LANGUAGE MATTERS !!!
[ queer terminology / campaigns / how to be a better ally ]

Queer folks are often the victims of verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in their homes, schools, and communities. One step in being a better ally to the queer community and rejecting the institutions that discourage you from familiarizing yourself with queer identities is to learn the terms that members of the queer community embrace. Word choice is important when certain terms have historically been used to perpetuate violence against the queer community. While some terms have been reclaimed in order to restore justice, many terms are still a source of discomfort and pain for queer folks.

No one of these definitions is authoritative and this list is in no way complete. Many terms were left out due to space considerations. Many of those terms are contested and require much explanation, but at the same time, are sources of verbal and emotional abuse for many people who embrace those terms.

In order to be an ally to the queer communities, it is not enough to familiarize yourself with this list. People self-identify and select the terms (ones that may not appear on this list) that they feel most apply to them, so please respect everyone’s choice of terms. For example, if a person says that she identifies as female, use “she”/”her,” regardless of what kind of body that person may have been born into.

If you are not sure which pronouns a person prefers, ask, “Which pronouns would you like me to use / do you prefer?” Be patient with a person who is questioning their gender identity. A person may shift back and forth before deciding on what gender expression best matches their identity. A person may ask to be called by one name one day and another name another name another day. Do your best to be respectful and call the person by the name they request. Self-perception is the key to many of these identity labels.

For example, a self-identified lesbian may have emotional, sensual, and/or sexual relationships with male-identified folks and still maintain her identification as a lesbian. Also, embracing a bisexual identity, for example, is not about demonstrating bisexuality through one’s behavior and actions, it is about attraction and identity. Many people engage in sexual activity with people of both sexes, yet do not identify as bisexual. Likewise, other people engage in sexual relations only with people of one sex, or do not engage in sexual activity at all, yet consider themselves bisexual.

For more ideas on how to be a better ally to the gender variant/transgender/queer communities, please see the resources available at the RCSGD (see directory on page 65 for more information).

Terminology

Sex – medical term referring to genetic, biological, hormonal, and physical characteristics used to identify a person at birth as female, male, or intersex.

Gender – psychosocial construct most people use to classify a person as a man, woman, both, or neither.

Gender roles – set of socially defined behaviors based upon a person’s sex.

Gender presentation/expression/performance – way a person presents themselves as “masculine” or “feminine” or something else entirely and communicates their gender to other people, including dress, speech, body language, etc.

Genderfuck – deliberately sending mixed messages about one’s gender. For example, a man wearing women’s clothing and a beard is genderfucking.

Genderqueer – describes non-binary gender expression. Includes people who feel like no gender—including “man,” “woman,” or “transgender” adequately describes their experience. Can be neither “man” or “woman” or both.

Gendervariant – those who cannot or choose not to conform to societal gender norms associated with their physical sex.

Transgender community – the loose association of people who transgress gender norms in a variety of ways. Terms include ftm (female-to-male) or mtf (male-to-female).

Transsexual – person whose gender identity is incongruent with their sex and who is preparing to undergo or has undergone “sexual reassignment surgery” (SRS) or hormone therapy. Sexual orientation varies. Male transsexual refers to ftm’s and female transsexual refers to mtf’s.

Transvestite/crossdresser – person who gets (sexual) enjoyment wearing clothing identified with the “opposite” gender. Calling a transgender person a transvestite or crossdresser can be offensive because this implies that the transgender identity is “just a phase.”

Intersexual – a person having both male and female sexual organs or hormonal makeup; having sexual organs or hormone makeup that does not align with what is conventionally defined as “male” or “female”; approximately 1 in 1000 births are intersex babies, bodies that doctors cannot neatly classify and on which doctors often perform involuntary medical interventions. For better information, visit www.isna.org

Hermaphrodite – an old medical term describing intersex people. Many intersex activists reject this word due to the stigmatization arising from its roots and the abuse that medical professionals inflicted on them under this label. Some intersex people use this work as a “pride word” like “queer” and “dyke,” but non-intersex people should avoid this term.

Bisexuality - the potential to feel sexually attracted to and to engage in sensual or sexual relationships with people of either sex. A bisexual person may not be equally attracted to both sexes, and the degree of attraction may vary over time. Some bisexual people are attracted to both men and women and some are attracted to people without gender being an important factor in their attraction. People in the latter group often are called bisexuals for lack of a better term, although many prefer to call themselves “pansexual,” “sexually-fluid,” or “omni-sexual.”

GenderFuck terms complied from OutWrite Newsmagazine, Winter 2005 (outwrite@media.ucla.edu). Other terms compiled from various pamphlets available at the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (see page 57 for more information).

The Campaign for Gender-Neutral and Accessible
Restrooms at UCSB

PISSAR (People In Search of Safe and Accessible Restrooms) is a UCSB-based coalition of disability and genderqueer activists. Our groups began to address a major health and safety issue on our campus: the fact that restrooms are not available or accessible to all members so of our community. We believe that all people, regardless of their ability, gender identification or gender presentation, have the right to access safe and dignified restrooms without fear of harassment, judgment, or violence.

At present, many campus restrooms illegally violate ADA codes and are not wheelchair accessible. Others are unsafe and uncomfortable to people who do not fit existing gender norms, who may identify as transgender or genderqueer. Because of the lack of safe, accessible, gender-neutral bathrooms on this campus, student, staff, and faculty are forced to travel across campus just to find a bathroom to use. Safe gender-neutral bathrooms are important not only for transgender people, but also to traditional targets of hate crimes, families, people with caretakers or aides, and many others.

Currently, PISSAR has three main goals:

1. To raise awareness about what safe and accessible bathrooms are, how bathroom access affects both disability and genderqueer communities, and why action is necessary.

2. To find, map and verify existing accessible and gender-neutral bathrooms at UCSB.

3. To demand conversion of existing sub-standard university restrooms and the creation of accessible and gender-neutral restrooms in new and renovated campus buildings.

It is imperative that the university show commitment to restroom safety and accessibility, and actively work to repair and improve the current restroom situations on our campus.

Some Resources: PISSAR (pissar_ucsb(at)yahoo(dot)com), PISSR San Francisco (www.pissr.org)

If you have any questions or comments regarding this article or have proposed changes for the next edition of the DisOrientation Guide, please contact Tanya Paperny at tpaperny(at)gmail(dot)com

For genderqueer-related (and other) on-campus student organizations, see the directory on page 65 of this guide.