Gender Identity & Expression

Everyone has a gender identity. Gender identity is a person’s internal,

deeply held sense of their identity as woman/girl, man/boy, fluid among
genders or no gender. It is not determined by sex, and is not defined by
sexual orientation. For many people, their gender identity matches the
sex they were assigned at birth; this is called cisgender. For others, their
gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. They
may use terms like transgender, trans, agender, non-binary, gender
fluid, gender queer, or others, to describe their gender identity. The
umbrella term ‘trans’ is mainly used here, to describe people whose
gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth.
While this umbrella term does not fit everyone, the intention is to be as
inclusive as possible.
Gender expression is about how someone presents themselves to the
world around them. It includes the way they dress, their hairstyle, their
makeup, and other aspects of their appearance. It also includes their
name and pronouns a person uses. Some men wear makeup, some
women have facial hair. You can’t assume someone’s gender identity
by looking at them.
To learn about how gender identity and expression relate to sexual
orientation and sex assigned at birth, see the Every Body Tool.
Many people use words that assume everyone is cisgender. This is
called cisnormative language.  For example, addressing a new group of
students as ‘boys and girls’ assumes that everyone identifies as either a
boy or a girl.  Providing menstrual supplies only in the girls’ washroom
assumes that there are no trans boys who might need to access those
supplies. A form that only has two checkboxes for gender, male and
female, is another example of cisnormative language. This kind of
language reinforces stereotypes and assumptions about who people are
and how they identify. When we make assumptions about people’s
identities or relationships, we may be telling them that anyone who does
not fit such an expectation is ‘abnormal’, ‘different’, or just not part of the
‘typical human experience’.  Using inclusive language that does not
make assumptions is a way of showing respect and honouring diversity
as a strength.  
LGBTQ2S+, LGBTQ*, LGBTQ +, GLBT, LGBTTQ,  LGBTQ2,
LGBTQI2SNA+ and others are acronyms that refer to the spectrum of
sexual and gender identities that are not cisgender or heterosexual. 
They include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning,
intersex, two-spirit, non-binary and agender. The asterisk (*) or plus sign
(+) shows there are other identities included that aren’t in the acronym.
Another term used to refer to this community is ‘gender and sexual
minorities’.

Human Rights
All people have the right to be free from discrimination because of sex,
gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. This
right is protected by Article 2 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child, as well as in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
the Canadian Human Rights Acts and the Alberta Human Rights Act.
Legislative protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation
has been in place for some time. As of 2017, gender identity or gender
expression has been explicitly protected in all human rights legislation at
the provincial, territorial, and federal level.
All teachers, counsellors and administrators have legal, ethical and
professional responsibilities to ensure that all students – including those
who are, or are perceived as being, a sexual or gender minority – are
provided with safe, caring, welcoming and respectful learning
environments that respect and affirm their individual identities and
experiences. Intervening whenever sexist, homo/bi/trans-phobic, racist
or derogatory comments are made is one crucial part of that
responsibility.
It may also be helpful to become familiar with the Alberta
Education guidelines and your school/district policy on creating learning
environments that respect people of diverse sexual orientations, gender
identities and expressions.

Lived Experiences of Trans Youth

Many trans youth face challenges throughout their lives. Fear about how
family and friends may react as well as fear of bullying, harassment,
discrimination and prejudice may stop young people from publicly
identifying as a gender minority.  Supportive families, schools and
communities have a vital role helping LGBTQ2S+ children and teens do
well in school and in life.
Coming out can pose serious safety risks, particularly for young people
who are not financially independent. Youth may face abuse and
harassment if they come out. Some may be forced to leave home after
coming out, which leads to much higher risks of homelessness,
substance use, self-harm, and suicide.
Research also shows that trans students are frequently not safe at
school. Students report verbal and physical harassment and abuse from
other people at school. For example, in recent surveys of students:

 90% of trans students reported being harassed about their gender

expression
 64% of LGBTQ2S+ students felt unsafe at school
 37% of trans students had been physically harassed or assaulted
at school.
 48% of trans students reported that a teacher intervened when a
derogatory comment was made.
 23% of trans student heard teachers use negative gender-related
or transphobic comments daily or weekly
For more statistics and information, see the Additional Resources page.

What Teachers Can Do

Teachers play an important role in helping students develop and show
respect for gender diversity. Here are some things you can do to support
your LGBTQ2S+ students, families and colleagues:

 Reflect on your practices and beliefs. Look at your own actions

and behaviour. It may help to think about your personal values,
beliefs and biases before talking about sexual and gender diversity
with your students (see the Your Values page).
 Educate yourself and others. Educate yourself about sexual and
gender diversity. There are some great online resources
(see Additional Resources). Think about what you can do to
challenge the norm that only heterosexual and cisgender identities
are normal.
 Be a role model and set a positive example for those around
you. Don’t use anti-LGBTQ2S+ language and slurs. Don’t laugh at
jokes that make fun of person’s gender identity or gender
expression. Use inclusive language and don’t make assumptions
about a person’s gender identity.
 Identify and address inappropriate behaviour such as teasing,
bullying and harassment. Students notice if you do not respond to
these behaviours. When you fail to address harmful language, you
are telling your students that you are not an ally to the vulnerable.
 Create a positive environment. Use inclusive graphics, posters
and images such as safe space materials. Make sure that
documents, forms and processes are respectful and inclusive of
diversity.
 Provide appropriate facilities. Ensure single-stall, private
washrooms and change rooms are available for use by anyone.
 Be supportive. Be respectful, open and non-judgemental. Use the
names and pronouns students choose to go by. Listen to people
who come out to or confide in you. Keep your conversations
confidential—you never want to out a person. If you make a
mistake, say sorry.
 Support GSAs/QSAs, and inclusion initiatives and events.
 Get support. Be familiar with resources and supports that may
help students, colleagues and staff. Engage in professional
development about gender identity and expression.  
 Integrate LGBTQ2S+ literature into your school or class library,
assignments or reading lists.
 Be an ally. An ally is a person who advocates for the human, civil
and sexual rights of sexual and gender minorities. The above steps
are all things you can do to be an ally for your LGBTQ2S+ students
and colleagues. Remember, even the smallest actions can bring
 about important changes. There is much evidence that having
even one supportive adult can make all the difference in the lives
of sexual and gender diverse youth.  

Words You May Hear

Below is a list of common terms and definitions you may hear related to
sexual and gender diversity. These terms are NOT labels. When
speaking with people, it is important to listen to and use the terms they
use to describe themselves, and not impose terms on other people.

 Ally: A person who advocates for the human rights of sexual and
gender minority people by challenging discrimination and
heterosexism.
 Agender: Someone who does not identify with a specific gender or
have a recognizable gender expression.
 Cisgender/Cis: A person whose gender identity matches the sex
they were assigned at birth.
 Cisnormativity: The assumption that everyone’s gender aligns
with cultural expectations of sex assigned at birth (cisgender) and
that this is the norm, e.g., only women wear dresses and make-up.
 Coming Out:  Telling people about one’s sexual orientation or
gender identity. Also known as ‘coming out of the closet’.
 Gender Binary: The classification of sex and gender into two
distinct and separate states of masculine and feminine. It’s a social
boundary that discourages people from crossing or mixing gender
roles.
 Gender Expression: How a person expresses their gender to the
world. This can include how they look, the name they use, the
pronoun they use (e.g., they, them, she, her, he, him, zie, zim) and
their social behaviour.
 Gender Fluid: A person who does not identify with a single fixed
gender and whose gender identity or expression may change over
time.
 Gender Identity: A person’s internal sense of identity as woman,
man, both, fluid among genders or no gender,  regardless of their
sex.
 Gender Queer: A person who may identify and express
themselves outside what is typically associated with their
sex/gender assigned at birth. People who are gender queer may
not identify as trans. 
 GSA/QSA (Gay-Straight/Queer-Straight Alliance): Student groups
found in some K-12 schools. These groups create supportive and
safe environments for sexual and gender minorities and their
supporters.
 Inclusive Language: Language that’s not specific to gender (e.g.,
‘partner’ instead of ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’, ‘parent’ instead of
‘mom’ or ‘dad’, the pronoun  ‘they’ instead of ‘he’ or ‘she’).
 Intersex: An umbrella term used when the reproductive, sexual or
genetic biology of a person is unclear, not exclusively male or
female or otherwise does not fit within traditional definitions of male
or female.
 Non-binary: A person whose gender identity is not man or woman,
but outside of the gender binary. Related terms include
genderqueer and agender.
 Outing: Making another person’s sexual orientation or gender
identity public without that person’s permission or knowledge. This
can be harmful to a child or teen if they come from a non-
supportive home environment.
 Queer: A reclaimed term used by some people who identify as a
sexual and/or gender minority. It’s also used as a positive,
inclusive term to describe communities and social movements.
 Questioning: A person who is exploring, or is unsure of, their
sexual orientation or gender identity.
 Sex: Categories (male, female) to which people are typically
assigned at birth based on physical characteristics. Some people
may be assigned intersex, when their reproductive, sexual or
genetic biology doesn’t fit the traditional definitions of male or
female.
  Sexual Orientation: A person’s emotional, physical and sexual
attraction to others. It can change and may or may not be the same
as a person’s sexual behaviour.
 Transgender/trans: An umbrella term for people whose gender
identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically
associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Some people
may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of
terms.
 Transition: The process of changing a person’s gender
presentation in society. Trans people may choose from a range of
changes to express their gender such as:
 social transition that may include change of name, pronouns
and express (e.g. clothing, mannerisms, voice etc.)
 medical or surgical transition that may include hormones or
gender affirming surgery.
 The journey of transition is unique to each individual. Not
everyone who considers themselves trans will undergo all or
any of these changes,
 Transphobia: Fear and/or hatred of people who are trans. Often
shown through prejudice, discrimination, bullying, intimidation or
acts of violence.
 Two-Spirit: A cultural term used by some Indigenous people to
mean a person has both a male and female spirit. It may include
concepts of spirituality, sexual orientation and gender identity.
See Sexual Orientation for more related terms.  

Terms to Avoid & Alternatives

Tranny, She-Male, Shim, He/She, It, and other similar words: These are
defamatory words which dehumanize people and should never be used.
Discrimination and harassment are not defined by the intent of the
behaviour or word but the impact they have on the individual.
 
Term to Avoid Why?  
 Use Instead
 
 
Biologically
Man/Woman/Boy/Girl
Female/Male
These terms over simplify a very On the rare occasion
complex subject. A person’s sex that it’s necessary to
Genetically
refer to an individual’s
Male/Female  and gender identity are determined
by a variety of factors, not simply gender history, many
genetics. transgender people
Born a Woman prefer a phrase similar
to “… assigned
Born a Man male/female at birth, but
is a woman/man”.
Sex Change   Gender confirming/
affirming/reaffirming
Sex   surgery  or
Reassignment
Surgery (SRS) Referring to a “sex-change Transition
operation” or using terms such as
 Pre-operative “pre-operative” or “post-operative”
inaccurately suggests that one
Post-operative must have surgery in order to
Pre-op, Post-op transition. Many transgender
people do not undergo surgery for
a variety of very personal reasons.
It is considered extremely
inappropriate to ask a transgender
person about what surgical or other
medical procedures they may or
may not have undergone. Sex
Reassignment Surgery (SRS), is
an older term which refers to
doctor-supervised surgical
interventions, and is only one small
part of transition for some people.
  
 
 
Using transgender as a verb (e.g.
transgendered) suggests that being
transgender is something that Transgender as an
Transgendered happened to a person rather than
adjective: “Joanne is
(Verb) reflecting who they actually are. For a transgender woman” 
example, we don’t say “Kalin is a
gayed man”; therefore, we wouldn’t
say “Joanne is a transgendered
woman”.
 
 
We wouldn’t say “we have many
transgenders who work here” nor
would we use “she is a Transgender as an
Transgender transgender”. The word adjective: “Mosi is
(Noun) transgender should only be used a transgender man” 
as an adjective.
 
 
 
Refer to
This term should not be used as it
being transgender, the
is often a term used by anti-
trans or transgender
transgender activists to
Transgenderism community, or the
dehumanize transgender people
movement for
and reduce who they are to a
transgender rights, as
“condition”.
the context requires
 
  
Hermaphrodite is a stigmatizing,
inaccurate word with a negative
history. Intersex is the accurate
term when the reproductive, sexual
or genetic biology of a person is
Hermaphrodite unclear, not exclusively male or Intersex
female or otherwise does not fit
within traditional definitions of male
or female.  Intersex people are not
all trans, and not all trans people
are intersex.
 
 
Transgender The use of “normal people” in this
Transgender people
people and phrase indicates a belief that
and cisgender people
normal people transgender people are not normal.
 
 
This reinforces the false idea of a
Both genders gender binary, that there can be All genders
only two genders.