Appendix 1: Glossary of Transgender Terms

AuthorAlly Windsor Howell
ProfessionFormer practicing lawyer from Alabama
Pages215-218
215
Androgyne: A person who lives without appearing or behaving particularly
male or female.
Androgynous (or androgyny): Having both masculine and feminine gen-
der typed traits.
Cross-Dressing (also CD’ing): To wear clothing typically associated with
members of the other sex. Someone who cross-dresses is a cross-dresser.
According to psychologists, cross-dressers are mostly heterosexuals. How-
ever, it is somewhat dif cult to distinguish a cross-dresser from a drag queen
except by the sexual orientation subcultures.
Drag King: A female who presents as male and, in doing so, purposely
takes masculinity to an extreme.
Drag Queen: A male who presents as female and, in doing so, purposely
takes femininity to an extreme.
Female to Male (also FtM): A transgender person born as female who
is living as or transitioning to male.
Glossary of Transgender
Terms*
APPENDIX 1
* These de nitions are drawn from the author’s own experiences and from
handouts used in many programs presented by the author to attorneys for continu-
ing legal education credit, to statewide psychological associations for continuing
education credits, college psychology and sociology classes, to employers and their
employees to help them deal with transitioning employees, to crisis helpline staffers,
to civic organizations, and other groups interested in learning more about gender
identity. Some members of the transgender community may look askance at some
of the de nitions, but that is the way of the world, or as the French say, c’est la vie.
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