The concepts of gender, sex, and sexuality are closely related but distinct. Below are some questions and answers that help to clarify the meanings of these concepts, clear up some misconceptions about them, and show how they relate to one another.
Gender identity is one’s innermost sense of one’s gender. This can include whether one identifies as a man (or a boy), identifies as a woman (or a girl), or identifies as nonbinary (neither simply as a man nor as a woman).
The term “cis” is short for “cisgender” and refers to people whose gender identities match the genders that were assigned to them at birth.
The term “trans” is short for “transgender” and refers to people whose gender identities are different from the genders that were assigned to them at birth. These include trans women (people who identify as women but were assigned male at birth), trans men (people who identify as men but were assigned female at birth), and nonbinary people (people who identify neither simply as men nor as women).
The term “nonbinary” is an umbrella term for people who do not identify solely as either male or female, who identify as both male and female, who identify with another gender, or who do not identify with any gender.
Because the binary categories of “male” and “female” may not apply, using binary pronouns such as “he” or “she” may not always be correct. And so, when you talk to someone who is nonbinary, try to find a good moment to ask them how they would prefer to be addressed. The person might use “they” or something different. It may seem like a minor accommodation, but using a nonbinary person’s preferred pronouns will make that person feel welcomed and respected.
All of us are in positions of navigating a social world that is imbued with norms and expectations regarding sex and gender (Butler, 2015). While many people develop gender identities that are congruent with their assigned genders at birth, some people develop gender identities that are different from their assigned genders at birth.
As with all other aspects of people’s characters, people’s gender identities are complex outcomes of multiple factors that interact throughout development. There is no “gene” for being trans or any other singular cause that makes someone trans. Rather, people’s gender identities are formed through complex and dynamic interactions between various social, cultural, biological, and psychological factors (Ashley, 2023; Burri et al., 2011).
Nonetheless, regardless of how it is caused, it is important to recognise that people’s gender identities are authentic parts of their characters. Gender identity is not something that can be forced on someone.
One’s gender identity is an aspect of one’s subjective experience, and so whether a person is trans is ultimately determined by the person’s self-report. There is no medical or scientific test that can establish whether someone is trans. Rather, we have to trust one’s first-person authority over one’s own experience and identity (Bettcher, 2009).
Many people know that they are trans from young ages. Others may not know until they are teenagers or adults. Some trans people may experience gender incongruence as children but may not have the language to express this until they are adults. There is no right or wrong way to be trans, but it is clear that it is not a “fad”. All trans people’s experiences and identities ought to be treated as authentic.
Gender expression refers to the way one outwardly presents to the world in terms of one’s appearance and behaviour. Although they are related, gender identity and gender expression are independent. For example, a person can identify as a woman and dress in a masculine fashion. Likewise, a person can identify as a man and dress in a feminine fashion.
The term “deadnaming” refers to when someone refers to a trans person using the name they were given before they transitioned. The term “misgendering” refers to when someone talks about a trans person using words linked to their assigned gender at birth instead of their actual gender, such as by using “man”, “woman”, “he”, or “she” incorrectly.
When done deliberately, deadnaming and misgendering are deeply hurtful and disrespectful to trans people. If you hear someone doing this, you can correct the person if it is safe for you to do so.
Sex is usually taken to describe a category that is based on the cluster of biological characteristics which tend to be associated with reproductive anatomy and physiology, which may include chromosomes, hormones, gonads, genitals, and other bodily features (DuBois and Shattuck-Heidorn, 2021). Gender is usually taken to describe the psychological, behavioural, social, and cultural aspects of being a man, a woman, or a nonbinary person.
However, there is no sharp boundary between sex and gender, as they interact with each other and come together in complex ways. For example, cultural conceptions of gender influence how we classify sex and, conversely, cultural attitudes about sex influence our behavioural expressions of gender (Butler, 2015; Richardson, 2015). Hence, given how they interact and overlap, some formal sources use the terms “sex” and “gender” interchangeably (MacKinnon, 1991).
We often hear the generalisation that women have XX chromosomes while men have XY chromosomes. However, this generalisation is overly simplistic and fails to capture the many aspects of sex and gender that are actually relevant to people’s identities and social interactions. Gender is a rich and complex phenomenon that involves a variety of social, cultural, biological, psychological, and experiential aspects.
Moreover, even the purely biological aspects of sex are much more subtle and complex than the above generalisation suggests. There is no single feature that defines sex, but rather sex development involves a complex cluster of interacting features, which may include chromosomes, hormones, gonads, genitals, and other bodily parts (Stone, 2007). Also, research has shown that people vary significantly with regards to the combinations of chromosomal, hormonal, gonadal, genital, and bodily features they have (Blackless et al., 2000; Fausto-Sterling, 1993). Many of these features can be altered through gender affirming medical and surgical interventions. This indicates that sex is better understood as a diverse spectrum rather than as a strict binary and that different ways of classifying sex may be relevant in different contexts (Maung, 2023). Therefore, biological sex does not undermine trans identity.
Sex development involves a complex cluster of interacting features, which may include chromosomes, hormones, gonads, genitals, and other bodily parts (Stone, 2007). For most people, these align in certain ways. For example, people born with XY chromosomes, testes, and penises are usually assigned male at birth, while people born with XX chromosomes, ovaries, and vaginas are usually assigned female at birth.
For some people, these features do not align in the above ways, but occur in different combinations. These people are classified as intersex. Below are some examples of different intersex conditions.
Intersex conditions show that sex is not a strict binary, but is a diverse spectrum (Blackless et al., 2000; Fausto-Sterling, 1993). People can vary significantly with regards to the combinations of chromosomal, hormonal, gonadal, genital, and bodily features they have.
Intersex people have campaigned for intersex to be acknowledged as a healthy part of our diversity as a population and not as a medical disorder (Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, 2016). Accordingly, surgical interventions on intersex infants who are unable to consent have been criticised for violating personal autonomy and for reinforcing a harmful binary conception of gender (Clune-Taylor, 2019).
Gender identity refers to one’s innermost sense of one’s own gender. This pertains to whether one identifies as a man, a woman, or a nonbinary person. Sexual orientation concerns the sexes or genders to which one is sexually or romantically attracted. This pertains to whether one identifies as straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or asexual.
Gender identity and sexual orientation are independent. A person can be trans and gay, trans and straight, trans and bi, trans and pan, trans and asexual, or anything else, just like how a cis person can be gay, straight, bi, pan, or asexual. Trans people have the same diversity of sexual orientations as cis people do.
No. Conversion therapy is a practice where the goal is to stop people from being their authentic selves. Gender-affirming healthcare supports people to explore their identities and affirms their authentic selves regardless of the answers they find.
This question also wrongly assumes that being gay and being trans are mutually exclusive. However, gender identity and sexual orientation are independent. It is entirely possible to be trans and gay, trans and bi, trans and asexual, trans and pan, and so on. Indeed, in a 2018 survey in the United Kingdom, 73.1% of trans respondents stated that they are gay, lesbian, bi, pan, or queer, while a further 5.4% stated that they were asexual (Government Equalities Office, 2018). Therefore, gender-affirming healthcare is definitely not about stopping people from being gay.
It is also important to recognise that some trans people are subjected to conversion therapy that attempts to stop them from being trans. This is as harmful and damaging as conversion therapy that tries to change someone’s sexual orientation.
Yes. Trans women are women and trans men are men. This means that a lesbian may be attracted to a trans woman, a gay man could be attracted to a trans man, a straight woman may be attracted to a trans man, and a straight man may be attracted to a trans woman. People are free to have relationships with other consenting people, whatever their gender identities are.
As noted above, gender identity and sexual orientation are independent. A person can be trans and gay, trans and straight, trans and bi, trans and pan, trans and asexual, or anything else, just like how a cis person can be gay, straight, bi, pan, or asexual. Trans people have the same diversity of sexual orientations as cis people do.