February marks LGBTQIA+ History month in the UK. It’s a yearly month-long commemoration and celebration of histories, both told and untold, from within the LGBTQIA+ community.

We chose to mark the month through our Diversity Dictionary series, specifically focusing on identities that are actually left out of the ‘LGBTQIA+’ acronym - you could think of them as the ‘minorities within the minority’. With our definitions, we’ve sought to demonstrate how all gender, sex and sexual identities are to be recognised, included and celebrated, even the lesser known and often misrepresented identities.

Two-Spirit

A term used by Indigenous or First Nation individuals and communities in North America to describe the sexual, gender or spiritual identity of those who embody both a masculine and feminine spirit.

The term was first coined in 1990 by Albert McLeod at the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference, held in Winnipeg, and is a translation of the Anishinaabemowin term “niizh manidoowag”. (Source: LGBTQhealth.ca)

Two-Spirit people were often the visionaries, the healers and the medicine people, respected as fundamental components of ancient indigenous culture and societies. (Source: @2spiritstoronto()

Although only recently coined, the term seeks to encompass deep and ancient histories of many diverse First Nation cultures. It is a term of resistance against Western colonialism which violently erased and criminalised ancient Native cultures. Therefore, Two-Spirit is a term to be used solely by those with First Nation heritage.

There are pros and cons to terms like Two-Spirit coming into the mainstream. On the one hand, it raises awareness of the very specific yet diverse experiences of gender within many surviving First Nation cultures. With an understanding of Two-Spirit identities, non-Natives can be allies and play a part in sustaining such identities and communities.

However, there is the risk of Two-Spirit being co-opted by non-Native people, and the complexity of its meaning being whitewashed into the mainstream.

“The term two-spirited (sic) has a specific cultural context, and removing it from that context simply because one likes the meaning of it is an act of colonisation and must be resisted.” (Source: Michelle Cameron)

Transgender

A transgender person is someone who has a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth.

The shorthand ‘trans’ is often used and accepted. Trans men are men. Trans women are women. Some gender-non-conforming and non-binary people may also be trans (though this is not an automatic assumption to be made).

A person can take any number of steps to affirm their gender identity. This may or may not include changes in one’s name, pronouns, physical appearance, taking hormones, undergoing surgery, among many other things. There is no one way to transition. Source: @pinkmantaray

Recent studies from US-based Trans Equality have shown that transgender people face discrimination and violence throughout society, from their family growing up, in school, at work, by homeless shelters, by doctors, in emergency rooms, before judges, by landlords, and even police officers. Source: transequality.org

When pushing for trans rights it is important to include all trans people, including Black trans people, trans people of colour, disabled and working class trans people. Indeed, much historical progress in trans civil rights has been led by Black, indigenous, people of colour and disabled trans activists around the world.

Human rights and civil rights - including trans rights - are intricately tied with sustainability and climate justice. For example, trans communities are often one of the hardest hit after climate disasters, as infrastructures and institutions such as healthcare and housing are not inherently designed to recognise the unique needs of trans people.

The othering of humans from each other by gender, as we see happening with transphobia, is part of the same deeply ingrained structures that assume human beings are separate from our environments.

“Once we stop seeing these fights for humanity as separate, we open ourselves up to the possibility of learning from each other in deeper ways.” Source: @EarthJustice

Pansexual

Someone who is attracted to all sexes and gender of people may use the term ‘pansexual’ to describe their sexual orientation.

The prefix ‘pan’ is the Greek word for ‘all’. For people unfamiliar with the term pansexual, there could be some confusion about the similarities or differences between ‘pansexual’ and ‘bisexual’.

As Kaylee Jacubowski has written for Everyday Feminism: “There are several similarities between these two, but while they’re not completely different, they’re definitely not the same either.” (Source: @everydayfeminismofficial)

Being bisexual means being attracted to more than one gender, whereas being pansexual means being attracted to all gender identities, or attracted to people regardless of gender. (Source: @GLAAD)

The definition of pansexual often leads to the misconception that pan people are hypersexual – that someone who is pansexual wants to have sex with anybody and everybody. Just as not all straight women want to sleep with every straight guy they see, not all pan people are attracted to every person they see. (Source: @TeenVogue)

Pansexual people and communities may be seen as a minority within a minority, as their diverse experiences are rarely acknowledged or known. For example, the commonly used acronym LGBT or LGBTQIA+ doesn’t include P. Recently, the acronym LGBTQQIP2SAA has come into existence, which stands for ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two spirit, asexual and ally’.

An evolved and inclusive understanding of all sexualities as a spectrum, and avoiding the temptation to place one sexual identity in direct opposition to another (such as the way bisexuality and pansexuality tend to be seen as competing) is a way for us all to better understand our interconnectedness as human beings and show up in solidarity for one another.

Nonbinary

Nonbinary is a gender identity that describes an individual who does not identify exclusively as a man or woman.

Many contemporary societies tend to recognise just two genders: men and women. The idea that there are only two genders is sometimes called a ‘gender binary’ because binary means ‘having two parts’. Therefore, ‘nonbinary’ is one term people use to describe genders that don’t fall into one of these two categories of man or woman. (Source: @transequalitynow).

A nonbinary person may identify as being both a man and a woman, somewhere in between or as falling completely outside these categories. While many nonbinary individuals also identify as transgender, not all nonbinary people do. (Source: @whydontwediscuss)

Nonbinary is a gender identity in and of itself, and can also be described as an umbrella term encompassing a number of gender identities that fall outside of the binary, such as genderqueer, gender-nonconforming (GNC), genderfluid, agender and many other gender identities.

Different nonbinary people may use different pronouns. Many nonbinary people use ‘they/them’ while others use ‘he/him’ or ‘she/her’ and others use other pronouns. Respecting someone’s pronouns is one important way to create a gender-inclusive environment, whether that’s at work, at home, in friendship circles and beyond.

For a sustained approach to gender inclusivity, it may help to understand that nonbinary identities are not a recent development. They have been acknowledged and accepted for centuries around the world. For example, hijras in India to māhūs in Hawaii.

There have always been people whose gender doesn’t fit into the stereotype of what it means to be a man or woman. The diverse examples of nonbinary and nonconforming gender throughout world history have laid an important groundwork for how we understand gender identity today. (Source: @Healthline)

Part of our mission at The Other Box is to educate as many people as possible in the language of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). On all our social channels, we share weekly words and their definitions, with a different theme each month.

These terms are a taster and have been taken from our Diversity Dictionary™ module in our Know Your Bias™ course. If you'd like to learn more, check out our courses page and fill in the contact form. 

Is there a theme you’d like to see covered in Diversity Dictionary? Let us know! Our work is co-created by our community to work towards creating a world that is more inclusive and safe for everyone.

Words by Roshni Goyate

Header image by Paola Franco on Unsplash