Table 1 Definitions of trans-related terms

Gender identity – the gender one identifies with, such as man, woman or an alternative gender.

Gender expression – the way one expresses gender by use of certain clothes, hairstyles, accessories, make-up and other attributes.

Sex – bodily characteristics usually thought to determine if a body is masculine or feminine. A person’s sex is often assigned at birth according to the bodily features of the baby.

Legal gender/Legal sex – the gender stated in legal documents, such as birth certificate and passport. Legal gender can, in some countries, be changed. Most countries only have two legal genders; male and female.

Cisgender – when a person’s gender identity and expression is in line with their sex assigned at birth, non-trans person.

Transgender/Trans – when a person’s gender identity and/or expression does not align with their sex assigned at birth.

Gender incongruence – when a person’s gender identity and/or expression does not align with their sex assigned at birth.

Gender dysphoria – distress that gender incongruence might cause.

Transsexual person– when a person’s gender identity differ from the sex assigned at birth, usually having a male or female gender identity.

Transsexual background/Formerly transsexual – when a person used to be transsexual, but have undergone gender-confirming health care and does not identify as trans anymore.

Trans feminine – a person who was assigned male at birth, identifying or presenting as female or feminine.

Trans masculine – a person who was assigned female at birth, identifying or presenting as male or masculine.

Gender nonbinary/Intergender/Gender queer – a person, regardless of sex assigned at birth, identifying outside of the gender binary, not being male or female, perhaps being in between genders or a whole other gender.

Transvestite/Crossdresser – a person, who expresses their gender differently from their sex assigned at birth, as a way of expressing their identity.

Transsexualism – a medical diagnosis needed in Sweden to access gender-confirming health care. In many countries the diagnosis is called gender identity disorder or gender dysphoria.

Legal gender recognition – the process in which a person’s legal gender is changed to align with the person’s gender identity.

Gender-confirming/Gender-affirming health care – medical treatments aiming to alter the bodily characteristics in order to better align with the person’s gender identity and ease gender dysphoria. Examples of gender-confirming health care include hormone treatments, hair removal, vocal training and surgery.

Sex confirmation surgery – surgeries aiming to change the body in different ways to align better with the person’s gender identity. Examples may include breast augmentation, breast removal (mastectomy), creating new genitals, removing gonads, etc.