Queer as an identity term refers to a non-categorical sexual identity in which people prefer not to be boxed into a specific category.

Cisgender (or cis) refers to individuals who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.

Nonbinary and genderqueer refer to gender identities beyond binary of woman or man. The term genderqueer became popularized within queer and trans communities in the 1990s and 2000s, and the term nonbinary became popularized in the 2010s (Roxie 2011). Agender, meaning without gender, can describe people who do not have a gender identity, have an undefinable identity, are gender-neutral, or feel indifferent about gender (Brooks 2014). Genderfluid people experience shifts between gender identities and/or expressions.

Gender Transgender (or trans) generally refers to individuals who identify as a gender other than the one that they were assigned at birth. The term is used as an adjective (e.g., “a transgender woman” rather than “a transgender”); however, some individuals may describe themselves by using transgender as a noun. The term transgendered is not used because it emphasizes ascription and undermines self-definition. The term transsexual is also not preferred as it has been medicalized and emphasizes biological sex rather than gender. Transition – the process of revealing one’s true gender – can be internal, social, legal, and/or medical. Trans* is an umbrella term that encompasses all gender-diverse identities (Tompkins 2014), and thus is intended to be inclusive and denote that trans includes nonbinary identities rather than only the binary identities of trans woman and trans man