What is the difference between trans people and gay, lesbian, or bisexual people?

The key difference is that trans communities are primarily organized around gender identity and presentation while gay, lesbian, and bisexual communities are primarily organized around sexual identity and/or orientation. Some people who identify as trans also identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or as some other sexual orientation. However, many of our perceptions around sexual orientation are also strongly connected with our conception of gender.

There are several ways by which to visualize gender and sexual orientation, and the "Genderbread Person" is only one model by which to illustrate the complexity of gender. Check out this file to explore a few alternative gender theories.

An infographic titled The Genderbread Person. It has a cartoon figure of a person with the head labeled identity, the heart labeled attraction, and the crotch region labeled sex. On the side, there are multiple sliders to represent the diverse scale of attraction, gender identity, gender expression, and biological sex.

Next: What do trans people have to do with me?

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