{"id":19743,"date":"2019-03-28T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=19743"},"modified":"2019-06-11T12:36:05","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T19:36:05","slug":"lgbtq-and-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/lgbtq-and-you\/","title":{"rendered":"LGBTQ and You \u2013 an Introductory Glossary of Terms and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Rev. Ann Lock<\/strong> | Download PDF Version<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the heck are all these letters?\u201d<\/em>
\u201cHow am I supposed to keep track when the rules keep changing?\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m afraid I\u2019ll say something stupid or rude because I\u2019m not sure how to use the terms.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is very challenging to enter into any conversation when we don\u2019t have the right words. Most of us were not taught these terms and concepts, so it takes some effort to learn them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for making the effort to understand some of what\u2019s going on in this part of our culture and community. Learning this vocabulary is an important way of showing hospitality and respect to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing to get one\u2019s head around is that the following five terms all refer to different but related aspects of human sexuality. Human beings are complex, and every human being has all five of these characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Sex \/ physical sex \/ biological sex<\/li>
  2. Gender Identity<\/li>
  3. Gender Expression<\/li>
  4. Sexual Orientation<\/li>
  5. Sexual Behavior<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    1. Sex or Anatomical Sex<\/strong>
    <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Sex or anatomical sex refers to biological characteristics. These include internal and external body parts, body chemistry, hormones, and chromosomes. Our dominant culture (western, Euro-American) generally assumes there are just 2 sexes: male and female. But over time, science has shown that this is not actually the case. (There are other cultures in which it\u2019s long been accepted that there are more than 2 sexes.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In fact, somewhere between .05%-2%[1] <\/sup>of the population has some mix of biological characteristics that don\u2019t fit into this binary either\/or of male<\/g><\/g>\/female. (It\u2019s about as common as having red hair: 1%-2% of the population.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Babies born with a mix of these characteristics, or ambiguous characteristics (since some do not emerge until puberty) were once referred to as \u201chermaphrodites\u201d.
    This term has fallen out of use and is now considered offensive. Intersex <\/strong>is now the preferred term for individuals who have some non-binary mix of biological sex characteristics.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Gender Identity<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Gender Identity is about how a person feels inside, about who they are:
    feminine, masculine, neither, or both. Since ideas about gender change over time and culture, this can be a confusing thing to talk about. Most people, from a very young age, clearly identify \u201cI\u2019m a girl\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m a boy.\u201d About .05%-.06%[2]<\/sup>however, feel like the gender they were assigned at birth doesn\u2019t fit them. It doesn\u2019t feel right. A mistake was made, and it\u2019s not really who they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Putting sex and gender identity together, we get these Terms for Gender Identity:
    <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n