between genders, or who identify consistently with a gender that is neither male nor female.
Their gender identity can in fact change over time and may not be constant.
Umbrella term that encompasses various experiences of subjectivity that do not have and do not identify with any gender.
People who feel they belong to two genders at the same time or at different moments in their lives.
An Anglo-Saxon term, politically charged, often used by activists to refer to people whose sexual orientation and/or gender identity differs from strictly heterosexual or cisgender.
Queer is also used by those who don't feel the need to fit into any category for various reasons: the person categorically rejects the idea of a label; prefers to remain ambiguous; or does not feel represented by any currently existing label.
Subjectivity that questions its own sexual orientation or gender identity, temporarily or permanently suspending adherence to one or more identity categories while waiting to better understand its own sexual identity.
Affective and/or sexual attraction experienced by an individual towards others who may be of the same gender, different genders, or the absence of attraction.
Woman with emotional, romantic and/or sexual attraction to people of her own gender.
Man with emotional, romantic and/or sexual attraction towards people of his own gender.
A person who feels emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attraction to both people of the same gender and people of another or other genders.
A person who experiences emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attraction towards another person without considering their sex or gender.
Since this attraction is independent of these two factors, pansexual people can be attracted to individuals of all genders—male, female, and non-binary—without any distinction or preference.
Pansexuality can be considered a separate sexual orientation or a branch of bisexuality.
A person who does not feel sexual attraction towards any gender, nor any kind of interest regarding the sexual sphere.
It can be considered a sexual orientation or the absence of one.
There is a spectrum of asexuality, which includes various sub-identities.
A person who is part of the asexual spectrum, called gray-asexuality, the area between asexuality and allosexuality, as a demisexual or graysexual person may occasionally experience sexual attraction.
A person with a fluid and evolving sexual orientation.
An abrosexual person experiences a constantly changing sexuality, shifting among many different sexual orientations, including asexuality.
The first acronym (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*) used to refer to sexual and gender minorities, brings together all identities that do not recognize themselves in or who diverge from stereotypes of masculinity and femininity.
Over the years, the original version of the acronym has been enriched with other letters and symbols: the “Q” (for Queer and Questioning), the “I” (for Intersex), and the symbol “+” placed at the end of the acronym to denote inclusivity towards all other sexual minorities (such as “A” for Asexual, “P” for Pangender, and “2” for 2 spirits, referring to people with both a male and a female spirit—a term used in some Indigenous cultures).
It refers to discrimination, intolerance, hatred, and systemic, physical, and psychological violence against LGBTQIA+ people.