Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): a law passed to ensure the rights of people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Transgender people were specifically written out of this act. This decision was condemned by some and praised by those who do not see gender variance as a disability.
American Psychiatric Association (APA): A US-based professional organization of psychiatrists (medical doctors of mental illness) that maintains a list of mental illnesses called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This list once included homosexuality and still contains gender dysphoria.
American Psychological Association (APA): A US-based professional organization of psychologists (ph.d. professors and helping professions of mental phenomena). Though this group also includes scientists who do not necessarily advocate pathological terminology, this group is dominated by helping-professionals who endorse the American Psychiatric Associations model of mental health.
androgynous: Expressing masculinity and femininity at the same time. This person is sometime called an androgyne.
androphilia: Attraction to men or masculinity.
anti-androgens: also called androgen blockers, these drugs block the effects of androgenic hormones like testosterone in trans women.
brain sex: the disputed concept that male and female brains have distinct characteristics that lead to differences in thoughts and behavior.
castration: removal of the testicles. The medical term is orchiectomy.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: the guideline that the American Psychiatric Association publishes which details what is and is not a psychiatric illness. “Gender dysphoria” is currently listed.
dilation: Use of a dilator after vaginoplasty to maintain depth and width of the vagina.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: the guideline that the American Psychiatric Association publishes which details what is and is not a psychiatric illness. “Gender dysphoria” is currently listed.
dilation: Use of a dilator after vaginoplasty to maintain depth and width of the vagina.
endocrinologist: a doctor who specializes in the endocrine system, which produces and regulates hormones.
Gender Dysphoria. A form of intense emotional distress where someone is unhappy with living in the role of their assigned gender.
gynephilic: attracted to women, the opposite of androphilic
Hermaphrodite: An organism with primary or secondary sex characteristics of both sexes. Though formerly used to describe humans as well, the preferred term is “intersex person.”
hormones: a generic term used for several kinds of drugs used in chemical feminization or masculinization.
Incorrect Gender Assignment (IGA): A proposed term that moves the “error” from the trans person’s mind or body to the assignment at birth.
International Classification of Diseases (ICD): An international version of the DSM, with close parallels. Often used by insurance companies.
name change: legal documents documenting a court-ordered name change.
orchiectomy: a medical term for castration, sometimes spelled orchiedectomy
out: living openly about one’s trans status
pass: To be accepted without question in your chosen gender. The term has a problematic history and connotation.
passing privilege: the belief that those who “pass” enjoy greater acceptance in society.
Primary sex characteristics: reproductive organs, genitalia.
Secondary sex characteristics: Traits linked to sex though not directly involved in procreation (e.g., breasts, facial hair)
sigmoid vaginoplasty: a controversial vaginoplasty procedure where part of the colon is used.
SOC: Standards of Care, a healthcare guideline for treating transgender people
T [noun]: any testosterone regimen.
T-Friendly: a group or person which accepts transgender people.
T-Girl: a transgender female. There are mixed feelings regarding the use of this term.
Target sex or target gender: The sex or gender someone wants to embody or express.
transfan: someone who is attracted to transgender people.
transgender(ed): [adjective] Should be to describe someone, not to label them as an object — as a noun. (incorrect usage: “I saw three transgenders walking out of Nordstrom yesterday.” Correct usage: “I saw three transgender people walking out of Nordstrom yesterday.”)
Transgenderist: A person who lives as their target gender without wishing to change their target sex.
transsexual: someone who wishes to take all the steps necessary to be accepted as completely as possible in their chosen gender. Sometimes spelled transexual or abbreviated TS.
transvestite: an outdated term for crossdresser, primarily used as a clinical diagnosis.
truck: synonym for brick
vaginoplasty: a plastic surgery procedure where a vagina is created.