Aravani
The older Tamil name for Tamil Nadu's transgender-women community, tied to the god Aravan; thirunangai is now the preferred word.
Bakla
A Filipino term for people assigned male at birth who adopt feminine mannerisms, often with its own cultural space.
Fa'afatama
A Samoan gender for people assigned female at birth who live in a masculine role; the counterpart of fa'afafine.
Fakaleitī
The Tongan word for people assigned male who live in a feminine role; leitī is what many call themselves.
Fa’afafine
People assigned male at birth who embody both masculine and feminine traits in Samoan culture. A recognized third gender.
Hijra
A traditional third gender recognized in South Asia. Hijras have a recorded history spanning over 4,000 years.
Indigiqueer
A word for Indigenous people who are queer in Indigenous ways, covering gender as well as orientation, and closed to non-Indigenous people.
Jogappa
South Indian devotees of Yellamma (Renuka), assigned male and living in feminine dress and role; a religious community, not a label.
Kathoey
A Thai term for transgender women or effeminate men, with deep cultural roots in Thai and Buddhist traditions.
Khwaja sira
The respectful Pakistani umbrella for hijra and other third-gender people, with its own houses and history.
Muxe
People assigned male at birth who take on feminine roles in Zapotec culture of Oaxaca, Mexico.
MVPFAFF
The Pasifika umbrella acronym for seven Pacific genders; a coalition, not a label.
Māhū
A traditional third gender in Hawaiian and Tahitian cultures, often respected as healers and teachers.
Raerae
Tahitian transfeminine people who live as women — a modern category beside the older māhū, and one that belongs to Tahitians.
Sekrata
In Madagascar, people assigned male at birth who are raised as girls to fill feminine roles in families.
Takatāpui
Māori umbrella term for Māori people of diverse gender and sexuality, reclaimed from an old word for an intimate companion of the same sex.
Third gender
An outsider's category for culture-specific genders beyond man and woman; sometimes reclaimed, mostly applied.
Thirunangai
The respectful Tamil word for a trans woman, coined in the community and adopted by Tamil Nadu's government in place of aravani.
Transpinay
The Filipino word for a trans woman, put forward by STRAP to separate trans women from bakla.
Travesti
A South American identity for people assigned male who live a feminine gender, with its own political history.
Two-Spirit
A pan-Indian term adopted by some Indigenous North Americans to describe gender-variant individuals with both masculine and feminine spirits.
Waria
Indonesian third gender for people assigned male who live as women or femininely; Indonesia's word, not adopted from outside.