Glossary

Gender, gender identities and bodies

Gender refers to the socially constructed categories assigned to us on the basis of our sex at birth. While other genders are recognised in some cultures, in Western society, people are identified into two categories; male = man/masculine and female = woman/feminine. Some people do not fit into these gender norms or may reject the understanding of gender altogether.

Binary (Gender): classification of gender into the two categories of either man or woman based on biological characteristics.

Brotherboys (see also Sistergirls): Terms used for transgender people within some Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities. Sistergirls and Brotherboys have distinct cultural identities and roles. (Sisters and Brothers NT, 2015).

Cisgender/cis: (often abbreviated to simply cis) Relates specifically to gender rather than sexuality and is used to describe people whose gender corresponds to the sex they were assigned at birth. The term helps us distinguish between sexual identity and gender identity; however, it does not account for intersex people’s lived experience recognising that babies are assigned male or female at birth regardless of intersex status.

Gender Norms: Cultural values and beliefs that define how we should dress, act and behave according to the gender assigned to us, inclusive of the expected roles and positions we have in society.

Identity (Gender): refers to one’s inner sense of self as a man, woman, masculine, feminine, neither, both, between or outside of the gender binary.

Intersex: A term that describes people born with anatomical, chromosomal and hormonal characteristics that differ from medical and conventional understandings of male and female bodies. Being intersex does not imply any specific birth sex assignment, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. Intersex people may identify as men, women or non-binary.

Ipso gender: Term for intersex people who agree with their medically assigned sex.

Misgendering: When a person is described or addressed using language that does not match their gender identity. This can include the incorrect use of pronouns (she/he/they).

Nonbinary: Describes a person’s gender identity that falls outside the gender binary of male or female. A nonbinary person may use gender-neutral pronouns (e.g. they/them) or go by she/her or he/him pronouns.

Sistergirls (see also Brotherboys): Term used for transgender people within some Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities. Sistergirls and Brotherboys have distinct cultural identities and roles. (Sisters and Brothers NT, 2015).

Third Gender or Third Sex: A concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. Many indigenous societies ascribe spiritual powers to third gender people.

Trans/ Transgender or Gender Diverse: Inclusive term that describes people whose gender identity is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. A transgender person may identify as male or female but may also identify outside this binary. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation.

Queer trans people of colour (QTPOC): An inclusive term that refers to people who broadly identify as being both a person of colour and queer and/or transgender (not heterosexual and/or cisgender). Other variations of this term in include QPOC (queer people of colour) and QTIPOC (queer, trans, and Indigenous people of colour).

Questioning (Gender): a person who is unsure which gender, if any, they identify with.

Social and Systemic

Ally: Is a term used to describe someone who is supportive of LGBTIQ people. It encompasses non-LGBTIQ allies as well as those within the LGBTIQ community who support each other, e.g. a lesbian who is an ally to the bisexual community.

Asylum seeker: is an individual who is seeking international protection. Not every asylum seeker will ultimately be recognised as a refugee, but every refugee is initially an asylum seeker.

Biphobia: Broadly describes negative beliefs, prejudices, and stereotypes about people who identify as bisexual, presenting as discomfort, hostility or hatred towards bisexual people and identity at the individual and societal level. Biphobia can manifest in individual attitudes and actions, in community beliefs and values and at a social and structural level in institutions, organisations and community life.

Cisnormativity: Assumption that everyone is cisgender and that people will continue to identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. Cisnormativity erases the existence and experiences of trans, transgender, gender diverse and intersex people.

CALD: is the acronym for ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’: a term introduced in Australia in 1996 to replace the term NESB ‘Non-English Speaking Background’. CALD refers to all of Australia’s non-Indigenous ethnic groups other than the English-speaking Anglo-Saxon majority.

Cultural Safety: is the practice of recognising, respecting and nurturing people’s unique cultural identity which includes, but is not restricted to, age or generation; gender; sexual orientation; occupation and socio-economic status; ethnic origin or migrant experience; religious or spiritual beliefs; and disability. It involves acknowledging how power operates in service systems and in consumer-practitioner relationships, supporting or creating barriers to accessing support.

Cultural Humility: is the practice of recognising that one can never fully understand another person’s experience and invites us to critically reflect on biases and beliefs at both personal and systemic levels to avoid imposing cultural values on others. The approach recognises and responds to power imbalances and promotes ongoing critical self and systems level reflections.

Coming out: ‘Coming out’ (of the closest) or being ‘out’ is sometimes used to describe the experience of beginning to express a previously secret/not openly shared gender identity inclusive of gender non-binary and/or sexual orientation.

Heteronormativity (or Heterosexism): Assumption that all people fall into one of two distinct and complementary genders (man and woman) corresponding to their sex assigned at birth.  ‘Natural roles in life’ concurrent with heterosexuality as the only ‘normal’ sexual orientation. These assumptions are reinforced through cultural beliefs and practices and through social and political institutions. Heterosexism is the cultural ideology that perpetuates sexual stigma, prejudices, violence, and discrimination providing the “social backdrop” for discrimination towards LGBTIQ people.

Homonormativity: Assumption that LGBTIQ+ people will conform to mainstream, heterosexual culture for example by adopting the idea that marriage and monogamy are natural and normal. The term also refers to the privileging of certain people or relationships within the queer community (often cisgender, white, gay men).

Homophobia: A term coined in the late 1960s, homophobia broadly describes negative beliefs, prejudices, and stereotypes about people who identify as same-sex attracted, presenting as discomfort, hostility or hatred towards homosexuality at both an individual and societal level. Homophobia can manifest in individual attitudes and actions, in community beliefs and values and at a social and structural level in institutions, organisations and community life.

Human Rights: are agreed international standards that recognise and protect the dignity and integrity of every individual, without distinction.

Internalised homophobia: Sometimes referred to as “internalised oppression”, this term describes the process in which societies negative beliefs and values towards homosexual/bi/trans identity  is internalised, including by people who identify as LGBTIQ, which can lead to feelings of self-disgust and self-hatred; feeling wrong or bad, which can have an impact on mental health and wellbeing, particularly in early years of identity formation.

Intersectionality: A theory and term coined by black feminist Kimberlé Crenshaw. Intersectionality describes how overlapping or intersecting social identities such as race and gender produce unique experiences of discrimination that cannot be captured with a single-axis framework of addressing disadvantage (e.g. tackling racism without considering the impact of gender).

People of colour (PoC): An broad term that originated in the United States describing any person that is not white. Variants of this term include men of colour (MoC) and women of colour (WoC). While the use of this term has become more widespread in Australia, not all non-white individuals will identify as or be familiar with the term PoC, and this term does not imply any specific cultural background.

Racism: Discrimination or prejudice based on a person’s race, ethnicity, culture or religion, described as ‘that which maintains or exacerbates inequality of opportunity among ethnoracial groups’¹. Racism occurs at three levels; internalised, interpersonal and systemic or institutional. It can manifest in individual attitudes and actions, in community beliefs and values and at a social and structural level in institutions, organisations and community life. Recognised as a social determinate of health, racism can impact on physical and mental health and a sense of safety in the world.

Refugee: a person who has fled their country of origin and is unable or unwilling to return because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

Sexism: Discrimination or prejudice based on a person’s sex and/or gender identity. Sexism is perpetuated through the maintenance of a rigid, hierarchical gender binary of ‘male/female’ or ‘masculine/feminine’ that privileges men and masculinity over individuals of other genders. Sexism manifests in both individual attitude and actions and institutional policies that systemically disadvantage women.

Transphobia: Broadly describes negative beliefs, prejudices, and stereotypes about people who identify as trans, transgender, genderqueer and/or gender nonbinary. Presents as discomfort, hostility or hatred towards trans and gender diverse people and identity at an individual and societal level. Transphobia can manifest in individual attitudes and actions, in community beliefs and values and at a social and structural level in institutions, organisations and community life.

1. Berman, G. and Y. Paradies (2010). ‘Racism, disadvantage and multiculturalism: towards effective anti-racist praxis.’ Ethnic and Racial Studies 33(2): 214–232.