North Shore Physicians Group North Shore Physicians Group

Additional Resources

Additional Resources

Important Terms and Information

  • Gender identity refers to how a person identifies their gender, such as male, female, transgender or a number of other terms.
  • Gender expression refers to how a person expresses their gender through their appearance (clothing, hair, makeup, etc.), behavior, names, etc.
  • Transgender is a term for people whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. Transgender is a label that a person assigns to themselves—it is not imposed on them by others.
  • About 1.4 million people in the United States identify as transgender, or about 0.6% of the population.
  • Gender dysphoria occurs when a person feels as though their physical body does not match their gender identity. It can be a very distressing experience that is felt by many, but not all transgender people.
  • transition refers to the social, emotional and physical changes a person makes in their transgender journey to become who they are on the inside, which can take years.
  • Binary was once a term used to refer to gender, but this is not true anymore. The language around gender changes all the time. 
  • Cisgender denotes or relates to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex.
  • Non-binary is one of the most common terms people use to describe themselves when they do not identify as male or female. Other terms include genderqueer, agender, bigender and more.
  • Gender is a spectrum and there are many terms a person can use to refer to their gender. Gender is also a lifelong process of self-discovery and expression.

Additional Resources

North Shore Physicians Group Transgender Health Program

Location:

900 Cummings Center, Suite 107T

Beverly, MA 01915

978-524-7058