4. Terms & Expressions used in the LGBTI space3 Gender identity is a person’s perception of their gender and how they choose to identify themselves. I.e. man, woman or gender neutral. Gender expression is the outer manifestation of a person’s gender identity, often expressed via clothing, haircut, voice, behaviour or body characteristics. Sexual orientation relates to a person’s physical attraction to another person. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same. Transgender people can be straight, gay or bisexual. Homophobia is a general term for negative attitudes toward members of LGBT community. These attitudes often translate into discrimination, different forms of violence and hate crimes. The term extends to bisexual and transgender people, but terms like biphobia and transphobia are used to emphasise specific prejudices against bisexual and transgender people. Lesbian is a term used to describe a woman attracted to the same sex and women who do not identify as heterosexual. Gay is a term used to describe individuals attracted to the same sex, though more commonly refers to men who do not identify as heterosexual. Bisexual is a person attracted to both men and women. This attraction may not be split equally between genders, and there may be a preference for one gender over others. Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression is dissimilar from the sex they were born with. Transgender people may identify as transwomen (male-to-female/MTF), transmen (female-to-male/ FTM), Federatie van Nederlandse Verenigingen tot Integratie van Homoseksualiteit - COC Nederland Joined by International Lesbian and Gay Association 3 Adapted from http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender, http://www.guidetogender.com, Gender Links. An analysis of the state of human rights violations against LGBTI persons in Zimbabwe (2011-2017) 5