Definition of Transgender
Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity, expression, or behavior does not conform to societal expectations based on their assigned sex at birth. This includes individuals who identify as transgender men, women, nonbinary, agender, and other identities that fall outside the binary male/female spectrum.
Gender Identity vs. Sex Assigned at Birth
Gender identity refers to how someone internally perceives themselves as it relates to their own gender, regardless of biological characteristics. Sex assigned at birth, on the other hand, is determined by external physical features such as genitalia, chromosomes, and hormones.
Expression of Gender
Transgender people may express their gender through clothing, hairstyles, names, pronouns, and behavior that aligns with their internal sense of self rather than their sex assigned at birth. This can include changing physical appearance through hormone therapy or surgery.
Examples of Transgender Identities
Examples of transgender identities include but are not limited to MtF (male-to-female), FtM (female-to-male), genderqueer, two-spirit, demigender, and pangender. Each individual's experience is unique and should be respected.
Definition of Intersex
Intersex is a general term used to describe individuals born with ambiguous genitalia, chromosomes, hormones, gonads, or secondary sexual characteristics. It encompasses a wide range of conditions in which an individual's sex characteristics do not fit neatly into binary categories.
Physical Characteristics
Intersex individuals may have both female and male reproductive organs, be born without any external genitals, or possess both X and Y chromosomes. Their physical appearance may also vary depending on the condition they have.
Medical Treatment
Many intersex individuals require medical treatment during infancy to alter their physical attributes to match societal expectations of what it means to be male or female.
There has been growing recognition that this approach can cause harm and deny agency over one's own body.
Differences between Transgender and Intersex
While both transgender and intersex individuals exist outside of traditional gender norms, there are important distinctions between them. Transgender refers specifically to gender identity, while intersex covers a broader range of physical variations.
Transgender people may undergo hormone therapy or surgery to align their bodies with their identity, whereas intersex individuals often require medical intervention due to their biological differences.
What's the difference between being transgender and being intersex?
Transgender is an umbrella term for people who do not identify with the gender assigned at birth, while intersex refers to individuals born with physical characteristics of both male and female sexes. Transgender people may identify as male, female, nonbinary, or any other identity outside of the typical binary system of masculine and feminine genders, whereas intersex individuals have naturally occurring variations in their biology that fall outside of the typical binary distinction between these two categories.