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Study Guide in Gender and Society Module No.5

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___

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CHAPTER V: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE)

The SOGIE Equality Bill aims to protect people who are continually harmed from a societal and institutional level.
It is about ensuring that people are protected from abuse, dehumanization, and violence. Seeking an end to abuse is not
about special treatment. It is about wanting to be respected as human beings.

The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill, also known as the Anti-
Discrimination Bill (ADB), is a bill that was proposed by the Congress of the Philippines. It is intended to prevent various
economic and public accommodation-related acts of discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation,
gender identity or expression.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION Describes to whom a person is sexually attracted. Some people are attracted to people of a
particular gender; others are attracted to people of more than one gender. Some are not attracted to anyone.

1. Asexual - not sexually attracted to anyone and/or no desire to act on attraction to anyone. Does not necessarily
mean sexless. Asexual people sometimes do experience affectional (romantic) attraction.

2. Bisexual - attracted to people of one’s own gender and people of other gender(s). Two common misconceptions
are that bisexual people are attracted to everyone and anyone, or that they just haven’t “decided.” Often referred
to as “bi.” See also Pansexual/Fluid and Queer.

3. Gay - generally refers to a man who is attracted to men. Sometimes refers to all people who are attracted to
people of the same sex; sometimes “homosexual” is used for this also, although this term is seen by many today
as a medicalized term that should be retired from common use.

4. Lesbian - a woman who is attracted to women. Sometimes also or alternately “same-gender-loving woman” or
“woman loving woman.” See also Gay.

5. Pansexual/Fluid - attracted to people regardless of gender. Sometimes also or alternately “omnisexual” or

“polysexual.” See also Bisexual and Queer.

6. Questioning - one who may be unsure of, reconsidering, or chooses to hold off identifying their sexual identity or
gender expression or identity.

7. Queer - traditionally a derogatory term, yet reclaimed and appropriated by some LGBTQ individuals as a term of
self-identification. It is an umbrella term which embraces a matrix of sexual preferences, gender expressions, and
habits that are not of the heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary majority. It is not a universally
accepted term by all members of the LGBT community, and it is often considered offensive when used by
heterosexuals.

8. Straight - attracted to people of the “opposite” sex (see below); also sometimes generally used to refer to people
whose sexualities are societally normative. Alternately referred to as “heterosexual.”

GENDER IDENTITY AND EXPRESSION

The ways in which a person identifies and/or expresses their gender, including self-image, appearance, and
embodiment of gender roles. One’s sex (e.g. male, female, intersex, etc.) is usually assigned at birth based on one’s
physical biology. One’s gender (e.g. male, female, gender queer, etc.) is one’s internal sense of self and identity.
One’s gender expression (e.g. masculine, feminine, androgynous, etc.) is how one embodies gender attributes,
presentations, roles, and more.

1. Androgyny - The mixing of masculine and feminine gender expression or the lack of gender identification. The
terms androgyne, agender, and neutrois are sometimes used by people who identify as genderless, non-
gendered, beyond or between genders, or some combination thereof.

2. Cisgender - A gender identity that society considers to “match” the biological sex assigned at birth. The prefix
cis- means “on this side of” or “not across from.” A term used to call attention to the privilege of people who are
not transgender.

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Study Guide in Gender and Society Module No.5

3. Crossdresser - Cross-dressing refers to occasionally wearing clothing of the “opposite” gender, and someone
who considers this an integral part of their identity may identify as a crossdresser (note: the term crossdresser is
preferable to transvestite and neither may ever be used to describe a transsexual person). Cross-dressing is not
necessarily tied to erotic activity or sexual orientation.

4. Genderqueer/Third Gender/Gender Fluid - These terms are used by people who identify as being between
and/or other than male or female. They may feel they are neither, a little bit of both, or they may simply feel
restricted by gender labels.

5. Intersex - A general term used for a variety of genetic, hormonal, or anatomical conditions in which a person is
born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male.
Some intersex individuals identify as transgender or gender variant; others do not. (Note: hermaphrodite is an
obsolete term that is not currently considered appropriate.)

6. Transgender - First coined to distinguish gender benders with no desire for surgery or hormones from
transsexuals, those who desired to legally and medically change their sex, more recently transgender and/or
trans has become an umbrella term popularly used to refer to all people who transgress dominant conceptions of
gender, or at least all who identify themselves as doing so. The definition continues to evolve.

7. Transsexual - The term transsexual has historically been used to refer to individuals who have medically and
legally changed their sex, or who wish to do so. Most transsexual people feel a conflict between their gender
identity and the sex they were assigned at birth. Other labels used within this group are MtF (male to-female) or
trans woman, and FtM (female-to-male) or trans man.

8. Two-Spirit – A person who identified with the Native American tradition of characterizing certain members of the
community as having the spirit of both the male and female genders.

OTHER COMMONLY USED TERMS

1. Biphobia - Aversion of and/or prejudice toward the idea that people can be attracted to more than one gender,
and/or bisexuals as a group or as individuals, often based on negative stereotypes of bisexuality and the
invisibility of bisexual people.

2. Coming Out – The process of acknowledging one’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity or expression to
oneself or other people.

3. Gender Binary - A system of classifying sex and gender into two distinct and disconnected forms of masculine
and feminine. It can be referred to as a social construct or a social boundary that discourages people from
crossing or mixing gender roles, or from creating other third (or more) forms of gender expression. It can also
represent some of the prejudices which stigmatize people who identify as intersex and transgender.

4. Heterosexism - The presumption that everyone is straight and/or the belief that heterosexuality is a superior
expression of sexuality. Often includes the use of power of the majority (heterosexuals) to reinforce this belief
and forgetting the privileges of being straight in our society.

5. Homophobia - Negative attitudes and feelings toward people with non-heterosexual sexualities; dislike of, or
discomfort with, expressions of sexuality that do not conform to heterosexual norms.

6. Internalized Oppression - In reference to LGBTQ people, internalized oppression is the belief that straight and
non-transgender people are “normal” or better than LGBTQ people, as well as the often-unconscious belief that
negative stereotypes about LGBTQ people are true.

7. LGBTQ - An acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. This is currently one of the most
popular ways in U.S. society to refer to all people who are marginalized due to sexual orientation and/or gender
identity, although other letters are often included as well to represent identities described above.

8. Transphobia - Negative attitudes and feelings toward transgender individuals or discomfort with people whose
gender identity and/or gender expression do not conform to traditional or stereotypic gender roles.

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Study Guide in Gender and Society Module No.5

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