What is gender?
What is gender?
At birth people are given a sex as either female or male.
This is decided by a doctor and based on the person's private parts.
People do not always feel the same
gender
Your gender is how you think of yourself. Most people think of themselves as a man or woman. Some people think of themselves as non-binary.
as the sex they were given when they were born.
People can feel one gender, both, or neither.
Gender identity is your feelings and understanding about your gender.
People can express their gender through the way they look and behave, like the clothes they wear or the way they do their hair.
Some people do not feel only male or only female, or they are unsure.
People who feel this way can say they are non-binary.
It is OK to be non-binary.
Transgender
Transgender means someone who feels like they have the wrong body. This could be someone who has the body of a man but feels they are a woman, or the other way around. Some people who feel like this have an operation to change their body.
people do not feel right in the body they were born in.
They feel different to the sex they were given when they were born.
Transgender people want to live their life as the gender that feels right for them.
If someone feels this way they can talk to someone they trust.
People have choices about what they can do if they are transgender.
Some people can take medication or have surgery to change their appearance and body.
Other people just choose to wear different clothes or have a different name.
It is up to the person to decide what they want to do.
It can take time to know what feels right for them.
It is OK to be transgender.
There are people and places that can give help and support.