Education

Sexual and gender minorities (SGM)—more commonly referred to as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+)—encompass a diverse group of communities, identities, and cultural norms. As with any community, the social mores and terms are continually evolving to reflect the changing needs and perspectives of its members. 

As such, this page shares some resources for education, whether it be for your own personal understanding or for recommendations to be used in a school-based setting. Whatever level of information you are seeking, we hope these help you continue to learn, to grow, and to share. 

The Gender Unicorn

Trans Student Educational Resources (TSER) created this graphic to more accurately portray the distinction between gender, sex assigned at birth, and sexuality. 

A gender unicorn is one who identifies as both genders and does not necessarily feel they need to fit into the mold of an all female or all male box. Queer and trans organizers have been making the distinction between gender identity, gender presentation/expression, sex, and attraction for decades. No one person or organization has created the concept. However, similar gender mapping concepts to the unicorn seem to have originated on social media sites. For more information, visit https://transstudent.org/
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This graphic visually defines Gender Identity (one’s internal sense of being male, female, neither of these, both, or another gender(s)), Gender Expression/Presentation (the physical manifestation of one’s gender identity through clothing, hairstyle, voice, body shape, etc.), Sex Assigned at Birth (the assignment and classification of people as male, female, intersex, or another sex based on a combination of anatomy, hormones, chromosomes), Physical Attraction (Sexual Orientation), Emotional Attraction (Romantic/emotional orientation). Learn more at Trans Student Educational Resources (TSER).

Resources for Everyone

Resources for Educators

For local SGM reading lists for various age groups, contact Jan Kamiya, Hawaii State Public Library System at [email protected]