​​​​What is gender identity?

Gender identity is about a person's inner feelings as male, female, both, neither, something else, or changing.

Gender identity is part of a person's identity. Sometimes the sex someone was assigned at birth (male, female) and their gender identity are the same. Sometimes they're not.

Gender identity may be the same through someone's life, or it may change.

What are some words to know?

When learning about words related to gender identity, it's important to remember:

• Gender identity is about a personal identity, not a label put on someone else.
• Words can mean different things to different people.
• Language changes over time. Words that were commonly used in the past may be seen as hurtful today.​

​There are many different words used when talking about gender identity. There are also many gender identities. Some common words related to gender identity are:

• Sex assigned at birth—a label (male or female) given by a healthcare professional to a baby based on their reproductive biology.
  
• Cisgender—someone's sex assigned at birth and their gender identity are the same.
  
• Transgender—someone's sex assigned at birth and their gender identity are different.
• Gender expression—how someone shows their gender through things like their name, pronouns, clothes, hairstyle, voice, and what bathrooms to use. Someone's gender expression may or may not match what others think that gender looks like.
  
• Agender—someone doesn't identify as any gender.
  
• Gender fluid—gender identity that changes over time.
  
• Non-binary (Enby)—gender identity isn't male or female, may be both, neither, or changing.
  
• Two-Spirit (2S)—a cultural, spiritual term of identity used by some Indigenous people who have the spirit of more than one gender.
  
• 2SLGBTQI+—This is a short way to talk about the community of people who identify as an identity that is not cisgender and not straight.
  

Some of the letters stand for sexual orientations (lesbian, gay, bisexual), some stand for gender identities (2S, transgender)

The "Q" for queer stands for both sexual orientation and gender identity. It also stands for questioning as people figure out their identity.

The "l" stands for intersex, which is when someone's reproductive biology doesn't fit with the traditional idea of male or female body or genetics.

The "+" stands for all identities not otherwise included.