Key Messages
- People identify their sex, sexuality and/or gender in many ways.
- Using inclusive language helps to support everyone in feeling affirmed in their chosen identity.
Learning Intention
Students will: Explore and practice using inclusive language descriptors for sex, sexuality and gender.
Time
15 minutes.
Required Resources
- Sex, Sexuality and Gender cards (26 cards).
- Teacher answer sheet.
Teaching Notes
Language is constantly evolving, particularly the language used by the LGBTIQA+ community to describe sex, sexuality and gender. The words used in this activity may or may not be identity descriptors recognised within your school community. It is always important to ask your students about which descriptors are meaningful to them.
This activity is also a useful tool to conduct during staff professional development sessions in raising awareness of inclusive language.
Procedure
- Have students divide up to work in small groups.
- Hand out cards and get students to match the identity descriptor to the corresponding definition.
Alternatively: cards could be distributed 1 to each student. Students try to find the person who has the matching word and descriptor set.
Questioning
- What identity descriptors are new or unfamiliar?
- Which terms relate to a person’s gender identity and which relate to sexuality?
- What other identity descriptors have you heard used to describe people of diverse sex, sexuality and gender?
- Are these identity descriptors used in common language – books, TV, film, music?
- Why is it helpful to use these identity descriptors? (e.g. using the word cisgender instead of ‘normal’)
- Where can a person get more information and help around gender and sexuality?