What is gender identity?

Gender identity means our internal sense of being a girl, a guy, a combination of both, neither or something else entirely. It’s different from sexual orientation, which is about who we’re attracted to sexually and romantically.

Gender identity, just like sexual orientation, is based in the brain. This means that even though a person might have a vulva, vagina and ovaries, they might not feel like a girl. The same goes for a person who has a penis and testicles but doesn’t feel like their body matches the feelings they have inside.

People who believe their gender identity—how they feel inside—is different from their body parts may identify themselves as transgender or genderqueer.