ABSTRACT
138In order to be helpful to families of transgender and gender diverse persons, understanding the meaning of certain terms is essential. Gender diverse persons are those whose gender identity and expression are incongruent with societal expectations typically associated with males and females. Many gender diverse persons do not fit into the gender binary (male or female) as others do, and may consider themselves to be gender nonbinary, gender queer, or gender fluid. Other gender diverse persons are transgender, and have a strong inner sense that their bodies and the sex assigned to them at birth are inconsistent with their true gender identity. Transgender persons are those who may have been assigned the male sex at birth but identify as female, or were assigned the female sex at birth but identify as male. Cisgender persons are those whose gender identity is consistent with the sex they were assigned at birth. The term “gender diverse” will be used in this chapter in order to be inclusive of all non-cisgender persons, to include transgender, as well as those who identify as gender nonbinary, gender queer, gender fluid, etc.
