Words may mean so many things to different people and a word may have more than one dictionary meaning, but for the purposes of this research, the under listed and defined words assume the definition ascribed to them therein for a proper understanding of the research.
Bisexual: Bisexual means an individual who is sexually and romantically attracted to both men and women. Such an individual is neither homosexual nor heterosexual but combines the attributes of both extremes.
Gay: Gay means a homosexual, usually male.46 For the purposes of this research, the meaning of gay is limited to, and taken to mean an individual who identifies as a man but who is predominantly romantically and sexually attracted to other men.
Gender: Gender is defined as the state of being male or female. It is the behavioural, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex47 and which distinguishes that particular sex from the other.
Gender Fluid: This means noting or relating to a person whose gender identity or gender expression is not fixed and shifts over time or depending on the situation.48 For instance, a person who was born male but whose sense of gender alternates between the male and female gender like a mood swing, and who in certain situations feels that he or she is a male, and at other times feels that he or she if a female. The person’s gender or the sense of gender is not fixed but fluid and changes as the mood of the person changes. Gender fluidity is different from Transgender given the fact that a transgender prefers the other gender other than the one he or she had at birth while in gender fluid, the individual prefers both male and female genders at different occasions and according to his or her mood. In such a case, the individual could identify as a male today, tomorrow he or she may identify as a female.
46 Cayne B. S. (Ed), The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language, Encyclopedia Ed, (Lexicon Publishers, 1988), p. 394
47 Merriam-Webster, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, New Ed (Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster Inc. Publishers, 2016)
48 Dictionary Thesaurus, http://www.dictionary.com/browse/gender-fluid?s=t, accessed on 18.04.2016 at 20:30
Gender Identity: For the purposes of this research, gender identity is taking to mean a person's internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male or female.49
Heterosexuality: Heterosexuality means the manifestation of sexual desire toward a member of the opposite sex.50 This simply means sexual relations between persons of opposite sexes.
Heterosexuality is the opposite of homosexuality which refers to sexual relations between persons of the same sex.
Homosexuality: Homosexuality means atypical sexuality characterized by manifestation of sexual desire toward a member of one’s own sex or erotic activity with a member of one’s own sex.51 Lesbian: This means a woman who is predominantly sexually and romantically attracted to other women. Lesbianism simply means female homosexuality.52
Non-cisgender: This is used to refer to people who do not have the same sex and gender but do not identify as transgender.53
Pansexual: This means exhibiting or implying many forms of sexual expression.54 It is used to refer to a person who has many sexual orientations and cannot be properly identified as being only homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, or transsexual. This is different from being a bisexual as bisexual is limited to only the combination of homosexual and heterosexual preferences. Pansexual is multiple.
Sex: This is the sum of the peculiarities of structure and function that distinguish a male from a female organism.55 It means a designation of male or female based on biological characteristics, and could also mean the act of having sexual intercourse.
49 Merriam-Webster, as in note 47 above
50 Gove P. B. (ed), Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, (Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster Inc., Publishers, 1993), p. 1063
51 Gove P. B. (ed), as in note 50 above, p. 1085
52 Curzon L. B., Dictionary of Law, 5th Ed (Pitman Publishing, 1998), p. 220
53 Accessed from https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/non-cisgender, on 23.03.2016 at 19:04
54 Merriam-Webster, as in note 47 above
55 Garner B. A. (Ed), Black’s Law Dictionary, Deluxe 8th Ed, (USA: West, a Thomson business, 2004), p. 1406
Sexual Orientation: This is defined as a person’s predisposition or inclination toward a particular type of sexual activity or behaviour.56 It is a person's sexual preference or identity as bisexual, heterosexual, or homosexual.57 Differently put, it is a label used to designate an individual’s desire for intimate, emotional and or sexual relationships with people of the same sex, another sex, or multiple sexes.
Sexuality: Sexuality means the sexual habits and desires of a person.58In this research, sexuality is taken to mean a person’s exploration of sexual acts, sexual orientation, sexual pleasure, sexual preference, and sexual desire.
Transgender: This means a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person's sex at birth.59 Transgender and Transsexual are usually used interchangeably, the only difference being that Transsexual most times is used to refer to a Transgender who underwent a sex-reassignment surgery to the particular sex he or she wants to be identified with.
Transsexual: Another name for transsexual is transgender. This is an individual who identifies as the opposite sex from the sexual genitalia that he or she was born with. This, such a person does, by dressing like the opposite sex and wanting to be addressed and referred to as belonging to that opposite sex. In certain situations, such a person may undergo surgical operations in order to have a sex-change or sex reassignment60 in order to bring her or him properly within the class of the sex which he or she desires and identifies with.
56 Garner B. A. (Ed), as in note 55 above, p. 1407
57 Merriam-Webster, as in note 47 above
58 Merriam-Webster, as in note 47 above
59 Merriam-Webster, as in note 47 above
60 Garner B. A. (Ed), as in note 55 above, p. 1537