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Diverse Sexuality, Sex and/or Gender. This term is used as an inclusive, label-free way of referring to people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex, queer, genderqueer, pansexual or who are otherwise sexually, sex and/or gender diverse. |
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Sexuality is a central aspect of being human throughout life and encompasses sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction. Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviours, practices, roles and relationships. While sexuality can include all of these dimensions, not all of them are always experienced or expressed. Sexuality is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, political, cultural, ethical, legal, historical, religious and spiritual factors.
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) Draft working definition, October 2002 |
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The label or name one uses to define and identify their sexuality. One’s sexual identity does not have to match their sexual behaviors; one may engage in homosexual behaviors, but still identify as heterosexual; one may engage in only lesbian behaviors but identify as bisexual. |
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Our sense of ourselves, who we are, and our character, culture, values, lifestyle and personality.
“The sense, and continuity of self that develops first as the child differentiates from parents and family and takes a place in society. Neo-Freudian theorist, Erik Erikson, has proposed that there is a crisis of identity during adolescence. It is at this stage of development that a young person searches for an identity, trying out different friendship groups, different lifestyles, different career plans… In Erikson’s view, therefore, identity forms as a result of social interaction, and problems with identity occur if the adolescent feels alienated from society through, for example, [sexuality,] ethnic differences or unemployment.”
Source: Jary & Jary (2000) Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd Ed.
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Queer is an umbrella term used to refer to the LGBT community. Some people in the LGBT community prefer not to use this term as the history of the word had negative connotations. These days, the term has been embraced and is more about Pride and inclusivity.
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People whose sexual and romantic feelings are primarily for the same sex and who identify primarily with those feelings. In Australia, both men and women identify as gay, however it often refers mainly to homosexual men. |
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Women whose sexual and romantic feelings are primarily for other women and who identify with those feelings. |
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Refers to people whose sexual and romantic feelings are for both men and women and who identify with these feelings. Many people may engage in bisexual behaviours but not identify as bisexual. See also pansexual or omnisexual. |
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Refers to people whose sexual and romantic feelings are for all genders; this rejects the gender binary of male/female and asserts that there are more than two genders or gender identities. ‘Pan’ and ‘Omni’ mean ‘all’. These are inclusive terms that consider the gender diverse community. |
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Someone whose sexual identity is asexual may lack interest in or desire for sex. They may or may not engage in sexual activity and they may not experience sexual arousal at all.
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People whose sexual and romantic feelings are primarily for the same sex and who identify primarily with those feelings. People who feel this way often identify as gay or lesbian. |
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People whose sexual and romantic feelings are primarily for the opposite sex and who identify primarily with those feelings. |
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The direction of one’s sexual and romantic attractions and interests towards members of the same, opposite or both sexes, or all genders. Similar to ‘Sexual Preference’. |
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The attitude or belief that heterosexuality is more 'normal' or superior to other kinds of sexualities. It is heterosexist to assume that people are straight unless otherwise specified, or that you can 'tell' if someone is gay. Heterosexism is also used to include 'cissexism': to assume only two sexes exist and that gender always correlates to our assigned sex. |
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An individual’s or society’s misunderstanding, fear, ignorance of, or prejudice against gay, lesbian and/or bisexual people. ‘Homophobia’ is often also used as an umbrella term to include transphobia, biphobia and heterosexism. |
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An individual’s or society’s misunderstanding, fear, ignorance of, or prejudice against people who experience transsexualism or identify and Trans*. |
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Used to describe a range of people that don’t conform to gender expectations, including genderqueer, transgender, cross-dressing, drag performing, bigender and other gender diverse people. |
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An individual’s or society’s misunderstanding, fear, ignorance of, or prejudice against bisexual and/or pansexual people. |
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Stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, intersex, and queer. Also, LGBT, GLBT, GLB, LGB or LGBTI are used. |
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Stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Intersex, Queer, otherwise DSSG, or Questioning their sexuality, sex and/or gender. |
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Men who have Sex with Men. This is an inclusive term that includes gay and bisexual men, but most importantly, includes men who do not identify as gay, bi or homosexual, but are having homosexual sex (these men may be straight and in opposite sex relationships too). This term has been developed as this group of men are particularly difficult to reach for health promotion aimed at preventing HIV/AIDS as their homosexual sexual relations are so hidden and do not correlate with their sexual identity. |
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The FBI Model is a model for understanding diverse sexuality. It breaks sexuality down into three aspects: Feelings/fantasies, Behaviour & Identity. Each of these aspects exist on a continuum (For more information go to the Sexuality Info Page);
Feelings/Fantasies
same sex -------------------------------------- opposite sex
Behaviour
same sex -------------------------------------- opposite sex
Identity
Gay/Lesbian ---------------------------------------- straight
queer/pansexual/bisexual |
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This can mean something different to everyone. Coming out to yourself has to do with developing an awareness that you are LGBTQ. Coming out to others involves disclosing your LGBTQ identity. Coming out to others may be an ongoing process throughout life, though when it’s talked about, for example, as “when did you come out?” it refers to when you first disclosed your LGBTQ identity to family and friends. Some people choose to come out only to specific people in their life. |
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How a person, thinks, acts, dresses and speaks which distinguishes them as masculine or feminine. The sociological construction of one’s masculinity or femininity. One’s gender can be masculine, feminine and/or androgynous.
“Gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female.”
Source: Transforming health systems: gender and rights in reproductive health. WHO, 2001.
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Sex (1) is the physiological make-up of a person. It is commonly expressed as a binary and used to divide people into males and females.
However, in reality, sex is a “complex relationship of genetic, hormonal, morphological, biochemical, and anatomical differences that impact the physiology of the body and the sexual differentiation of the brain. Although everyone is assigned a sex at birth, approximately 2 percent of the population are intersexed and do not fit easily into a dimorphic division of two sexes that are ‘opposite’” [*].
[*] Lev, AI 2004, Transgender emergence: Therapeutic guidelines for working with gender-variant people and their families, Haworth Press, Binghamton, New York.
Source: www.wagenderproject.org
Sex (2) is sexual activity or sexual intercourse but can mean something different to everyone. For people with diverse sexuality and gender the meaning of what 'Sex' is can be particularly varied. Generally, oral sex, vaginal sex, mutual masturbation and anal sex are the main activities included in 'Sex'. |
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The label or name one uses to define and identify their gender. One’s sense of being male or female. Our sense of our selves in regards to our gender, gender role, masculinity and/or femininity. The most common gender identities are male and female, however there are many others in the gender diverse community such as genderqueer, trans man, trans woman, transgender, trans*, boi, sistergirl, brotherboy, FTM / F2M (female to male), MTF / M2F (male to female)etc.
“the sense of self associated with cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity. Gender identity is not so much acted out as subjectively experienced. It is the psychological internalization of masculine or feminine traits. Gender identity arises out of a complex process of interaction between self and others. The existence of transvestite and transsexual identities indicates that gender is not dependant upon sex alone, and arises from the construction of gender identities.”
Source: Jary & Jary (2000) Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd Ed.
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The way we behave under the expectations society has for a person’s self expression, behaviour and appearance based on their biological sex.
“The social expectations arising from conceptions surrounding gender and the behavioural expression of these, including forms of speech, mannerisms, demeanour, dress and gesture. Masculine and feminine ideas are often deemed to be mutually exclusive, and in some societies the role behaviours may be polarized.”
Source: Jary & Jary (2000) Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd Ed.
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An umbrella term including transsexual and transgender. |
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A person who identifies as the sex opposite to the one assigned at birth and who may choose to undergo sex affirmation/reassignment surgery. |
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An umbrella term used to describe a broad range of non-conforming gender identities and/or expressions. Usually includes all trans* people, but some transsexualpeople and members of the gender diverse community prefer not to use this term. |
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Can be used as an umbrella term similar to Transgender, but commonly particularly refers to people who are not transsexual but do not comply with their traditional gender expectations through their dress, hair, mannerisms, appearance and values. Most people who identify as genderqueer don’t feel the gender binary fits for them and use ‘genderqueer’ to label that. |
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Refers to people whose sense of their gender and/or sex matches the sex they were assigned at birth. Cisgender is the antonym of transgender and is used to label those who's gender is not trans*. |
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Can mean having both masculine and feminine characteristics, or having neither specifically masculine nor feminine characteristics. Some people who are androgynous may identify as genderqueer, trans* or androgynous. |
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Someone who crossdresses (previosuly known as a transvestite) is a person who gets personal satisfaction and piece of mind by wearing the clothing of the opposite sex. This usually refers to men dressing in women's clothing.
Crossdressing is not directly related to sexual orientation - most crossdressers are heterosexual men. The proportion of crossdressers that are gay men is similar to the proportion of the general population of men that are gay. |
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Drag Queens are men who dress and wear makeup, wigs etc. to impersonate a woman - it is a performance for entertainment. The men who 'do drag' do not want to 'be' a woman, they are performing an exaggerated feminine persona. Famous Australian Drag Queens include Dame Edna Everage, Vanessa Wagner and the characters in the movie 'Pricilla Queen of the Dessert'. |
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Drag Kings are usually women who dress and wear makeup, facial hair etc. to impersonate a man - it is a performance for entertainment. The people who 'do drag' do not necessarily want to 'be' a man, they are performing an exaggerated masculine persona. |
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A person who is born with reproductive organs, genitalia and/or sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female. There are many different intersex states which may or may not be visible or diagnosed.
“Approximately 2 percent of the population are intersexed and do not fit easily into a dimorphic division of two sexes that are ‘opposite’.” (Lev, 2004) |
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An affectionate term originally used between Aboriginal women reflecting kinship. The usage of sistergirl terminology is clearly influenced by the diversity of communities, and will often be defined within a community depending on geographical location. Within the sistergirl community, a sistergirl is an individual born biologically male who identifies as female. |
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For individuals in the Trans* community, transitioning is the process of changing their body and presentation, from the sex they were assigned at birth, to match their own sense of gender and sex. This can involve hormone therapy and may also involve undergoing surgery, name change, voice training, and other sex affirmation therapies. Transitioning can take many years and is a different process for everyone - there is no right or wrong way to transition. |
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Stands for Sexually Transmitted Infection (used to be called STD/ Sexually Transmitted Disease). Check out our Sexual Health Info sheet, or FPWA Sexual Health Services website www.fpwa.org.au. |
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Stands for Blood-Borne Virus. Includes HIV, Hepatitis C & Hepatitis B. |
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Stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is infectious and can be transmitted from one person to another when ALL of the following are present;
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HIV+ person
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There is a mode of transmission (eg. sharing injecting equipment, having unsafe penetrative sex)
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There is a point of entry into the person being infected’s blood stream (eg. a cut, a micro-abrasion.)
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There is infectious blood, seminal fluid, vaginal fluid or breast milk present and it enters the point of entry.
Check out the WA AIDS Council’s website www.waaids.com for more info. |
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Stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS is a set of illnesses, sometimes called opportunistic infections, which affect people with advanced HIV. AIDS cannot be transmitted as it is not BBV; only HIV can be transmitted. Someone can only get AIDS if they are HIV positive.
Check out the WA AIDS Council’s website www.waaids.com for more info. |
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