LGBTQIA: The importance of language
Language has become one of the most important ways to feel powerful while affirming one’s identity. It can also help an individual feel confident by sharing their true and authentic self with others. It can also be a great way to connect with others who may share their identity. Language within the LGBTQ community is incredibly diverse and there is a large umbrella of terms to understand and learn.
The definition of gender is your internal sense of self and who you feel you are – whether this be male, female or nonbinary (this definition is coming up next!). Your gender can be expressed in many different ways and it is often linked to ideas of masculinity, femininity, stereotypes, etc, but one may also choose to not have a particular label about gender as well. If you are someone who chooses to identify as the same gender you were assigned at birth, this is known as cisgender. If you are someone who feels that their gender is different to the one you were assigned at birth you may identify as trans or non-binary.
Trans is a very broad term and it refers to anyone who is not cisgender. These are the terms that are included within the trans umbrella: trans non-binary people, trans men, trans women and cross dressing people.
Non-binary is used to describe those who feel that their gender cannot be defined within the margins of gender binary. They tend to understand their gender in a way that goes beyond identifying as a man or a woman – which makes this community incredibly diverse. Some examples of terms commonly used by non-binary people include gender-fluid, agender and bigender. This list does not include all of the terms used, which also goes to show the density of the language that can be used to describe one’s gender.
We are all continuously learning how to identify each other and it is vital that we keep being open to expanding our knowledge base while increasing awareness around this important topic. When we accept each other, it leads to safer spaces where people of all genders can express themselves in a confident way.
