What does it mean?
“GID” is short for “gender identity disorder”. Gender identity disorder was a medical diagnosis given to some people in the past, and appeared in the ICD 10. It is now gradually falling out of use.
More modern standards for medical diagnoses use terms like “gender incongruence”.
Medical term
"Person with GID" is a term that describes people using a medical condition or diagnosis.
Terms like this can:
- help make it obvious that people should be allowed medical and psychological assistance
- help when people are trying to find funding or receive a referral to a specialist
However, terms like this can also:
- give the impression that there is something wrong with people (it is “pathologising”)
- make it seem like people with a medical diagnosis are more genuine or valid than people who do not
Think carefully before using this term to describe someone or a group of people - they may not wish to be described that way.
Simplified view of gender
"Person with GID" is a term that describes people using view of gender that is deliberately oversimplified.
Terms like this can:
- make it easier to explain your situation to people quickly
However, terms like this can also:
- reinforce problematic ideas about gender
- make people think that you do not properly understand gender
- imply everyone feels either like a woman or a man
- imply that what someone's body looks like is the gender of that body
- imply everyone who wants to change things linked to gender has a clear or stable sense of gender identity
- imply everyone who wants to change things linked to gender has a gender identity that doesn’t match the gender they were assigned
Think carefully before using this term to describe someone or a group of people - they may not wish to be described that way.
Errors and omissions
Is there something missing from this page? Have you spotted something that isn't correct? Please tweet us or message us on Facebook to let us know, or file an issue on GitHub.