- AGAB: Assigned Gender at Birth
- AFAB: Assigned Female at Birth
- AMAB: Assigned Male at Birth
- Transgender: an umbrella term for people whose gender identity is not the same as their agab
- Cisgender: someone whose gender identity is their agab
- FTM: Female to Male
- MTF: Male to Female
- HRT: Hormone Replacement Therapy
- Top surgery: Removal of unwanted breast tissue to achieve a flat chest
- Bottom surgery: Creation of new, more affirming genitals
- Gender dysphoria: Discomfort from assigned sex not matching gender identity
- Gender euphoria: Happiness and joy when gender expression matches gender identity, or comfort in one's body
If you aren't sure if you're trans/genderqueer or not, this part is for you.
I, like many others, have been worried that I'm faking it, or only think I'm a boy because of social media influence (spoiler! just about every bigoted person will tell you that). I'm gonna try to explain this for anyone who's concerned about it too. So, you've probably heard the whole "cisgender people don't question if they're cis or not" thing, but the truth is it's possible, so saying this isn't a great way of validating someone's emotions. However, cis people typically don't get severe dysphoria, so much that it affects many aspects of their life, or pure euphoria from being referred to as a different gender than their agab. And besides, there's nothing wrong with experimenting and doing some self-discovery, everyone is allowed to figure themselves out.
Still doubting yourself? That's alright, think about this for a sec. Do your feelings go beyond the clothes you like and your mannerisms? I found this to be an important one, because hey! You can be a boy who likes to wear skirts and be cute, or you could dress masculine but deep down, know you're still a girl. Gender expression and gender identity are two different things.
And this sounds cliche but it's true, while it might be hard, don't let anyone tell you how you feel just based on their knowledge.