Fri 31 Mar 2017 In: Our Communities View at Wayback View at NDHA
Today is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, an annually recognised day celebrating transgender communities and raising awareness of the discrimination faced by trans people around the world. To raise awareness of the diverse identities that fall under the umbrella term transgender - and recognising that not everyone identifies with it - we’ve compiled a list of different identity terminology used by gender diverse folk. This, of course, is by no means an exhaustive list and if you’d like to see a term added, get in contact with us at news@gaynz.com Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. Transsexual: A term preferred by some people who have permanently changed - or wish to change - their body physically through medical interventions like hormone replacement and surgeries. Whakawahine, Hinehi, Hinehua: Māori terminology describing someone born with a male body who has a female gender identity. Tangata ira tane: A Māori term describing someone born with a female body and who has a male gender identity. Fa’afafine: A Samoan term describing someone who was assigned male at birth but who explicitly embody both masculine and feminine gender traits. Fakaleiti: A Tongan term describing someone who was assigned male at birth but who explicitly embody both masculine and feminine gender traits. Genderqueer: Used by some people who identify outside of the gender binary of male or female. Gender non-conforming: Someone who does not identify with gender norms. Gender Fluid: Having a gender identity that is not fixed, that changes. Bigender: Someone who identifies as two genders. Nonbinary: Umbrella term for genders other than female and male. Thanks to the Human Rights Commission for the Māori terminology. - 31st March 2017