“The Equality Act 2010 requires that public bodies have due regard to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited under the Act (including discrimination by association or perception), to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, and to foster good relations between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.”
“Glossary
Terms and language regarding transgender people and transgender issues are evolving rapidly and many terms may mean different things to different people. The definitions given here are common, but not universal, understandings of these terms.
Acquired gender
The law uses the phrase ‘acquired gender’ to refer to the gender in which a transgender person lives and presents to the world. This is not the gender that they were assigned at birth, but it is the gender in which they should be treated.
Cross-dresser
Someone who wears the clothes usually expected to be worn by someone of the ‘opposite’ gender. Other terms include ‘transvestite’ (now becoming a dated term and disliked by some) and ‘dual role’. A cross-dresser is unlikely to have a full-time identity as a member of their cross-dressed gender and typically does not seek medical intervention.
Gender binary
A binary system allows only two things or states – for example, on/off. In terms of gender, it refers to the either/or categories of male/female that do not allow for, or recognise, other experiences of gender.
Gender dysphoria
Transgender people who seek medical intervention are typically diagnosed with ‘gender dysphoria’ as a first step. Gender dysphoria describes the sense of a strong, persistent discomfort or distress caused by the dissonance between a person’s self-identified gender and the gender they were assigned at birth.
Gender identity
A person’s sense of self as a man, woman, non-binary person or other sense of gender. A person’s gender identity is typically expected to follow directly from the sex they were assigned at birth (based on physical attributes), but this is not always the case.
Gender reassignment
The process of changing or transitioning from one gender to another.
Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) (1 GOV.UK website: Applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate)
A certificate issued under the Gender Recognition Act1 which enables trans people to be legally recognised in their acquired gender.
Mis-gendering
You mis-gender someone when you refer to them using a word, especially a pronoun or a form of address, that does not correctly reflect the gender with which they identify.
Non-binary person
Someone who does not subscribe to the customary binary approach to gender, and who may regard themselves as neither male nor female, or both male and female, or take another approach to gender entirely.
Real life experience (RLE)
Sometimes called the Real-Life Test (RLT), this is a period of time in which trans individuals live full-time in their preferred gender role. The purpose of the RLE is to confirm that the person can function in their preferred gender successfully in society, as well as to confirm that they are sure they want to live in their preferred gender for the rest of their life. A documented RLE is a requirement of some doctors before prescribing hormone replacement therapy, and a requirement of most surgeons before performing gender reassignment surgery.
Transgender (or trans) person
A broad, inclusive term referring to anyone whose personal experience of gender extends beyond the typical experiences of those of their assigned sex. Amongst others, transsexual people, non-binary people and cross-dressers may all consider themselves transgender people.
Transsexual person
This term is most closely associated with the legally protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’. A transsexual person may be a person assigned female at birth who has transitioned or is transitioning to live as a man, or a person assigned male at birth who has transitioned or is transitioning to live as a woman. The law does not require a person to undergo a medical procedure to be recognised as a transsexual person. Once a transsexual person has acquired a GRC, they should generally be treated entirely as in their acquired gender.
Transgender man
A transgender man is a female-to-male transgender person who was assigned female at birth but has a male gender identity.
Transgender woman
A transgender woman is a male-to-female transgender person who was assigned male at birth but has a female gender identity.
Transition
Taking the journey from your assigned gender to the one you know yourself to be. This may refer to social transition (changing name, clothes etc), medical transition (hormones and/or surgery) or both.”