George Brown Polytechnic is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.
You can respect people’s needs & boundaries without understanding every identity. Within 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and experiences, there are important terms and concepts that relate to how a person identifies. We’ve compiled a list below that you may use or encounter. These definitions may not match legal or policy definitions or your own usage, and that’s okay. There are many more terms not covered here.
Remember that language is contextual, personal, and always changing. What some people or communities might find true and affirming in some contexts might be unwelcome or derogatory in others. Please feel welcome to claim this language as your own but be wary of imposing labels on others.
Some Key Terms
2-Spirit, Two-Spirit: An English-language term used by some Indigenous people on Turtle Island to describe orientations, gender modalities, and roles outside of the colonially-imposed male/female binary.
Orientation
Orientation: how we identify and experience attraction, typically romantic and/or sexual. (The OHRC equivalent term is sexual orientation.)
Lesbian: a woman who is attracted to other women. Other related terms include sapphic, WLW: women loving women.
Gay: someone attracted to people of the same gender, and/or an overarching term for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Includes (but is not limited to) gay men and MLM: men loving men.
Bisexual, pansexual: someone attracted to people of gender(s) like their own and unlike their own.
Heterosexual, straight: someone attracted only to people of the gender “opposite” to their own.
Asexual, ace: someone who experiences little or no sexual attraction, sexual desire, and/or interest in sexual activity.
Aromantic, aro: someone who experiences little or no romantic attraction and/or interest in romantic intimacy.
Queer: a term that encompasses a broad spectrum of identities related to sex, gender, and attraction.
Gender
Gender identity: Our sense of our own gender, whether it is the same of different from the sex assignment at birth. Often summarized in gender categories.
Gender expression, presentation: How we present ourselves to the world, which can include features such as style, clothes, and mannerisms.
Relational, social gender: Our names, pronouns, and social relationships as they relate to our gender.
Gender non-conforming, GNC: someone whose gender identity, expression, presentation, and/or social gender features may not align as expected in their context.
“Sex” chromosomes: impact primary sex characteristics, such as reproductive organs.
“Sex” hormones: impact development of secondary sex characteristics, such as body hair, skin, muscle and fat distribution. If we change them, our development changes.
Legal gender/sex: the names and gender markers on our legal identification. In Ontario, the options are typically M, F, X, and no marker.
Gender assigned at birth: the gender marker assigned to a baby at birth. This does not necessarily mean anything about someone’s body, experiences, or identity.
Transgender, trans: people whose gender categories doesn't match what they were assigned at birth. A trans woman is a woman who was not assigned female at birth. A trans man is a man who was not assigned male at birth.
Cisgender, cis: people whose gender categories matches what they were assigned at birth. Cis- comes from Latin: “on the same side as”, & trans- from Latin: “on another side as”. A cis woman is a woman who was assigned female at birth. A cis man is a man who was assigned male at birth.
Nonbinary, genderqueer: people whose gender identities are not solely and statically “man/boy/male” or “woman/girl/female”.
Intersex: people whose endogenous chromosomal, hormonal, or anatomical sex characteristics or development are outside of our current conventional medical expectations of “male” or “female”.
Perisex, endosex, dyadic: people who are not intersex.
Gender diverse, gender variant: umbrella terms that include all people who are not solely of cisgender, non-intersex, gender-conforming experiences.
Gender dysphoria: the sense of unease, discomfort, and/or dissociation from self we experience when our gender identity doesn’t match how we are perceived.
Gender euphoria: the sense of joy, comfort, and/or wellbeing we experience when we feel recognized and at home in our gender.
Deadnaming, misgendering: referring to someone by a name, pronouns, or gendered terms that do not match their gender. This can cause or worsen gender dysphoria.
Transitioning: the ways people align their body, gender expression, and/or relational gender with their gender identity. Transitioning might include changes to someone’s name, pronouns, hormones, gender marker, hair, surgeries, styles, and more. Everyone’s transition is different, and there is no wrong way to transition.
Using Pronouns
What are personal pronouns?
Personal pronouns are words that refer to a person in the third-person, replacing their name. Pronouns often indicate, but are not determined by or determinative of, gender identity. Just like you can’t tell someone’s gender through observation, you can’t tell someone’s pronouns! The best practice is to share your pronouns first, rather than demand pronouns from everyone you meet.
Pronoun Examples
Here are some pronoun sets and examples, in the order Subjective, Objective (Reflexive), Possessive:
- They, them(self), their: Ask them what they want in their tea.
- He, him(self), his: He said he’d get his by himself.
- She, her(self), hers: Her over there – what did she get in hers?
- Xie, xem(self), xyr: Xie got xyr tea with honey. Ask xem!
- It, it(self), its: It wants to make its tea itself.
- No pronouns, name only: Ask Leslie where Leslie’s going to get tea.
Some tips for pronouns
- Introduce yourself with your pronouns, alongside your name.
- If you get someone’s pronouns wrong, correct yourself and apologize briefly, then move on. Don’t center yourself!
- If someone misgenders a person, quickly remind them of that person’s proper pronouns!
- If you keep getting pronouns wrong, you need practice! Practice talking about the person in third person (using their pronouns) until it becomes natural.
- Mistakes happen occasionally, but repeated misgendering can constitute harassment and create a poisoned environment.
Some Key Concepts
Gender essentialism is the belief that people of a certain gender must have certain essences in common. These shared characteristics are necessarily present in everyone of a given gender. Essentialism shapes our beliefs about ourselves and others unless we unlearn it. Gender essentialism underpins our other beliefs about gender and orientation, such as cis-/hetero-normativity, and is massively influenced by racism, colonialism, and intersecting forms of oppression.
Gender-based discrimination relies on gender essentialism through assumptions like:
- Of course, all men are strong – so women (because they’re weaker) have to be protected
- Of course, women are emotional & overreact – so men (because they’re logical) don’t cry
- Of course, men are rational – so people who aren’t men should defer to men who know what’s best for them.
Heteronormativity is the assumption that everyone is heterosexual unless proven otherwise. Under heteronormativity, we need evidence to prove someone is not straight.
Heteronormativity asserts that it is expected, normal, and “natural” for men to be attracted to women and women to be attracted to men.
An expression of heteronormativity might be asking a coworker “Hey, Greg, when are you getting a girlfriend?”
Homophobia is a way that heteronormativity works against people who are not heterosexual, are perceived to possibly not be heterosexual, or express support of people who are not heterosexual. Homophobia asserts that it is surprising, abnormal, and “deviant” for people to be attracted to people of the same gender and not the “opposite” gender. An expression of homophobia might be “I don’t know why Greg’s bringing that guy friend to our events. That’s so weird.”
Compulsory sexuality is the social expectation that the “right” people participating in the “right” sexual activity is a normal, required, desired, and empowering activity, especially in the “right” romantic relationships. Compulsory sexuality asserts that not engaging in the “right” relationships and sexual activity is wrong, and undermines consent. An expression of compulsory sexuality might be someone saying “we’ve already been dating so long, why won’t you have sex with me? Don’t you love me?”
Aphobia is a way that compulsory sexuality acts against people who are or are assumed to be asexual, aromantic, uninterested in romantic, sexual, and/or marital partnership, or in relationships with these people. Aphobia asserts that relationships that differ from romantic and sexual relationships that become marriages are less valuable and real than any other relationships. An expression of aphobia might be “you haven’t had sex in how long? We need to get you some help.”
Cisnormativity is the assumption that everyone’s bodies match a certain idea of typical, binary, distinct development as either male or female. Under cisnormativity, trans, intersex, and other gender-diverse people are assumed not to exist. An expression of cisnormativity might be only two washrooms, a “M” and a “F”, where the “F” washroom has the only access to a change table, menstrual supplies, and in-stall waste disposal.
Intersexism is a way that cisnormativity acts against people who are identified as or assumed to be intersex. Under intersexism, people who seem to deviate from the expected gender norms are tested, surveilled, and often coerced into medical and societal interventions to identify, alter, and/or surpress their intersex traits. An expression of intersexism might be not allowing a woman perceived as having more facial and body hair than “normal” to play sports with other women without medical testing and interventions her teammates don’t have to face.
Transphobia is a way cisnormativity acts against people who are not cisgender and/or are perceived to deviate from gender essentialist norms. Under transphobia, people assert what others’ genders are or can be(come), and deny their experiences and bodily autonomy around their own genders. An expression of transphobia might be not allowing someone to change what name they’re referred to as in their emails.
- Keep Learning
These definitions draw from a wide range of scholarly and community sources, included below.
Airton, L. (2016). No Big Deal – I’ll Use Your Pronoun. No Big Deal Campaign.
Cassian (2024). Worldwide Report: Gender Census.
Egale Canada (2025). Resources for Educators.
Hunt, S. (2016, June 16). An Introduction to the Health of Two-Spirit People: Historical, contemporary and emergent issues. National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. (now National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health)
interACT. (2022, October). Intersex Definitions. interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth.
Métis Nation of Ontario (2022, September). Two-Spirit Métis Awareness Resource.
The 519 (2020, February). Glossary of Terms.
Toronto Aces & Aros (2023, May). Education & Outreach.