Akavaine
Akava’ine is a Cook Islands Māori word which refers to transgender people of Māori descent from the Cook Islands
Asexual
A sexual orientation where a person does not experience sexual attraction or desire to partner for the purposes of sexual stimulation; a spectrum of sexual orientations where a person may be disinclined towards sexual behaviour or sexual partnering.
Bisexual
A person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to both men and women
Cisgender
Cisgender is a newer term that means someone who is comfortable in the gender they were assigned at birth, and is used to contrast with the term transgender on the gender spectrum.
Fa’afafine
Fa’afafine is a Samoan term that literally means “like a woman”. Fa’afafine is often used to refer to people born male who express feminine gender identities in a range of ways, but is sometimes used more broadly refer to all Pacific people who do not identify with or live according to common understandings of their birth gender.
Fakaleiti
A fakaleiti (or leiti or fakafefine or lady) is a Tongan man who behaves in effeminate ways. The term fakaleiti (with a long i at the end) is made up of the prefix faka- (in the manner of) and the borrowing lady from English. Fakaleitis themselves prefer to call themselves leiti or ladies.
FtM / trans man
Female-to-male / someone born with a female body who has a male gender identity.
Gay
A person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to the same gender. This term is more widely used as a personal identity by men than women, and is used as both a personal and community identity.
Gender
The attributes and behaviours that society expects and ascribes to people based on their biological sex. The terms ‘male’ and ‘female’ describe biological sex, whereas the terms ‘woman’ and ‘man’ describe socially constructed gender roles.
Gender diverse
People who do not perform their gender roles in conformity with social expectations attached to their biological sex.