Appendix 1: Glossary of Transgender Terms

• Author: Ally Windsor Howell
• Profession: Former practicing lawyer from Alabama
• Pages: 215-218

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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