A set of guidelines and procedures established by a healthcare institution, ostensibly to maintain quality assurance and establish a degree of legal protection for clients and physicians. Some of these guidelines, however, may present barriers to accessing medical transition (see: gatekeeping).
A diuretic steroid with antiandrogenic properties used to suppress the effects of endogenous testosterone in people undergoing hormone replacement therapy. Spironolactone (referred to as “spiro” by some transgender people) is sometimes taken with other hormones, such as estradiol. Kara started her medical transition by taking spironolactone, an androgen blocker.
The act or process of changing one’s name, gender marker, pronouns, and/or gender presentation to reflect their true gender more accurately. Ty’s social transition began when they came out as non-binary and asked their friends to refer to them by their new name.
The conceptualization or interpretation of an idea based on a collective perspective established within a group of people or society, which may or may not reflect objective reality (Oxford, 2020). The idea of the gender binary is a social construct since different gender configurations exist in various societies throughout the world.
A form of medical gatekeeping that requires transgender individuals to present full-time as their true gender for a designated amount of time before receiving a clinical diagnosis of gender dysphoria or pursuing medical transition (see: DSM-5). When Dawn transitioned twenty-five years ago, her therapist asked her to present for a full year as her actual gender in order to attain “real-life experience” before permitting her to start hormone replacement therapy.
Gender is a multi-faceted social system generally based on the norms, behaviors, and societal roles expected of individuals based primarily on the binary sex they were determined to be at birth, based on the appearance of their external genitalia. Gender identity describes a person’s self-perceived gender. Gender expression is how a person presents or conveys their gender to the world. Gender roles are the societal expectations of how people should act, speak, dress, groom, and conduct themselves based on their assigned sex.
Refers to someone observing an individual’s appearance to determine one’s gender identity. Reading may be considered invasive (see: clocking).
Slang term for TERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
