1. The Two Spirit Community
Gender expression, Identity and sexual orientation among Indigenous Peoples

2. What is meant by the term gender?
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3. What is meant by Gender?
Gender: Socially constructed through cultural rules, ideologies, and expected behaviours for individuals of certain biological sexes; sometimes classified as masculine or feminine.

4. What is meant by Gender?
It is a performance of what is culturally understood as appropriate gender roles (act like a man – be masculine, be a woman – act feminine; a binary of rigid ideals); in other words, it is the social construction of concepts such as masculinity and femininity in a specific culture in time.

5. What is meant by Gender?
It involves gender assignment (the gender designation of someone at birth), gender roles (the expectations imposed on someone based on their gender), gender attribution (how others perceive someone’s gender), and gender identity (how someone defines their own gender)+ is fundamentally different from the sex one is assigned at birth.

7. What is meant by the term sex?
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8. What is meant by Sex?
Sex: The way in which organisms (including humans) are divided into classifications of male or female, usually based on chromosomes, hormonal profiles, and/or reproductive organs; usually classified as male, female or intersex based on biological characteristics.

9. Sex + Gender XX (female) or XY (male) chromosomes Eggs or sperm
Facial hair
Breasts
“female”/“male” + intersex
Masculine
Feminine
Man
Woman

10. What is gender identity?
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11. Gender Identity
Your deep inner feeling of gender regardless of anatomy (e.g. girl, women, boy, man, transgender, two-spirit, neither, in-between, etc.).

12. Gender Identity
Gender non-conforming, gender variant, or genderqueer are some terms sometimes used to describe people who don’t feel they fit into the categories of male or female.

15. What is gender expression?
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16. Gender Expression
Refers to the external attributes, behaviour, appearance, dress, etc. by which people express themselves and through which others perceive that person’s gender.

17. Gender Expression
Your self expression through hairstyle, body language, clothing, interests, way of moving, choice of name and pronoun etc.

18. Gender Expression
It may be influenced by gender identity, sexual orientation, racialization, culture, ability, age and socio-economic status.

19. What is meant by gender non-conforming?
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20. Gender Non-Conforming
Refers to people who do not conform to society’s expectations for their gender roles or gender expression. Some people prefer the term gender variant, gender fluid, genderqueer, among other terms.

21. What is sexual orientation?
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22. Sexual Orientation
Who you are romantically/physically attracted to (e.g. gay, lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual, asexual, pansexual etc.). Sexual orientation is defined by feelings of attraction rather than behaviour.

23. What is heteronormativity?
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24. Heteronormativity
Assumes that heterosexuality is the only sexual orientation or the only “norm” or “natural” orientation; that everyone is straight unless proven otherwise.

25. Heteronormativity
That all other orientations deviate from this norm; it normalizes behaviors, values, and cultural aspects that relate to and reinforce presumed heterosexuality.

26. Heteronormativity
It also assumes that sexual and marital relations are most (or only) fitting between people of opposite sex (heterosexual/straight relations).

27. Heteronormativity
And it is the belief that people fall into “distinct” and “complementary” genders (men and women) with “natural” roles in life.

28. What is meant by the term cisgender?
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29. Cisgender
Identifying with the same gender that one was assigned at birth. A gender identity that society considers to match the biological sex assigned at birth. The prefix cismeans “on this side of” or “not across from.” A term used to call attention to the privilege of people who are not trans*.

30. What is meant by transgender?
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31. Transgender (Trans, Trans*)
An umbrella term that describes a wide range of people whose gender identity and/or expression differs from conventional expectations based on their assigned biological birth sex. In other words, a person whose felt gender identity does not match the gender they were assigned at birth based on their biological anatomy.

32. What is the LGBTQ2IA+ acronym stand for?
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33. LGBTQ2IA+
Acronym used to refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Two Spirit, Intersex, Asexual or Ally plus many more other identities/folk.

34. Inclusive Beliefs About Gender
1. Gender is a spectrum; there is a range of gender identities between and outside of the categories of male/man and female/woman.
2. Gender identity development happens from birth until death. That gender is fluid = gender fluidity.

35. Inclusive Beliefs About Gender
3. Gender is a product of the mind. It is influenced by nature, nurture and context.
4. There is no correct style of expression for females/women, males/men or women or men identified people. It is healthy for people to express who they feel they are.

36. Inclusive Beliefs About Gender
5. Being transgender or gender non-conforming is normal and healthy.

39. What is intersectionality?
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40. Intersectionality
Is a concept often used in critical theories to describe the ways in our identity, and thus our experiences, involve several intersecting aspects that cannot be separated from one another (i.e. gender, racialization, ability, socio- economic status, sexual orientation, faith).

41. Intersectionality
It also works to describe how oppressive institutions (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia ableism, xenophobia, classism, ageism etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another.

44. What is meant by Two Spirit?
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45. Two Spirit
An umbrella term used by some North American Indigenous peoples/societies to describe people with diverse gender identities, gender expressions, gender roles, and sexual orientations; having both genders within them/ embracing both the masculine and feminine spirit.

46. Two Spirit
A contemporary term used to identify North American Indigenous lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender individuals with traditional and cultural understandings of gender roles and identity.

47. Two Spirit
This encompassing term was adopted in 1990 at the 3rd International Native Gay & Lesbian Gathering in Winnipeg, Canada. It comes from the Anishinabe language meaning to have both female and male spirits within one person and it has a different meanings/names in different communities.

48. Two Spirit
Looking back in time to First Nations and Inuit cultures, one finds that they did not rely on the two gender category. First Nations had a 3rd category - Two-Spirit - and these individuals were respected, honoured, and often held prestigious positions because they had both genders within them. Two Spirit identities are only for Indigenous individuals and no one else. 

49. Two Spirit
Dual-gendered or ‘two-spirited’ people traditionally in First Nations/Inuit communities have been revered, treated with deference and respect, and even considered sacred. They held prestigious roles as seers/shaman, warriors, child carers, mediators, and/or emissaries from the creator.

50. Two Spirit
The devastating effects of colonization (i.e. the belief in only two genders, strict gender roles, and patriarchy) created profound changes in North American Indigenous societies. Many Two Spirit folk have lost these community roles and this has had far-reaching impacts on their well- being. Recently there has been a reclaiming of such an honoured identity.

51. Two Spirit “Two Spirit" – Injunuity 4:19 minutes8

52. Two Spirit
The film Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things explores how colonization and religion have shamed and erased traditional Inuit beliefs about sexuality and family structure and how, 60 years later, a new generation of Inuit are actively 'unshaming' their past. 

53. Two Spirit
2016, Documentary, Canada, English/Inuktitut, 71 minutes, twosofttwohard.com
trailer, 2:00 minutes

54. https://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=mfjHgG7IPCI&t=2s
 Duane Stewart shares his story as a First Nations queer person; he identifies as “Two Spirit”.
5:18 minutes
h?v=mfjHgG7IPCI&t=2s  

55. Two Spirit
See the additional reading for more information from the book Aboriginal 101: “Two Spirit”.

56. Map: Gender-Diverse Cultures
On nearly every continent, and for all of recorded history, thriving cultures have recognized, revered, and integrated more than two genders.
two-spirits_map-html/

59. Two Spirit
Questions?
Thoughts?