Written by members of the PULSE LGBT+ Staff Network
As we celebrate Transgender Awareness Week 2019, the PULSE LBGT+ Staff Network wish to highlight a few key concepts and definitions that relate to the trans community.
A transgender person, or trans person, is someone whose gender identity is different to the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender identity is your personal feeling of who you are and how you relate to the world around you. For example, a person who was assigned male at birth and identifies as a woman is a trans woman. Likewise, a person who was assigned female at birth and identifies as a man is a trans man. You may also hear the terms cisgender person, or cis person, which may be used to refer to someone whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender identity is a separate concept to gender role or expression – trans and cis people may or may not conform with traditional expectations of the role, style or appearance of men or women in their culture.
Non-binary people do not identify strictly with being a man or a woman. Their gender identity might be a mix of both or neither, it might exist on a spectrum, it might be fluid, or it might be best understood separately from a male-female binary.
When a trans person takes steps towards aligning their lives with their gender identity, they are undergoing transition. Transition is a very personal journey, and everyone approaches it in a different way.
Whatever your relationship or background, the best policy is always to respect a person’s understanding of their own identity, and address them as they wish to be addressed. If you’re unsure about someone’s gender identity, or how to address them, listen first to the pronoun other people use when referring to them. If you must ask which pronoun the person uses, start with your own. For example, “Hi, I’m Alex and I use the pronouns he and him. What about you?” Then use that person’s pronoun and encourage others to do so.
More tips for Allies of Transgender people are available here or from the Pulse webpage.
