Research Guides: LGBTQIA+ Resources: Gender Identity

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Gender Identity Topics

Here's a definition of gender identity from The PFLAG National Glossary of Terms.

Gender identity: One's deeply held core sense of being male, female, some of both, or neither. One's gender identity does not always correspond to biological sex. Awareness of gender identity is usually experienced as early as 18 months old and reinforced in adolescence.

Gender identity is not a binary concept; it's not either/or. Instead, one's gender identity flows along a spectrum of possibilities. And it can change, be fluid. The resources in the other tabs on this page go into more depth about this topic.

The Gender Unicorn: An infographic that shows the fluid nature of gender identity, gender expression, sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, and romantic/emotional orientation. From Trans Student Educational Resources with illustrations by Anna Moore, design by Landyn Pan.
Additional Resources: Links to short articles and FAQs about gender identity, gender expression, and the gender spectrum.

Figure 1. Gender unicorn. Reprinted from "The gender unicorn," illustrations by A. Moore, design by L. Pan, n.d., retrieved from http://www.transstudent.org/gender. Copyright 2016 by Trans Student Educational Resources.

Click to view larger version of infographic.

Additional information from Trans Student Educational Resources to explain the five areas:

Gender Identity: "One’s internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, or another gender(s). Everyone has a gender identity, including you. For transgender people, their sex assigned at birth and their own internal sense of gender identity are not the same. Female, woman, and girl and male, man, and boy are also NOT necessarily linked to each other but are just six common gender identities."
Gender Expression/Presentation: "The physical manifestation of one’s gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, voice, body shape, etc. Most transgender people seek to make their gender expression (how they look) match their gender identity (who they are), rather than their sex assigned at birth."
Sex Assigned at Birth: "The assignment and classification of people as male, female, intersex, or another sex based on a combination of anatomy, hormones, chromosomes. It is important we don’t simply use “sex” because of the vagueness of the definition of sex and its place in transphobia. Chromosomes are frequently used to determine sex from prenatal karyotyping (although not as often as genitalia). Chromosomes do not determine genitalia."
Physically Attracted To: "Sexual Orientation. It is important to note that sexual and romantic/emotional attraction can be from a variety of factors including but not limited to gender identity, gender expression/presentation, and sex assigned at birth."
Emotionally Attracted To: "Romantic/emotional orientation. It is important to note that sexual and romantic/emotional attraction can be from a variety of factors including but not limited to gender identity, gender expression/presentation, and sex assigned at birth."

These resources provide additional information about gender identity.

Gender Identity Myths and Facts — University of Texas at Austin
Brief list of myths and facts about gender identity topics.
The Gender Spectrum — Teaching Tolerance, The Southern Poverty Law Center
An article about gender diversity and gender inclusion
Trans* + Gender Identity — The Trevor Project
An article that provides more information about gender identity and gender roles; also includes information about transgender and intersex identities.
Understanding Gender — Gender Spectrum
An article that discusses the differences between sex assigned at birth and gender, as well as the relationships between gender identity, gender expression, and gender biology (sex assigned at birth).