Transgender Definitions

Transsexual—an individual who strongly identifies with the other sex and seeks hormones or gender-affirmation surgery or both to feminize or masculinize the body; may live full-time in the crossgender role.*

Crossdresser—an individual who dresses in the clothing of the opposite sex for reasons that include a need to express femininity or masculinity, artistic expression, performance, or erotic pleasure, but do not identify as that gender. The term “transvestite” was previously used to describe a crossdresser, but it is now considered pejorative and should not be used.†

Bigendered—individuals who identify as both or alternatively male and female, as no gender, or as a gender outside the male or female binary.†

Intersex—individuals with a set of congenital variations of the reproductive system that are not considered typical for either male or female. This includes newborns with ambiguous genitalia, a condition that affects 1 in 2,000 newborns in the United States each year.‡

Female-to-male—refers to someone who was identified as female at birth but who identifies and portrays his gender as male. This term is often used after the individual has taken some steps to express his gender as male, or after medically transitioning through hormones or surgery. Also known as FTM or transman.†

Male-to-female—refers to someone who was identified as male at birth but who identifies and portrays her gender as female. This term is often used after the individual has taken some steps to express her gender as female, or after medically transitioning through hormones or surgery. Also known as MTF or transwoman.†

FONTES: †Fenway Health. Glossary of gender and transgender terms. Boston (MA): Fenway Health; 2010. Available at: http://www.fenwayhealth.org/site/DocServer/Handout_7-C_Glossary_of_Gender_and_Transgender_Terms__fi.pdf. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

‡Dreger AD. “Ambiguous sex”--or ambivalent medicine? Ethical issues in the treatment of intersexuality. Hastings Cent Rep 1998;28:24–35.