[ Browse by Service Category : Topics Related to Families/Friends of LGBTQ2+ Individuals (3) ]

Intersex Individuals

Individuals born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones or genitals that do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies. Some intersex persons may be assigned and raised as a girl or boy, but then identify with another gender later in life.

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Transgender Individuals

An umbrella term for people whose gender identity is not in harmony with their birth assignment, or who experience their gender identity as radically different from what is expected of a "man" or "woman". It includes but is not limited to people who identify as transgender, trans woman, trans man, transsexual, gender non-conforming, gender variant, gender queer or pangender. Many communities live under this umbrella but there is no single or universal experience of what it means to be trans (a word used interchangeably with "transgender").

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Two Spirit Individuals

Indigenous individuals who embody both a masculine and a feminine spirit and see life through the eyes of both, reflecting the historic and respected role of "third gender" or gender-variant individuals in many First Nations and Inuit cultures. As an umbrella term, two-spirit may encompass same-sex attraction and a wide variety of gender variance, including people who might be described in Western culture as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gender queer or intersex. It differs from most mainstream definitions of sexuality and gender identity in that it is about a person manifesting male and female within one being, contextualized within traditional cultural understanding.

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The above terms and definitions are part of the Taxonomy of Human Services, used here by permission of INFO LINE of Los Angeles.


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