Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI)
Terms and Definitions
Sex (sexo) - The legal, anatomical, and/or biological distinction, typically of male or female.
Intersex (intersexo) - A variety of conditions in which a person is born with or develops
a reproductive or sexual anatomy or physiology that may not seem to fit typical ideas of
female or male or typical development of physical sex traits.
Gender (género) - The human social, cultural, and psychological qualities that indicate
masculinity, femininity, or lack thereof.
Gender Identity (identidad de género) - An individual’s internal, deeply felt sense of being a
man, a woman, both, neither, or in-between. This may or may not match the individual’s
biological or legal sex.
Transgender (transgénero) - An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or
expression differs from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth.
Transsexual (transexual) - A person who does not identify with their sex
assigned at birth and typically has or desires to alter sex characteristics, often
through hormones and/or surgeries. The term is increasingly seen as clinical.
Genderqueer - A person whose gender falls outside of typical cultural definitions of
being either a man or a woman. This person may identify with multiple genders, no
gender, and/or with notions of gender outside of the mainstream.
Cisgender (cisgénero) - A term for people whose gender identity and/or expression fits
cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth.
Hijra / khawaja sara - A term that applies to a diverse and distinctive subcultural
sex/gender grouping in South Asia, who identify with this terminology rather than with
being either male or female.
Gender Expression (expresión de género) - An individual’s characteristics and behaviors such
as appearance, dress, mannerisms, speech patterns and social interactions that are typically
perceived as masculine or feminine.
Cross Dresser (travesti) - A person who enjoys wearing the clothes associated with
and/or appearing as a different gender.
Sexual Orientation (orientación sexual) - An identity based on a person’s sexual attraction to
others and how that person’s own gender corresponds to the gender of the people to whom that
person is attracted.
Lesbian (lesbiana) - A woman who is sexually and romantically attracted to other
women.
Gay (gay) - A man who is sexually and romantically attracted to other men. Also often
used as a generic term used to describe people of any gender who are sexually and
romantically attracted to people of the same gender as their own.
Bisexual (bisexual) - A person who is sexually and romantically attracted to both women
and men.
Homosexual (homosexual) - A term to describe people of any gender who are sexually
and romantically attracted to people of the same gender as their own. In some countries,
this term is increasingly seen as inappropriate and outdated for colloquial use given its
clinical and pathological connotations.
Heterosexual/Straight (hetero) - A term that refers either to a woman who is attracted to
men or to a man who is attracted to women.
Queer (queer) - Historically a negative term for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
More recently reclaimed by some LGBT people to refer to themselves. Often used to reference a
more flexible view of gender and/or sexuality. Some people still find the term offensive, others
use it as a more inclusive term that allows for more freedom of expression.
Two-Spirit (de doble espíritu) - Some lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Native Americans
use this term to refer to themselves.
MSM (HSH) - A term that refers to men, regardless of their identity or sexual orientation, who
may have sexual contact with other men.
Ally (aliadx/solidarix) - A person who stands up and supports another, reaching across
differences, to achieve mutual goals.
Transitioning (transicionar/transición) - A process during which a person changes their gender
expression and/or sex characteristics. This may include changing pronouns, changing one’s
name, taking estrogen or testosterone, gender confirmation surgeries. For each individual who
undergoes this process the items included in it and the order in which they occur may differ.
Coming Out (salir del clóset/armario) - The process of becoming aware of one’s sexual
orientation or gender identity, accepting it, acting on it, and telling others. This process usually
occurs over time and in stages. This process may occur in a different order depending on each
individual. Typically it may be described as a lifelong, dynamic process.
Heterosexism (heterosexismo) - The usually implicit assumption that heterosexuality is ideal,
preferable to other sexual orientations and/or the only valid option.
Homophobia (homofobia) - Originally used to describe fear of people who are lesbian, gay or
bisexual. More often today it is used to describe any level of discomfort or disapproval for
people who are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. This often leads to bias,
hatred and harassment of LGBT people.
Internalized Homophobia (homofobia internalizada) - The experience of shame, aversion, or
self-hatred in reaction to one’s own feelings of attraction for a person of the same gender/sex.
Transphobia (transfobia) - A term used to describe any level of discomfort or disapproval for
people who are perceived to be transgender or people who act in ways counter to gender
expectations.
Partner (pareja) - A gender-neutral term for a person with whom one engages romantically
and/or sexually
