Tit for Tat: A not for company conversation among those who live in the house under the rainbow.

Tit for Tat
This instalment: Illustrations used to explain the difference between sexuality and gender identity. Let’s see if Gender Identity learns something from the not so gentle teasing of Sexual Orientation And good friend Sexuality. Presented as a dialogue between personified identity and trait categories

Gender Identity: So you know how people always get us confused so we have to explain that Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity are not the same thing and how even though we are related we are distinct parts of a persons identity.

Sexual Orientation: My answer is yes I know what you mean but with one clarification. I am not a core component of identity but a biological trait related to complex mechanisms that is critical to the social and reproductive success and survival of humans, sheep and probably thousands of other species

Gender Identity: (scowl).

. Sexual Orientation: . . . . O.K. Fine! Yes people always confuse us or blame one of us for something the other did . . . your point?


Gender Identity: My point is that we should have some common language to explain that difference something concise so I thought I would share one of the answers I like to use so you could use the same language next time it comes up. Good Idea?

Sexual Orientation: . . . . O.K. just go ahead what do you like to say to people?

Gender Identity: OK so I just tell them that “Sexual orientation has to do with the gender of the people you go to bed with or would like to go to bed with.. But Gender identity is about who you know yourself to be related to being male, female, both, neither or something else?”

Or another way some people sometimes say it, I mean its kind of the same thing

“Sexuality is about the gender of the person you see with their head on the pillow beside you when you shut your eyes to go to sleep. Gender identity is about the gender of the person you see the first time you look in a mirror each morning when you brush your teeth.

Sexual Orientation : I ‘ve heard those explanations or similar ones before. And I have some suggestions in the same vein. Tit for tat as it were. So what about we could explain how we are each our own thing by saying something along these lines.

“Gender Identity is about how you want to be treated by other people in terms of gender

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