Sex and gender. You’d think these would as simple to understand as night and day. But the more one learns about sexuality and gender, the more their complexity is revealed. Below are some definitions that may help clarify and distinguish some of these complex concepts.

Sexual Orientation: commonly defined as the direction of sexual/affectional attraction as being toward others of the same or opposite gender, toward both genders, or toward neither gender [asexual]. Once narrowly defined by sexual attraction or partners’ gender [whether gender of a person’s partners is the same or opposite], sexual orientation is now understood to be comprised not only of sexual but affectional feelings. While we don’t exactly know how sexual orientation develops, we do know that both nature and nurture are involved. On the nature side, there is evidence that hormones, genes, and other biochemical processes may contribute to sexual orientation. On the nurture side, the exact variables that are involved have yet to be determined, but two myths that are not supported by evidence are: (1) having a dominant mother and passive father causes males to become gay and (2) sexual abuse causes both males and females to be gay/lesbian. Many heterosexual people have had either of these experiences.

Sexual Identity: label used to denote the part of one’s identity that is comprised by one’s sexual orientation. Common identities include gay, lesbian, bisexual, and straight (heterosexual).

Sex: distinction based on biological/anatomical characteristics: male, female, intersex [see below].

Gender: distinction based on psychological/social/physiological construct: man, woman, transgender [see below].

Gender Role: societal and cultural constructs of gender: masculine, feminine, androgynous.

Gender Expression: how gender is expressed by an individual in clothing, hairstyle, and mannerisms.

Intersex: having ambiguous or mixed female and male genitalia. Previously known as “hermaphrodite,” this is a biological/anatomical state.

Transgender: a state of feeling that one is in the “wrong” body from a gender/sex perspective; a biological male who feels and knows himself to be a woman, or a biological woman who feels and knows herself to be a man. People who are transgender may have any sexual orientation: they may be gay or lesbian, straight, or bisexual.

Transsexual: a person who changes his or her biological sex to match his or her felt gender. While all transsexuals are transgender, not all transgender people have sex reassignment surgery to become transsexual. Most live as their felt gender without surgery, perhaps using hormones, perhaps not.

Transvestite: an outdated term for a person who cross-dresses (wears clothing of the other gender), more often called Cross-dressers. Since male attire, such as trousers, has become common for women to wear, this term more often refers to men cross-dressing as women. Most often, cross-dressers are heterosexual.  Further, only a small number of cross-dressers do so for sexual arousal; most simply find cross-dressing enjoyable, as a way to play with social conventions or merely for play and relaxation. The term transvestite is used to denote those who cross-dress for sexual, rather than non-erotic, pleasure.