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Gender Identity
Table 7. Terminology Associated with Gender Identity and
Hormonal Therapy
Gender Identity Terminology and Definitions
Gender/sex: Broad terms describing the entire category of relevant biological
characteristics, self-identification, and stereotypical behaviors that might be considered
male, female, or some variation
Gender identity: e internal sense of being male, female, or neither
Transgender, transsexual, trans, gender nonbinary, gender diverse, gender
incongruent, genderqueer: Adjectives used to refer to persons whose gender identity
does not align with their sex recorded at birth (the latter primarily based on visible
physical anatomy)
Cisgender, nontransgender: Adjectives used to refer to persons whose gender identity
aligns with their sex recorded at birth
Gender expression: How a person communicates gender identity through appearance,
dress, name, pronouns, mannerisms, and speech
Gender-affirming hormone treatment and surgeries: Broad categories of medical
interventions that transgender persons might consider to align their appearance and
their gender identity
Gender transition, gender affirmation, gender confirmation: An overall process of
alignment of physical characteristics and/or gender expression with gender identity
Gender dysphoria: Discomfort felt by some persons due to lack of alignment between
gender identity and the sex recorded at birth. Not all transgender persons have
dysphoria, but many U.S. insurance companies require this diagnosis for payment for
transgender medical and surgical interventions.
Feminizing hormone therapy: e use of estrogens and oen androgen blockers with
the objective of inducing changes in physical characteristics to better match patient
gender identity
Masculinizing hormone therapy: e use of testosterone with the objective of inducing
changes in physical characteristics to better match patient gender identity
Safer JD, Tangpricha V. In the Clinic: Care of the Transgender Patient. Ann Int Med. 2019;
171(1):ITC1–ITC16
