This Glossary has been collectively built and created by the staff members of the LGBTQIA Resource Center at the University of California at Davis since the early 2000s.
The "Genderbread Person" diagram explains different aspects of gender:
Gender Identity: Who you, in your head, know yourself to be, based on how much you align (or don’t align) with what you understand to be the options for gender.
Gender Expression: The ways you present gender, through your actions, clothing, demeanor, and more. Your outward-facing self, and how that’s interpreted by others based on gender norms.
Biological / Anatomical Sex: Sex (sometimes called biological sex, anatomical sex, or physical sex) is comprised of things like genitals, chromosomes, hormones, body hair, and more. But one thing it’s not: gender.
Attraction: Like sex, attraction isn’t really a component of gender. However, humans often conflate sexual orientation with gender, or categorize sexual attraction in gendered ways.
Advancing the creation, communication, and application of psychological knowledge on gender identity and sexual orientation to benefit society and improve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's lives.
