All human beings have different characteristics and tastes. One of them is the way in which we live our sexuality depending on our life choices and our desires. Diversity and respect are values that in recent years have been recognized as necessary to live in society.
What is gender?
It refers to the attributes that social, historical, cultural, economic, political and geographically, among others, have been assigned to men and women.
It is used to refer to the characteristics that have been identified as "masculine" and "feminine", which range from the functions that historically have been assigned to one sex or the other, the attitudes that are usually attributed to them, ways of dressing, walking, talking, thinking, feeling and relating.
What is sexual diversity?
Sexual diversity is the way we live our sexual desire; It is linked to what we are and how we feel with ourselves. It is not something rigid or permanent throughout our life, but something dynamic and changing that transforms us. Adolescence is the stage in which identity, preference or sexual orientation take on a central importance for our development as people.
In the construction of sexual identities, at least three dimensions are combined:
a) Gender Identity: if we recognize ourselves as masculine or feminine.
b) Gender Expression: if we express ourselves in a manner considered socially acceptable as feminine or masculine.
c) Orientation or sexual preference: if we feel sexually attracted to men, women or both.
d) Social identity: if we identify ourselves publicly as heterosexuals, lesbians, homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, transgenders, among others.
The acronym LGBTTTIQA+ refers to:
Lesbian: Woman who is attracted sexually and romantically towards other women.
Gay: Man who feels attracted sexually and romantically towards other men.
Bisexual: Person who is attracted sexually and romantically to both men and women. This does not imply that it is with the same intensity, at the same time or in the same way.
Transgender: A person who feels and consideres themself as belonging to the gender and sex opposed to those socially and culturally assigned according to their sex at birth, and who, in general, only opt for a hormonal reassignment ( without reaching the surgical intervention of the internal and external sexual pelvic organs) to adapt their physical appearance and corporeality to their psychic, spiritual and social reality.
Transsexual: A person who feels and consideres themself as belonging to gender and sex opposed to those socially and culturally assigned according to her sex of birth, and who may opt for medical intervention (hormonal, surgical or both ) to adapt their physical appearance and corporeality to their psychic, spiritual and social reality.
Crossdresser: A person who likes to present themself temporarily or permanently opposite to that of the gender that is socially assigned to their sex at birth, through the use of clothing, attitude and behaviors.
Intersexual: Person whose anatomy or sexual physiology does not completely conform to the standards defined for only one of two sexes.
Queer: Person who does not identify with the gender binary. They reject the gender socially assigned to them at birth, as well as reject identifying with the other gender either.
Asexual: Person who does not feel sexual attraction towards other people but they can/do have romantic and emotional feelings toward others. It does not necessarily imply not having a libido, or being abstinent, or not being able to feel sexual arousal.
Sources:
Secretaría de Salud del Distrito Federal. (2015). Por mí, por ti, por tod@s: Información vital para la salud sexual. Recuperado de http://saludsexualcdmx.mx/pdf/porti_pormi.pdf (P. 27)
Consejo Nacional para Prevenir la Discriminación. (2016). Glosario de la diversidad sexual, de género y características sexuales. Recuperado de https://www.conapred.org.mx/documentos_cedoc/Glosario_TDSyG_WEB.pdf (P. 13, 20, 25, 26, 29, 32, 35, )