Say what? Queer terms re-explained

Hello everyone,

For my first post, I thought it would be good to go through some terms used in the LGBT (etc) community that you may (or may not) have heard before. These terms go beyond the standard acronym (for an explanation of the acronym, check out Candice's article here) and explain some of the more complicated labels or terms used within the queer community. With respect to the word queer, I use it very often to identify myself and others within the LGBT community, but not everyone is comfortable with this term.



First off,

Sex: Sex here refers to one's biological sex, genitalia, chromosomes or physical anatomy.

Gender (or Gender Identity): The gender that a person sees themselves as, or our mental representation of our gender. This includes labels like male/masculine, female/feminine, woman, man.

For some, our sex and gender match and we would label these people

Cisgender: a match between an individuals assigned sex and gender identity or gender expression. For many of us (but not all!) these things do match and we fill the behaviour deemed "socially appropriate" for one's gender. Ciswoman and cisman also fall under this term.

For many, many others, our sex and gender may not match, and a general label for these people is

Transgender (also Trans*): someone who identifies other than or opposite to the gender than they were assigned at birth. I included the asterisk beside trans because trans is often used as an umbrella term to encompass a whole lot of other identities and labels. Trans* or Transgender is a very inclusive term to use to refer to the Trans* community and is generally safe to use. Some  people may refer to themselves as a transman or transwoman and generally expect the same treatment a cisgender woman would with respect to pronouns (he/him and she/her), preferred name use and your general demeanour. I will get more into these sorts of things in a later post.

Now, one's sex and gender are very separate from one's sexual orientation (hetero/homo/bi sexual). Not all cisgender people are straight and not all transgender people are gay. Any combination of sex, gender and sexual orientation is possible.

Other possible sexual orientations are

Pansexual: someone who is attracted to a wide range of gender identities or sexes. The gender or sex is irrelevant to whether an individual will be attracted to someone else.

Asexual: someone who does not experience sexual attraction.

However, there are still a whole host of other gender labels that people choose to identify with that do not include cisgender, transgender, male/masculine or female/feminine.

Genderqueer (or gender non-conforming): gender identities that fall outside or between the typical gender binary of man/woman. This includes people who identify as both genders (genderqueer, bigendered), people who identify as neither gender or androgynous and people who move between genders (genderfluid).

Another term that applies to gender that you may not have heard before is

Intersex: an individual who presents atypical combinations of physical, chromosomal and genital features that usually distinguish female sex from male sex. This could be a very wide range or hormonal, chromosomal or genital expressions and individuals could have biological aspects of both sexes. By law, we are all labelled as either male or female at birth even when there are genital or chromosomal abnormalities which presents problems for intersex people's gender identity and sex. The term hermaphrodite is considered very outdated and not politically correct.

I hope that this made sense and cleared up some confusion that you may have had about these terms. They are used very specifically and are often not interchangeable. If you have any other questions about terms like this or are looking for an even more in depth list (there are so many more!) please do not hesitate to contact me at jocelyne@sexedcentral.com!

Newsworthy Sex - Vol 2: Transgender

The Barrie Examiner recently published a great article which has given me hope for a more progressive and accepting view of sexual diversity. This article features 17 year old Kyle, a young transgendered individual who has been strong enough to come "out and into the mainstream high school halls in his stilettos last September". Kyle has since become involved with local politics and works to educate people and encourage acceptance and tolerance.  Kyle is a wonderful example of a strong, positive representative of the Barrie LGBT youth community.

This article is well worth reading, and you can find it at this link: Breaking Out - Transgender teen touts tolerance while serving as ‘mayor’.

Glee and the "F" word

I've blogged about Glee before and after recently re-watching the Lady Gaga episode (Season 1, Episode 20), I wanted to write about it again.

This episode features one of my all-time favourite scenes from this progressive, diversity-friendly show.  I'm talking about the scene where Kurt and Finn are arguing over Kurt's remodel of their bedroom, and Finn drops the "F" word.  Burt Hummel (Kurt's father) overhears Finn's outburst.  It's what he says to Finn that really gives me goose bumps - and hope - that we can teach our young people about acceptance regardless of sexual orientation.

I've tried to find a good clip of this scene ... the one that I am posting below isn't the greatest quality, but it will do the job.



If you want to watch this or any other episode of Glee, I've got you covered!  Click here for this episode of Glee (Theatricality), and here to watch many other shows for free.

Thanks for reading,

Candice :)

We Live in a Beautiful World!

Good morning, sunshine!

Last night's workshop was entitled "Sexual Diversity & LGBTQ" and featured a phenomenal guest speaker.  Seventeen youth (biggest turnout yet!), lots of dialogue and plenty of great questions made for a productive and meaningful workshop.  My guest speaker gave the youth an opportunity to listen and talk to someone who has "been there" and I am happy to say that they didn't hesitate to take full advantage of her experience and knowledge.

I opened the discussion with "What do you think of when I say 'sexual diversity'?".  We talked about what different words mean to different people and how easily words can hurt and offend.  We also discussed how difficult it can be to struggle with something so fundamental to who you are as your sexual orientation; my guest speaker talked about her experience with internalized homophobia and the process of accepting herself as someone who did not identify as heterosexual.  I, like many of the youth, felt inspired and awed to talk with someone who has come through so much and, despite everything, is such a compassionate and loving person.

It was absolutely great!

Last night was Week 8 ... only two more sessions left!  This workshop has been phenomenal ... far better than I had ever anticipated!  The feedback from both the youth and the OYC staff has been consistently positive, and I've noticed a major improvement in the willingness of the youth to open up and talk about sex and everything related to it.  What a huge success!

Next week is all about communication ... I-statements, communicating clearly, saying what you mean and being honest with yourself and your partner(s).  I will have another guest co-facilitator.  He is also an amazing individual and someone who I can count on to help me role-model and facilitate discussion with the youth.

Stay tuned!

The controversy continues ...

Well folks, it looks like the Ontario sexual health curriculum won't be changing anytime soon.  After a good deal of public resistance, McGuinty retracted his decision and decided to avoid this battle for the time being.

Largely as a result of all of this uproar, it's been an interesting week to be a sexual health educator!  I've been likened to a pedophile more than once (eek!) and have heard several people exclaim "They want to teach them anal sex in grade three!".  The first of these statements (that I am a pedophile) is more than a little silly so I will skip right to the second.

The second statement, that this curriculum involves teaching anal sex to eight year old children - is absolutely outrageous and completely inaccurate.  For one, the curriculum does not involve "teaching anal sex" to anyone.  It includes teaching about what anal sex is, and the risks associated with it, and about safer sex ... but not until the sixth or seventh grade.  Why, you may wonder, is it even necessary to teach our young people anything about anal sex?  The answer to that is both simple and complex -- because they need to know.  More and more young people are engaging in anal sex, and anal sex is a high risk behaviour.  Furthermore, many young people do not regard anal sex as "real sex" with "real consequences" so they don't take the steps necessary to protect themselves.

In addition, the topics that would be introduced in the third grade are basic and involve teaching about diversity ... "Some families have two mommies or two daddies".  This revision to the curriculum acknowledges the reality that homosexual, bisexual, transsexual, transgendered, queer, two-spirited (and anyone I've missed) people are people too.  These people have families and deserve as much recognition and validation as any other person or family.

I read something on facebook yesterday that I thought sums the situation up in an interesting and rather humerous way:

"So let me get this straight - Larry King is getting his 8th divorce, Elizabeth Taylor is possibly getting married for a 9th time, Jesse James and Tiger Woods are (having sex with) EVERYTHING, yet the idea of same-sex marriage is what is going to destroy the institution of marriage?? REALLY??"

I realize that many of those who have misinterpreted the intentions of the curriculum (see example above) have done so because of the way it has been portrayed in the media.  McGuinty, for one, could have handled things much more delicately than he actually did.  Of course, this kind of sensationalism is great at getting people watching and reading, so the media picked up on the fire and ran with it.  Add in those who are strongly enough opposed to pull their kids out of school and we have quite the interesting scene!

I will be watching to see what happens next.  I have seen the OPHEA guidelines for our sex ed curriculum, and I can speak from experience in saying that they are minimal and insufficient.  There are definitely those out there who feel similarly to me; that it's extremely important to teach kids a comprehensive sex-ed curriculum.  After all, the decisions kids make around sex can impact the rest of their lives.

It's about diversity.

Yesterday I received another box of goodies.  Those of you who are familiar with my apartment are probably groaning and thinking "Oh goodness, where is she going to put more stuff?  I assure you, the office can handle it!

Amongst all the goodies, first on my reading list (which begins next week, after the three assignments, two papers and one test are over!) are two more informational books from Public Health - "Sexual Orientation in Schools" and "Gender Identity in Schools".  As a heterosexual Caucasian female living in a hetero-normative, largely Caucasian society, I have not had to contend with many of the issues facing the diverse youth in our communities.  I feel strongly that it is my responsibility to educate myself as much as I possibly can regarding the experiences of those with whom I cannot directly identify.

Which brings me to my latest venture - an information and resource display at a Student Leadership Conference, all about LGBTQ issues and equality.  I am not yet sure of my particular responsibilities regarding this event, but I can tell you that I am very excited!  I will update when I have more information!

If you're looking for resources such as the ones I've mentioned in this post, visit the CATIE Ordering Centre - have fun!