Gender and Sex: More Than Meets the Eye
Your sex was likely one of the first things ever said about you. But who you are is much more complex than that. Sexual orientation and gender identity can take years to fully understand.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, sexual orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other people. Gender identity is one’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both, or neither. Gender expression is the external appearance of one’s gender identity. Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender transition is the process by which some people strive to more closely align their internal knowledge of gender with its outward appearance. Gender dysphoria is clinically significant distress caused when a person’s assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.
Understanding these concepts is key to creating a more inclusive society that respects and celebrates diversity.
https://www.hrc.org/resources/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-terminology-and-definitions
