Glossary




 * SEXUAL ORIENTATION: ** a person’s affection and sexual attraction to other persons.


 * TWO-SPIRIT: ** some Aboriginal people identify themselves as two-spirit rather than as bisexual, gay, lesbian or transgender. Historically, in many Aboriginal cultures, two-spirit persons were respected leaders and medicine people. Before colonization, two spirit persons were often accorded special status based upon their unique abilities to understand both male and female perspectives.


 * GENDERQUEER: ** used to describe individuals who perceive their gender to be neither that of a male or female but outside of the gender binary.


 * TRANSSEXUAL: ** a person who experiences intense personal and emotional discomfort with their assigned birth gender and may undergo treatment (e.g. hormones and/or surgery) to transition gender.


 * HETEROSEXISM: ** t he assumption that everyone is heterosexual and that this sexual orientation is superior. Heterosexism is often expressed in more subtle forms than homophobia.


 * HOMOPHOBIA: ** fear and/or hatred of homosexuality in others, often exhibited by prejudice, discrimination, intimidation, or acts of violence. Similarly, “transphobia” refers to the fear and/or hatred of transgender individuals and is exhibited by prejudice, discrimination, intimidation, or acts of violence. “Biphobia” refers to the fear and/or hatred of bisexual individuals and is exhibited by prejudice, discrimination, intimidation or acts of violence.


 * LGBTTQ: ** a commonly used acronym for the constellation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirited, and queer identities. Sexual minority is a synonymous term.


 * COMING OUT: ** often refers to “Coming out of the closet”– the act of disclosing one’s sexual orientation or gender identity (e.g., to friends, family members, colleagues).


 * GENDER VARIANT: ** a term to refer to individuals whose expressions of gender do not conform to the dominant gender norms of masculinity and femininity.


 * GENDER IDENTITY: ** a person’s internal sense or feeling of being male or female, which may or may not be the same as one’s biological sex.


 * GAY: ** a person who is physically and emotionally attracted to someone of the same sex. The word gay can refer to both males and females, but is commonly used to identify males only.


 * LESBIAN: ** a female who is attracted physically and emotionally to other females.


 * BISEXUAL: ** a person who is attracted physically and emotionally to both males and females.


 * QUESTIONING: ** a person who is unsure of his or her sexual orientation.


 * MSM: ** an acronym to describe men who have sex with men. The acronym is used to reflect the complexity of sexual orientation and, in particular, that some men who have sex with men do not identify as gay.


 * WSW: ** an acronym to describe women who have sex with women. The acronym is used to reflect the complexity of sexual orientation and, in particular, that some women who have sex with women do not identify as lesbian.


 * ALLY: ** a person, regardless of his or her sexual orientation, who supports the human, civil, and sexual rights of sexual minorities.


 * INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA: ** a diminished sense of personal self-worth or esteem felt by an individual as a result of the experienced or presumed homophobia of others.

Public Health Agency of Canada (2010//)//. //Questions & Answers: Gender Identity in Schools.// Retrieved from … Public Health Agency of Canada (2010). Questions & Answers: Sexual Orientation in Schools. Retrieved from ...
 * QUEER: ** historically, a negative term for homosexuality. More recently, the LGBTTQ community has reclaimed the word and uses it as a positive way to refer to itself.
 * All the above were taken from: **

Definitions: **from**: [] Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary unless otherwise indicated


 * Bisexual:** of, relating to, or characterized by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward both sexes

** Gender :** the behavioural, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex

**Gender bias:**

**Gender fairness:**

**Gender equality:** the provision of equality in opportunity and the realization of the equality of results for all students, based on individual aptitudes, abilities and interests, regardless of gender (from Gender Equity Policay and Guidelines for Implementation, Saskatchewan Education, 1991).


 * Gender equity education**: involves the inclusion of the experiences, perceptions, and perspectives of girls and women, as well as those of boys and men, in all aspects of education (from the Toronto District School Board's //[|Gender Equity Resource Guide], 2006).//

**Gender variant:**

** Hegemony **: the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

Heteronormativity: world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation (from [|Oxford Dictionaries Online])

 **Heterosexism:** discrimination or prejudice by [|heterosexuals] against homosexuals

 **Homophobia** :  irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against [|homosexuality] or [|homosexuals]

**Intersex**: a person who is born with a combination of male and female anatomy

**LGBTQ**: an acronym for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Two-Spirit, Queer and Questioning" people (from //[|Youth Speak Up about Homophobia and Transphobia: The First National Climate Survey on Homophobia in Canadian Schools. Phase One Report]).//

** Sexism: ** 1) prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially: discrimination against women 2) behaviour, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex

 ** Transgendered :** of, relating to, or being a person (as a   [|transsexual] or [|transvestite] ) who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person's sex at birth

Two-spirit; two-spirited: Some Aboriginal people identify themselves as Two-Spirit rather than as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Historically, in many Aboriginal cultures two-spirit persons were respected leaders and medicine people. Two-spirit persons were often accorded special status based upon their unique abilities to understand both male and female perspectives (from //[|Youth Speak Up about Homophobia and Transphobia: The First National Climate Survey on Homophobia in Canadian Schools. Phase One Report]).//