In Canada, the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on certain grounds, including sex, sexual orientation (since 1996), gender expression and gender identity (since 2017). These terms are often used in the parliamentary context, including in debates and parliamentary committee work. This HillNote provides background on the terminology used to describe gender and sexual diversity. This terminology is summarized in Figure 1 below.
“Sexual orientation” refers to a person’s “physical or romantic attraction to people based on their sex, gender identity or gender expression.” It can include people who identify as lesbian, gay, heterosexual, bisexual, queer and asexual (a term referring to a person who experiences little to no sexual attraction). Sexual orientation is a concept that is distinct from the concepts of gender, gender identity and gender expression. The concepts of gender, gender identity and gender expression are associated with such terms as “transgender,” “cisgender,” “non-binary” and “queer.” The term “Two-Spirit” may be used by some Indigenous people to describe their gender or their sexual orientation, or both.
At the time of writing, the Government of Canada uses the acronym 2SLGBTQI+ to refer to Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people, and additional people who identify as part of sexual and gender diverse communities.
Figure 1 – Selected Terminology used to describe the concepts of gender and sexual diversity
Source: Figure prepared by the Library of Parliament.
Sex and Gender
The understanding and use of the distinct terms “sex” and “gender” have changed over time.
As a concept, biological sex is “a defined set of anatomical and physiological characteristics, including chromosomes, gene expression, hormones and reproductive or sexual anatomy.” At birth, a person’s sex is generally categorized as male or female, but variations in the biological attributes that comprise sex exist.
Intersex is a term that describes a person whose “anatomical and physiological characteristics do not meet the medical criteria of the female or male sex,” whether in terms of chromosomes, gene expression, hormones, and reproductive or sexual anatomy. For example, a person who is intersex may be born with external sex characteristics that are male but with internal reproductive organs that are female.
While “sex” refers to anatomical and physiological characteristics, “gender” refers to a social construct. United Nations Free and Equal defines gender as:
[s]ocially constructed identities, roles, and attributes that a society considers expected, appropriate and acceptable for someone according to their sex and the social and cultural meanings attached to biological differences based on sex. In short, gender is a set of behaviours, activities and forms of expression that society expects from people based on their sex. These expectations vary across societies, communities, and groups, as well as over time.
These roles, expectations, behaviours and attributes associated with specific genders can create gender norms. These norms are often internalized early in life and contribute to gender stereotyping, which, in many societies, can lead to inequalities.
Gender Identity and Gender Expression
Gender identity and gender expression are two distinct concepts. The concept of gender identity can be described as “a person’s internal and deeply felt sense of being a man, a woman, both, neither, or somewhere along the gender spectrum.” A person’s gender identity does not necessarily align with the sex they were assigned at birth, and it is independent from a person’s sexual orientation. Gender identity concepts may vary across cultures and countries.
There are many terms that can describe different gender identities, including “cisgender,” “transgender,” and “non-binary.”
A cisgender person is someone who “identifies with the sex they were assigned at birth,” or whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. In contrast, a transgender person is someone “whose gender does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.”
While some intersex individuals may identify as transgender, the terms are not interchangeable.
Some individuals’ gender identities may not fit within the binary concept of man/woman and masculinity/femininity. The term “non-binary” generally encompasses these gender identities. The term non-binary may itself be used as a gender identity, and some non-binary gender identities may be culturally specific.
A person’s gender expression refers to the ways in which the person presents and communicates gender, for example, through behaviour and voice, clothing, hair and appearance, and other forms of self-expression.
“Queer” and “Two-Spirit” Identities
Some terms, such as “queer” and “Two-Spirit” can refer to sexual orientation, gender identity or both.
The term “queer” refers to a person “whose sexual orientation or gender differs from the normative binary vision of gender and sexuality.” This term was historically used in a derogatory manner, and as such, may still be considered controversial or hurtful for some people today. However, some 2SLGBTQI+ people self-identify with this term as “a powerful symbol of assertiveness and freedom, partly because it resists categorization and can be used as an umbrella term to refer to various gender identities or sexual orientations.”
Some Indigenous people are reclaiming Indigenous understandings of gender and Two-Spirit identities that were undermined by colonization. Through colonization, European perceptions of gender and sexuality – that is, defined as binary and heterosexual – were forced on Indigenous peoples and communities, displacing Indigenous conceptions of gender and sexuality and changing the roles of Two-Spirit people in communities. Testimony from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) argued that Canadian policies such as residential schools “altered Indigenous gender norms and aimed to erase and exclude 2SLGBTQQIA identities and cultural roles – a policy of erasure and exclusion that continues today.”
According to the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), the term “Two-Spirit” was proposed by Elder Myra Laramee at the Third Annual Inter-Tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference in 1990. It is the translation of the Anishinaabemowin phrase “niizh manidoowag,” meaning “two spirits.” Today, the term “Two-Spirit” is used as an umbrella term by some English-speaking Indigenous people in Canada and North America to describe a wide range of aspects related to Indigenous sexuality, spirituality and gender identity. The MMIWG Inquiry lexicon describes Two-Spirit individuals as follows:
Indigenous people who are not limited to the gender binary, and who can move freely between the gendered identities… [and describes] a societal and spiritual role that people hold within traditional societies, as mediators, keepers of certain ceremonies, transcending accepted roles of men and women, and filling a role as an established middle gender.
Two-Spirit is an Indigenous concept that only applies to Indigenous people. Not all 2SLGBTQI+ Indigenous people describe themselves as Two-Spirit, however; some prefer nation-specific terms or other terms recognizing multiple genders. It should also be noted that different terms may be used in other countries. “Indigiqueer” is another term sometimes used by 2SLGBTQI+ Indigenous people. According to NWAC, filmmaker Theo Jean Cuthand, a member of Little Pine First Nation, is credited with coining this term.
Further Reading
Canadian Institutes of Health Research. “Meet the Methods Series: ‘What and Who is Two-Spirit’ in Health Research.” Institute of Gender and Health. No. 2, October 2020.
Egale Canada. 2SLGBTQI Terms and Definitions.
The Enchanté Network. “Demographics and Educational Experiences of Black 2SGBTQI+ People in Canada,” 7 February 2023.
National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Centre. Learning Resources – LGBTQIA+ People of Colour.
Quebec Native Women Inc. Project 2SLGBTQQIA+.
By Clare Annett and Alexia Lagacé-Roy, Library of Parliament