The Language We Need

Introducing the updated Genspect Glossary

Language is a hotly contested battleground on all sides of the debate about sex and gender.When trans activists aren’t inventing entirely new words (think ‘cisgender’, ‘genderqueer’ and ‘non-binary) they are trying to change the meaning of existing ones (think ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’), often by shaming, cancelling and sometimes even suing people who disagree. On the other hand, critics of trans ideology have disputes of their own about language, including over whether the term ‘gender identity’ should be used at all.

To say that confusion arises when these divergent definitions meet in the real world would be an understatement. As a series of legal cases in the UK amply demonstrate, itis difficult to resolve disputes about issues like single sex spaces when each side has a different definition of ‘biological sex’. According to Dr Upton, the trans identified male doctor at the heart of the Peggie v NHS Fife case, sex is self-identified, and all humans are ‘biological’; therefore, he is biologically female. From the perspective of Sandie Peggie, the nurse who objected to Upton’s presence in the women’s changing room, sex is a matter of biology, and Upton remains male regardless of how he self-identifies.

---

---

As this example illustrates, grappling with contemporary debates about sex and gender requires an understanding of how terms are used in context, and how their meanings can vary according to the orientation and contingent beliefs of the speaker. The updated Genspect Glossary aims to provide this contextual understanding while clearly spelling out how Genspect uses these terms in our work. The Glossary was compiled by four people working together, and we didn’t always agree about how each term should be defined. Even so, we think this is a good working draft, and we welcome constructive feedback from Genspect’s followers.

Take, for example, the term ‘Gender’, the conflicting definitions of which have given rise to two opposing worldviews that regularly clash in the public square. Although gender is often used as a polite synonym for sex, it’s also the word used to describe sex based stereotypes associated with being either male or female. The term ‘Gender Identity’ takes things one step further by suggesting that we all have an inner sense of whether our gender is male, female, or something else, and that this innate gendered essence may be at odds with our sexed body.

Many people, not least feminists, take issue with the idea that we all have an identity related to where we fall on a spectrum of sex based stereotypes. Feminist campaigners have traditionally argued that such stereotypes are socially constructed and regressive. Still others straightforwardly reject the notion that they have a gendered inner identity that goes beyond simple recognition of their sexed body.

Belief or otherwise in the concept of gender identity intimately shapes the language choices and worldviews expressed in the wider debate about sex and gender. People who believe in gender identity are likely to accept the existence of a discrete class of ‘Transgender’ people, people who can objectively be said to have been ‘born in the wrong body’ due to having a gender identity that doesn’t match their biological sex. People who believe in gender identity are also likely to believe that it is literally possible to change sex, or that trans identified people automatically belong to the opposite sex class simply by virtue of their self-identified gender.

For people who reject the concept of gender identity, self-identified gender remains a subjective, unverifiable belief, much like a religious belief in the soul. On the other hand, for those who believe in gender identity the possibility of changing sex, or of being a female person with a male body, acquires the status of objective fact. Inevitably there are fireworks when these two worldviews collide in debates about access to single sex spaces and services.

According to Helen Pluckrose, author of Cynical Theories, we have the postmodern turn in academia to thank for much of today’s confusion over language. Pluckrose argues that activists informed by postmodern theory have come to view language as entirely socially constructed, a mechanism for upholding unequal power relations rather than a functional means of communicating shared concepts and describing reality

Ironically, one of the major consequences of this has been to distract attention from efforts to address the material causes of inequality. Convinced that controlling language is the most effective way to change society, activists informed by postmodernism often spend more time policing speech than they do trying to improve the lives of the minorities they claim to represent. Consider the energy expended over the last decade by trans activists trying to forcibly redefine the word ‘woman’, or mandate the use of preferred pronouns in workplaces and schools. Trans identified people might have been better served had that energy been directed towards expanding access to gender neutral spaces and services, working towards practical compromise rather than playing authoritarian language games.

---

---

Those of us who are critical of trans ideology must be careful not to fall into the same trap. It is tempting to believe that we can change reality simply by changing the words we use to talk about things, or by insisting that others communicate only in terms we find acceptable. Stamping out the use of the term ‘gender identity’ won’t stop distressed children who think they have one from seeking out dangerous medical interventions. Railing against the use of the word ‘transgender’ won’t magically disappear the cohort of people who believe they are the opposite sex. If only it were so easy.

Language is more than a political or ideological device that can be manipulated to limit the terms of debate. It’s a practical tool that we use to communicate about our shared world. While it might be important to clarify our terms, we should always be more interested in the ideas and experiences that someone is trying to communicate, rather than the individual words they use to make their point.

The Glossary

---

A

Assigned Sex at Birth / Assigned Gender at Birth: Assigned Sex at Birth and Assigned Gender at Birth refer to the classification of an infant as male or female at birth, typically based on observed anatomy.

This language originated in clinical contexts to facilitate discussion of differences of sexual development (DSDs) (See: Differences of Sexual Development). Some DSD conditions cause ambiguous genitalia, and a tiny number of people born with a DSD may therefore be incorrectly sexed at birth. However, DSD conditions affect just 0.018% of people, and even those with ambiguous genitalia can be correctly sexed as either male or female with additional testing.

Nonetheless, activists have co-opted the term Assigned Sex at Birth to argue that sex is not a binary, biological category but something that is arbitrarily ‘assigned’ by medical professionals. This is seen to legitimise the view that transgender identity is innate, a result of the individual having been ‘assigned’ the wrong sex at birth. However, the vast majority of transgender people do not have a DSD. They are unambiguously male or female.

While Genspect prefers to state sex directly (male or female), in the small number of clinical or contextual cases where greater precision is required we use the more accurate term “sex observed at birth”.

Assigned Female at Birth (AFAB): See: Assigned Sex at Birth / Assigned Gender at Birth.

Assigned Male at Birth (AMAB): See: Assigned Sex at Birth / Assigned Gender at Birth.

Autoandrophilia (AAP): Hypothesised to be the female equivalent of autogynephilia (AGP) (See: Autogynephilia). It refers to a female’s sexual fixation on the thought of herself as male, and is one of the theorised causes of gender related distress and the desire to medically transition in females. Unlike AGP, AAP is not listed as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Some commentators do not accept that AAP exists, although some trans identified females and detransitioned women identify with the AAP label.

Autogynephilia (AGP): A paraphilia listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V. It refers to a male’s sexual fixation on the thought of himself as a female. AGP is one of the theorised causes of gender related distress and the desire to medically transition in males. Although some trans identified males and detransitioned males openly acknowledge that they were sexually motivated to transition, others strongly reject the existence of AGP.

B

Brain Sex: There are average differences between the brain structures of males and females. However, like other secondary sex characteristics that vary on average between men and women, there is considerable overlap between the sexes and individuals vary regardless of sex. For example, males are on average taller than females, but some individual women are nonetheless taller than the average man. Averages apply to groups, not individuals.

Some studies have claimed to detect a ‘cross sex shift’ in the brains of people who identify as transgender, with trans identified males believed to have ‘female typical brains’ and trans identified females ‘male typical brains’. The claim that trans identified people have brain structures more closely resembling those of the sex they identify as has been used by activists to claim that transgender identity is innate.

Given the individual variation outlined above, this can be seen as a gross oversimplification in and of itself. Even assuming the possibility of male characteristics in a female brain, or female characteristics in a male brain, the practical consequences of this are not clear. There may be no associated distress. If there were, then it is not clear that body modification would be an appropriate response. However, brain sex studies have also been shown to be critically flawed. When the results are controlled for sexual orientation and cross sex hormone use, the ‘cross sex shift’ observed in the brains of trans identified people disappears. Rather than demonstrating that trans identity is innate, so called brain sex studies actually appear to show that sexual orientation and sex hormone levels can influence brain structure.

C

Cisgender/Cis: A term used to denote people who are not transgender (See: Transgender), or people who are believed to have an innate gender identity (See: Gender Identity) that matches their biological sex. Not everyone believes in the concept of gender identity and some may find the term Cisgender offensive.

Cross-sex Hormones: Hormones including estrogen (oestrogen) and testosterone that may be taken as part of a medical transition. Cross-sex Hormones are taken to modify secondary sexual characteristics, in order to make a trans identified person cosmetically resemble the opposite sex. For example, males taking estrogen develop breast tissue, while females taking testosterone grow facial hair.

There is no evidence that Cross-sex Hormones improve psychological wellbeing or psychosocial function in trans identified people. Cross-sex Hormones impair sexual function and destroy fertility. Their use is associated with increased risk of heart attack, stroke, pelvic floor dysfunction and some forms of cancer.

Some people prefer to use the term ‘wrong-sex hormones’.

D

Desistance: The natural resolution of gender-related distress without medical or social intervention. Desistance from childhood-onset gender dysphoria typically occurs during or after puberty. See: Gender-related Distress.

Developmental Approach: A therapeutic and medical approach which argues that many factors (biological, psychological and social) can lead an individual to experience distress around gender.

Detransition—Medical: The process of discontinuing or reversing medical interventions (such as cross-sex hormones or sex reassignment surgeries) that were undertaken as part of a medical transition.

Detransition—Social: The process of reverting one’s social identity and presentation (such as name, pronouns, and appearance) back to align with one’s biological sex after having socially transitioned.

Detransition—Ideological: The process of rejecting the underlying beliefs or ideological framework that initially supported one’s decision to medically or socially transition.

Differences of Sexual Development (DSDs)/Intersex: Umbrella terms used to describe the >40 different conditions where sexual development does not rigidly adhere to the typical male or female pathway. DSD conditions are rare, effecting just 0.018% of people. Contrary to popular belief, DSDs are sex specific conditions, and people with DSDs are not a ‘third sex’. Additional testing may be necessary to definitively establish sex, but people with DSDs are all either male or female.

The existence of DSDs is sometimes used by activists to advance ideological claims about transgender identity, such as the belief that biological sex is a spectrum. However, the majority of trans identified people do not have a DSD. Some people with DSDs have expressed frustration about the co-option of their experiences by trans rights activists.

Genspect does not use the term ‘intersex’, because it wrongly implies that people with DSDs represent a third sex. This is not correct. Although the term has entered common parlance, people with DSDs often find it ambiguous and contentious.

F

Femininity: The stereotypical roles, behavior, and/or presentation associated with being female.

Opinions differ as to whether stereotypes of femininity, such as the belief that women are more nurturing and sensitive than men, are entirely socially constructed or are an innate property of the differing reproductive strategies attached to being of either the male or the female sex. Genspect takes the position that it’s likely to be a combination of both. See also: Masculinity.

Gay: A term used to describe the sexual orientation of males who are romantically and sexually attracted to other males.

Some people argue that sexual orientation should be defined according to self-identified gender rather than biological sex. This would mean that two biological females in a lesbian relationship could be defined as gay if one of them self-identified as male.

However, many people reject this redefinition of sexual orientation, maintaining that who we experience romantic and sexual attraction towards is overwhelmingly determined by biological sex rather than self-identified gender.

When Genspect uses terms related to sexual orientation, we are referring to romantic and sexual attractions determined by biological sex, not self-identified gender.

G

Gender: The term Gender has come to be used in a number of different ways. It is sometimes used as a polite synonym for sex, male or female (See: Biological Sex/Sex), and at other times to indicate stereotypes of masculinity or femininity associated with sex (See: Femininity and Masculinity). The term is sometimes inaccurately used as an abbreviation of ‘gender identity’ (See: Gender Identity).

Genspect prefers to use clear, sex based language wherever possible. To avoid confusion, we never use the term Gender as a synonym for sex, because this obscures the important differences between sex as an objective biological category and subjective socially and culturally constructed stereotypes of masculinity and femininity. When we talk about Gender, we are referring to the stereotypes of masculinity or femininity associated with being either male or female.

“Gender Affirming Care”: Affirmative approaches to treating gender related distress proceed from the belief that clinicians should immediately ‘affirm’ the self-reported gender identities of their patients, and unquestioningly facilitate their access to irreversible sex-trait modification procedures. Attempting to understand why a patient is experiencing gender related distress, or expressing reservations about whether they should proceed with medical transition, is viewed as unacceptable gatekeeping under the model of so called “Gender Affirming Care”. The central aim of “gender affirming care” is to help patients of all ages meet their ‘embodiment goals’, in the belief that gender related distress can only be alleviated by cosmetically modifying the body to superficially resemble the patient’s self-reported gender identity.

Gender Affirming Care is sometimes called ‘affirmation’, or the ‘affirmative approach’.

Gender Critical: In UK employment law, the term Gender Critical is defined as the belief that “biological sex is real, important, immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity”. Gender Critical may also refer to ‘gender critical feminism’, a school of feminist thought that evolved out of second-wave radical feminist analysis in response to the growth of gender identity ideology. However, over time Gender Critical has come to be used as an umbrella term, referring to the broad movement of people who oppose gender identity theory, critique medical transition procedures and challenge gender self-identification policies. This movement encompasses a very wide diversity of views, such that the term Gender Critical has come to lack specificity.

Outside the UK legal context, Genspect prefers to use the term ‘sex realist’ (See: Sex Realist) which we believe more accurately captures the central role that biological reality takes in our work.

Gender Diversity: A term denoting the variations in how individuals experience and express their relation to their sex, which may be influenced by biological, cultural, social, and personal factors. (See also: Gender Non-Conformity.)

Gender Dysphoria: Gender Dysphoria replaced the DSM-III and DSM-IV diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder (See: Gender Identity Disorder), as part of the de-psychopathologization campaign launched by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in 2010.

In the DSM-5 and DSM-5-TR, Gender Dysphoria refers to a perceived ‘incongruence’ between one’s subjective inner gender identity (See: Gender Identity) and their “assigned gender at birth”, or biological sex (See Assigned Sex at Birth/Assigned Gender at Birth). A person must experience clinically significant distress as a result of this perceived incongruence in order to qualify for the DSM-5 and DSM-5-TR diagnosis.

While the requirement for clinically significant distress marks gender dysphoria as somewhat more rigorous than other diagnostic frameworks used to classify gender-related distress (See: Gender Incongruence), the DSM-5 and DSM-5-TR diagnosis remains fundamentally incoherent and unfalsifiable. The diagnosis defines sex and gender differently, but nonetheless uses the terms interchangeably. The diagnostic criteria unnecessarily pathologize naturally occurring gender non-conformity, suggesting that failure to conform to sex stereotypes may be symptomatic of a medical condition in need of treatment.

Gender Dysphoria is perhaps the most widely recognised term used to describe the distress some people feel about their sexed bodies. In most contexts, it is being used as shorthand, and not in strict accordance with the terms of the DSM-5 diagnosis. Particularly because Genspect believes it is important to make clear critiques of specific gender related diagnostic frameworks, we prefer to use the term ‘gender-related distress’ (See: Gender Related Distress) for these broader colloquial discussions.

Gender Fluid: A term referring to the belief that self-perceived gender identity may shift in various contexts and over time. Gender Fluid is also sometimes used to describe a discrete gender identity, analogous to male, female or non-binary (See: Non-binary). People who identify as Gender Fluid claim that their self-perceived gender identity is not fixed.

Gender Identity: This has become a highly contested term. Historically, it has been used to refer to a person’s awareness of belonging to either the male or female sex, but it now has various other connotations.

Some people believe that Gender Identity is innate and universal, an internal sense of being either masculine, feminine or something else (See Non-Binary, Gender Fluid), which everyone experiences and which may be at odds with the outward appearance of a person’s sexed body. Under this world view, Gender Identity is self-identified, meaning that it cannot be inferred from a person’s outward appearance or objectively verified by any means but self-declaration by the individual themselves. In some accounts, Gender Identity is presented as a fixed quality that does not change, while in others it is positioned as flexible or ‘fluid’, changing in different contexts and over time.

Gender Identity cannot be verified through objective scientific methods, and proponents of this view have struggled to articulate an objective definition of the term. A representative example is that offered by Jack Turban, founding director of the Gender Psychiatry Program at the University of California San Francisco, in his book Free to Be, who says that gender identity is defined as, “one’s transcendent sense of gender.” Similarly, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care 8 defines gender identity as, “a person’s deeply felt, internal, intrinsic sense of their own gender”.

Critics have pointed out that these definitions are circular, and fail to define what is meant by the word ‘gender’, a term that is itself contested (See: Gender). Some people believe that ‘gender’ simply refers to sex based stereotypes, and question the need for a term that seems to position adherence or otherwise to those stereotypes as an innate ‘identity’, particularly when that identity may be seen as a basis for radical medical intervention. Belief in Gender Identity theory is sometimes likened to a religious belief, in which adherents recognise the existence of an intangible sexed soul which has no physical correspondence in reality.Although the term gender identity is highly subjective and has not been well defined, it is often incorrectly assumed to be an objective category. However, many people reject the idea that they have a Gender Identity that goes beyond simple recognition of their sexed bodies.

Gender Identity Disorder: A diagnostic category present in the DSM-III and DSM-IV referring to the experience of identifying as something other than your biological sex.

In the DSM-III, Gender Identity Disorder was diagnosed in adults as transsexualism (See: Transsexual), which required persistent discomfort with one’s genitals, and in children as Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood. In the DSM-IV, both diagnoses were consolidated under Gender Identity Disorder. Importantly, the DSM-III and DSM-IV both specify that a Gender Identity Disorder diagnosis is different from believing one is actually the opposite sex.

In the DSM-5 and DSM-5-TR, the diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder was replaced by Gender Dysphoria (See: Gender Dysphoria), as part of the de-psychopathologizationcampaign launched by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in 2010.

Gender Incongruence: A diagnosis in the ICD-11, describing a perceived ‘incongruence’ between “an individuals experienced gender and the assigned sex.”

Gender Incongruence replaced the diagnoses of transsexualism (See: Transsexual) and Gender Identity Disorder (See: Gender Identity Disorder) in the ICD-10, and moved the condition from the section on “Mental and Behavioural Disorders” to the “Conditions Related to Sexual Health” section. This change was made in response to the de-psychopathologization campaign launched by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in 2010, which argued that it was offensive to categorise gender related distress as a mental health condition. The World Health Organisation, the publishers of the ICD, argued that the change was necessary in order to, “ensure transgender people’s access to gender-affirming health care.”

While perhaps less widely recognised than a term like Gender Dysphoria, the term Gender Incongruence is sometimes used in popular discussion to refer broadly to the distress some people experience about their sexed bodies and roles. In these contexts, the term is being used as shorthand, and not in strict accordance with the terms of the ICD-11 diagnosis. Particularly because Genspect believes it is important to make clear critiques of specific gender related diagnostic frameworks, we prefer to use the term ‘gender-related distress’ (See: Gender-related Distress) for these broader colloquial discussions.

Gender Non-conformity/Gender Non-conforming: A term used to describe people whose presentation, interests or behaviours do not conform to the stereotypes associated with their sex.

Diagnostic criteria for gender related conditions (See: Gender Dysphoria, Gender Identity Disorder and Gender Incongruence) frequently position gender non-conformity as a ‘symptom’ of innate transgender identity that may require medical intervention. However, others argue that Gender Non-conformity is a naturally occurring part of human diversity, rather than a sign of underlying pathology.

Gender Non-conformity is sometimes, but not always, associated with same sex attraction in adulthood. Similarly, people with autism have been found to be disproportionately likely to display Gender Non-conforming preferences and behaviours. Both people who are same sex attracted and those with a diagnosis of autism are over represented in the cohort of people seeking to medicalise a transgender identity. This has led some to argue that the model of gender affirming care (See: “Gender Affirming Care”) unnecessarily medicalises naturally occurring Gender Non-conformity.

Gender-questioning: Describes someone who is asking questions about or otherwise exploring his or her own identity in relation to gender.

While neither term is optimal, Genspect prefers to describe young people who are experimenting with a transgender identity as Gender-questioning, rather than using the terms ‘trans kids’ or ‘transgender’. The latter terms have come to imply a fixed, innate identity that we do not think is appropriate for young people, whose identity formation is still in flux and subject to change.

Gender Recognition/Gender Recognition Certificate/Self-ID: The legal mechanism available in some jurisdictions that enables trans identified people to change their sex on legal documents.

The requirements for legal gender recognition vary by jurisdiction. In some places it is sufficient for a trans identified person to self-identify as the opposite sex, whereas in others they must provide medical evidence of a gender dysphoria diagnosis or prove that they have lived in their ‘acquired gender’ for a set period of time. Some jurisdictions allow non-binary people to change the sex on their legal documents to X, rather than male or female.

While trans activists argue that legal gender recognition should be available on demand and without the requirement for medical evidence, other people believe that laws enabling people to change the sex recorded on their legal documents should be repealed.

Gender-related Distress: A broad, non-prescriptive term used to describe the feelings of discomfort, unease or distress some people feel in relation to their sexed bodies, or the societal expectations of behaviour and presentation attached to being either male or female. Gender-related Distress may emerge for a variety of developmental, psychological, or social reasons.

Unlike terms such as Gender Identity Disorder (See: Gender Identity Disorder), Gender Incongruence (See: Gender Incongruence) and Gender Dysphoria (See: Gender Dysphoria), Gender-related Distress is not a diagnostic category, and does not automatically position distress in relation to gender as a medical condition. For this reason, and to enable critiques of specific diagnostic categories, Gender-related Distress is Genspect’s preferred term.

Heterosexual/Straight: A sexual orientation that describes a pattern of romantic and sexual attraction towards people of the opposite sex e.g. males who are attracted to females, or females who are attracted to males.

Some people argue that sexual orientation should be defined according to self-identified gender rather than biological sex. This would mean that two biological males in a gay relationship could be defined as heterosexual if one of them self-identified as female.

However, many people reject this redefinition of sexual orientation, maintaining that who we experience romantic and sexual attraction towards is overwhelmingly determined by biological sex rather than self-identified gender. When Genspect uses terms related to sexual orientation, we are referring to romantic and sexual attractions determined by biological sex, not self-identified gender.

H

Homosexual: A sexual orientation that describes a pattern of romantic and sexual attraction towards people of the same sex e.g. males who are attracted to other males, or females who are attracted to other females.

Some people argue that sexual orientation should be defined according to self-identified gender rather than biological sex. This would mean that a biological male in a relationship with a biological female could nonetheless be defined as homosexual, or a lesbian, if he self-identified as a woman.

However, many people reject this redefinition of sexual orientation, maintaining that who we experience romantic and sexual attraction towards is overwhelmingly determined by biological sex rather than self-identified gender. When Genspect uses terms related to sexual orientation, we are referring to romantic and sexual attractions determined by biological sex, not self-identified gender.

L

Lesbian: A term used to describe the sexual orientation of females who are romantically and sexually attracted to other females.

Some people argue that sexual orientation should be defined according to self-identified gender rather than biological sex. This would mean that a biological male in a relationship with a biological female could nonetheless be defined as a lesbian if he self-identified as a woman.

However, many people reject this redefinition of sexual orientation, maintaining that who we experience romantic and sexual attraction towards is overwhelmingly determined by biological sex rather than self-identified gender. When Genspect uses terms related to sexual orientation, we are referring to romantic and sexual attractions determined by biological sex, not self-identified gender.

LGB: An acronym for same-sex attracted people, standing for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual. The term is often used in discussions about rights and policies effecting same-sex attracted people, e.g. “LGB rights”.

LGBT (or LGBTQ, LGBTQI, LGBTQIA etc.): An acronym for both same-sex attraction and various transgender identities, standing for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual. Many people feel that the LGBT acronym unhelpfully conflates sexual orientation with self-identified gender and differences of sex development (DSDs).

Activist organisations like Stonewall began adding the TQIA to the LGB acronym in an effort to be more inclusive. However, both same sex attracted people and those with DSDs have sometimes described this as ‘force teaming’, pointing out that self-identified gender has little to do with either the experience of being same sex attracted or of being born with a DSD.

In fact, the interests of same-sex attracted people are sometimes directly infringed by people claiming a transgender identity, as when trans identified males present themselves as ‘lesbians’ on dating apps. Similarly, people with DSDs, who may have complex medical needs that have nothing to do with transgender identity, have expressed frustration at the apparent co-option of their experiences by activists campaigning for transgender rights. Many people, regardless of whether they are same sex attracted, trans identified or living with a DSD, reject the highly politicised and contested term ‘queer’ (See Queer).

Genspect does not use the acronym LGBTQIA, in recognition of the differing needs and interests of same sex attracted and trans identified people, and those who experience DSDs.

M

Masculinity: The stereotypical roles, behavior, and/or presentation associated with being of the male sex.

Opinions differ as to whether stereotypes of masculinity, such as the belief that men are more assertive and competitive than women, are entirely socially constructed or are an innate property of the differing reproductive strategies attached to being of either the male or the female sex. Genspect takes the position that it’s likely to be a combination of both. See also Femininity.

Medical Transition: Term referring to the range of medical interventions that may be undertaken by a trans identified person in order to superficially resemble the opposite sex. Medical transition procedures include puberty blockers (See: Puberty Blockers), cross sex hormones (See: Cross Sex Hormones) and sex reassignment surgeries (See: Sex Reassignment Surgery).

Misgender/Misgendering: The process of referring to someone through the use of a pronoun that does not correspond to their self-identified gender. For example, using ‘he’ to describe a trans-identified male who self-identifies as female.

N

Non-binary: A self-identified gender which is neither male nor female.

P

Passing: A trans identified person is said to ‘pass’ when their superficial resemblance to the opposite sex is sufficient that they are not easily recognised as a person of their biological sex.

Puberty Blockers: Refers to the class of drugs known as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues, which suppress the natural production of sex hormones. GnRH analogues are powerful drugs that have historically been used to treat some forms of cancer, and to chemically castrate sex offenders. They are also used to treat precocious puberty, a condition in which prepubescent children experience premature pubertal changes that can have lasting negative consequences for their health. Since the 1990s, GnRH analogues have also been used to halt the naturally timed, healthy puberty of young people experiencing gender related distress (See: Gender-related Distress).

The rationale for blocking the puberty of gender distressed young people has become increasingly unclear. There is no evidence that puberty blockade improves mental health or relieves symptoms of gender related distress. Some have argued that puberty blockers prevent the development of secondary sex characteristics and thereby help a young person to better ‘pass’ (See: Passing) as the opposite sex in adulthood. Critics of this view do not believe that chemical castration agents can ethically be used on children simply to achieve subjective cosmetic outcomes. Another suggested rationale is that puberty blockers give children ‘time to think’. However, blockers appear to radically change the trajectory of gender related distress, preventing natural recovery. While the majority of gender distressed young people will grow up to be comfortable with their biological sex without medical intervention, almost 100% of children who take puberty blockers go on to take sterilising cross sex hormones.

In recognition of the well documented physical, cognitive and psychological harms caused by puberty blockers, many jurisdictions now prohibit their use as a treatment for gender related distress.

Q

Queer: A term with a variety of highly contested meanings. Historically, it was used as a homophobic slur against same-sex attracted people, many of whom continue to find it offensive. More recently, a school of academic thought called ‘queer theory’ has emerged. The term queer is sometimes used to denote a self-identified gender or sexual orientation, as in, “My gender identity is queer” or “My sexual orientation is queer”.

Queer theory is focused on disrupting or inverting normative assumptions, including the idea that male and female are binary biological categories. Queer theory generally prioritises gender (See: Gender), which it characterises as a form of performative self-expression. To ‘queer’ something is to challenge or overturn the assumptions on which it is built. The counter-normative views and lifestyles promoted by queer theory can be quite extreme. For example, some queer theorists have attempted to ‘queer’ the assumption that children cannot consent to sexual activity.

It is often unclear what people mean when they identify their sexual orientation as ‘queer’. People who identify as queer may be gay, straight or bisexual. Because queer is an identity that can be claimed by heterosexuals, many same-sex attracted people are critical of its inclusion in the LGBTQ acronym. Likewise, both people who are trans identified and those who are not may claim that their self-identified gender is ‘queer’. People who identify as queer sometimes seem to be using the term to signal a political allegiance or disposition, rather than a discrete sexual orientation or transgender identity.

R

Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD): First described by researcher Lisa Littman in 2018, the ROGD hypothesis suggests that increasing rates of trans identification among teenage girls may be partly attributable to social contagion.

While examining the sudden increase in the number of adolescent girls identifying as transgender, Littman observed that the adoption of a trans identity in this group appeared to be highly mediated by peer influence and social media use. Teenage girls in this cohort usually had no history of gender non-conforming behaviour and announced a trans identity suddenly, often at the same time as other young people in their peer group.

While the ROGD hypothesis is sometimes used to argue that increasing rates of transgender identification are due at least in part to social contagion, trans activists strongly reject this view.

S

Same Sex Attracted: A term for people who are romantically and sexually attracted to people of their own biological sex e.g. lesbian women, gay men and bisexual people.

Secondary Sex Characteristics: The outward physical characteristics developed during puberty, which differ between males and females. For example, breast development in females, or the growth of facial hair in males.

Unlike biological sex itself, which is determined by gamete size (See: Biological Sex/Sex), secondary sex characteristics are not binary. Characteristics including enlarged breasts and hips in females, and broader shoulders and deeper voices in males, vary on average between individuals.

Sex: The fixed evolutionary reproductive categories of male or female. In humans, sex is determined by gamete size: males have bodies organised to produce small, mobile gametes (sperm), while females have bodies organised to produce larger, stationary gametes (eggs or ova). To distinguish this term from ‘gender’ and from ‘sexual intercourse’, some people refer to ‘Biological Sex’.

Other mechanisms, including chromosomes and sex hormones, act as triggers for male or female development and influence the development of secondary sex characteristics (See: Secondary Sex Characteristics). Secondary sex characteristics vary on average between males and females, with overlaps between the sexes that lead to individual variation. For example, males are on average taller than females, but some individual women are nonetheless taller than the average man.

Some people argue that this variation in the expression of sex characteristics means that biological sex does not exist as an objective category at all (See: Assigned Sex at Birth/Assigned Gender at Birth), or that it is not binary, existing instead on a mutable spectrum of ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’. According to this world view, sex is the sum total of accumulated traits including gametes, chromosomes, hormone levels, gendered preferences and secondary sex characteristics. This means that sex can be changed simply by shifting accumulated traits towards the opposite sex, for example by taking cross sex hormones, getting sex reassignment surgery or altering gendered behaviour. However, while changing these traits may alter cosmetic appearance, it has no impact on gametic sex, which remains the organising principle around which all human sexual development takes place.

In recent years, the term ‘gender’ (See: Gender) has come to be used as a polite synonym for Biological Sex. This has unhelpfully blurred the important differences between ‘sex’ (the fixed biological categories of male and female) and ‘gender’ (the socially constructed stereotypes of masculinity and femininity associated with being of either the male or female sex).

In some legal contexts there is an attempt to redefine ``sex’‘ even more broadly. For instance, in the proposed US Equality Act 2025 ``SEX’‘ is defined as including the following: (A) a sex stereotype; (B) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition; (C) sexual orientation or gender identity; and (D) sex characteristics, including intersex traits. This umbrella definition attempts to make it impossible to reason coherently about biological sex.

Genspect views Biological Sex as a fixed, binary category that cannot be changed and we believe clear, sex based language is essential to ensure safety, privacy and dignity in single sex spaces.

Sex Realist: The view that the sex binary (male/female) is an objective part of reality that can be vitally important in some contexts (and unimportant in other contexts). Sex Realist is increasingly used in preference to ‘gender critical’ (See: Gender Critical).

Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS): Radical body modification procedures undertaken as part of medical transition. SRS procedures include genital surgeries like vaginoplasty and phalloplasty, in addition to other procedures intended to modify the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics, such as double mastectomy and facial feminisation surgery.

Although SRS usually aims to make someone appear cosmetically more like the opposite sex (for example, by giving breast implants to a trans identified male or a double mastectomy to a trans identified female), clinicians increasingly provide procedures intended to affirm novel gender identities that are neither male nor female. These include nullification surgery for people who identify as non-binary (See: Non-binary) and wish to have their outward genitalia completely removed, and phallus preserving vaginoplasty, in which trans identified males have an artificial vagina created while retaining their penis.

SRS of all kinds impair healthy sexual function and destroy fertility. These procedures have very high complication rates and have never been shown to improve the psychological wellbeing or psychosocial functioning of trans identified people. There is mounting evidence that adverse outcomes including anxiety, depression, substance abuse and suicide are more likely in trans identified people who have had SRS.

Some people reject the term SRS because it implies that it is possible to ‘reassign’ a person’s biological sex. ‘Sex-rejecting body modification’ has been suggested as an alternative formulation.

Sexual Orientation: Term used to describe whether an individual is romantically and sexually attracted to males, females, both or neither e.g. heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual.

Some people argue that sexual orientation should be defined according to self-identified gender rather than biological sex. This would mean that a biological male in a relationship with a biological female could nonetheless be defined as homosexual, or a lesbian, if he self-identified as a woman, while two biological females in a lesbian relationship could be defined as gay if one of them self-identified as male.

However, many people reject this redefinition of sexual orientation, maintaining that who we experience romantic and sexual attraction towards is overwhelmingly determined by biological sex rather than self-identified gender. When Genspect uses terms related to sexual orientation, we are referring to romantic and sexual attractions determined by biological sex, not self-identified gender.

Social Transition: The process of changing your name, asking people to use different pronouns to refer to you, or changing aspects of your appearance (such as your clothing or your hairstyle) in order to present as the opposite sex, or as a novel self-identified gender such as non-binary (See: Non-binary). Social transition may also include interventions with the potential to cause bodily harm, such as breast binding and penile tucking.

Particularly when undertaken in early childhood, social transition is strongly associated with persistence of gender related distress and a higher likelihood of undertaking medical transition. Social transition is a powerful psychological intervention that can change the trajectory of gender related distress.

Stealth: A trans identified person is said to be living in stealth when they ‘pass’ (See: Passing) as the opposite sex and conceal their biological sex and transgender identity from peers and others.

Living in stealth may require actively misleading others, or may simply represent a ‘lie of omission’. A number of criminal cases in the UK have seen trans identified people prosecuted for failing to disclose their biological sex to sexual partners. This is called ‘sex by deception’.

In addition to potentially violating the rights of others, the obligation to uphold the deception required to live in stealth may be psychologically harmful to the trans identified individual themselves. The Cass Review found that children who had been socially transitioned in early infancy, and who were living in stealth, experienced highly elevated levels of anxiety and mental distress as puberty approached, and the development of secondary sex characteristics threatened to ‘out’ them to their peers.

While some have argued that trans identified people have a right to live in stealth and are not obliged to disclose their biological sex, others find the practice profoundly unethical, particularly in relation to children.

T

Transgender/Trans: An umbrella term for people who self-identify as something other than their biological sex. For example, men who self-identify as women (See Trans Identified Male and Transwoman), women who self-identify as men (See Trans Identified Female and Transman), and people of both sexes who identify as a novel gender identity, such as non-binary (See Non-binary) or gender fluid (See Gender Fluid). There are a diversity of views about what the word transgender means, including among trans identified people themselves.

Those who believe in the concept of gender identity (See: Gender Identity) may regard ‘transgender’ as a term for people whose self-perceived inner gender identity is different from their biological sex. Given that gender identity is self-declared, this effectively means that term Transgender describes anyone who self-identifies as such. People who do not believe in ‘gender identity’, may object that this definition is too subjective to be meaningful or useful.

Others use the term Transgender to indicate a person who has a diagnosis of gender dysphoria (See Gender Dysphoria), gender incongruence (See Gender Incongruence), gender identity disorder (See Gender Identity Disorder), or more broadly to describe an individual who experiences distress about their sexed body, or discomfort with the stereotypical behaviours and presentations associated with their biological sex.

People who subscribe to what is known as the trans-medicalist viewpoint argue that a person may only be defined as transgender if they experience distress about their sexed body or role and have taken steps to socially and medically transition. The word ‘transsexual’ (See: Transsexual) is preferred by some to distinguish between people who have undergone medical transition and those who have simply self-identified as something other than their biological sex.

It can be seen from the above that the term Transgender potentially encompasses a very wide range of meanings, many of which are poorly defined, subjective, or contradictory. It also encompasses people with highly divergent experiences and beliefs, potentially including those who have simply made a self-declaration, those who have socially transitioned and those who have completed a medical transition.

As far as is feasible, Genspect avoids using the term Transgender because it has become too vague. Instead, we use more specific terms, such as ‘trans identified male’, ‘medically transitioned’ or ‘socially transitioned. We have a policy of never using “transgender” for children and young people who are still in a malleable phase of identity development as we believe this is harmful.

Transgender Ideology/ Gender Identity Ideology: A worldview that believes self-identified gender is more important than biological sex, and should take precedence over it in matters of policy e.g. single sex spaces. Supporters of Gender Identity Ideology generally advocate for unrestricted access to medical transition procedures and often position caution in this area as ‘gatekeeping’ or ‘transphobia’.

Trans Identified Female: Term used to describe a female who self-identifies as something other than their birth sex.

Genspect uses Trans Identified Female in preference to transman (See Transman) because it provides explicit clarity about the trans identified person’s sex.

Trans Identified Male: Term used to describe a male who self-identifies as something other than their birth sex.

Genspect uses Trans Identified Male in preference to transwoman (See Transwoman) because it provides explicit clarity about the trans identified person’s sex.

Trans Rights Activists: Self-appointed public representatives of trans-identified people, many of whom are ‘allies’ and not trans-identified themselves. They regularly espouse the most extreme and uncompromising interpretation of ‘trans rights’—i.e. campaigning for self-identified gender to replace biological sex in law, arguing for medical transition procedures to be provided on demand with no assessment, and calling for harsh penalties for things like ‘misgendering’. While trans rights activists will often claim to speak on behalf of trans-identified people, Genspect has found that they frequently fail to represent the wide diversity of views actually held by that community. In particular, they ignore the experiences of formerly trans identified people, excluding detransitioners and desisters from their activism.

Transition: The process of changing a person’s appearance, mannerisms or secondary sex characteristics to appear more like those of the sex they identify as. Transition can be social (See: Social Transition) and/or medical (See: Medical Transition).

Transman: A term used to describe a female who self-identifies as male. Genspect finds this term misleading, as it implies that the person in question is biologically male. For clarity, we use the term ‘trans identified female’ (See Trans Identified Female).

Transsexual: Historically a clinical term describing a person who has undergone medical transition procedures in order to more closely resemble the opposite sex. In recent years the term has been displaced in favour of ‘transgender’ (See: Transgender), and transsexual is sometimes deemed to be offensive.

Transwoman: A term used to describe a male who self-identifies as female. Genspect finds this term misleading, as it implies that the person in question is biologically female. For clarity, we use the term ‘trans identified male’ (See: Trans Identified Male).

Transvestism: A term with historical roots in the DSM and ICD referring to sexual arousal from cross-dressing. It is conceptually related to autogynephilia (See: Autogynephilia) and referred to as “transvestic disorder” in certain contexts.

---