100 years ago Magnus Hirschfeld coined the term Transvestite - then the term Transsexual, though that did not become commonplace until after the war when David Cauldwell began using it regularly using it. In 60s Virginia Prince started decided to live as a woman but not have surgery and coined the term Transgender to describe herself.

That steadily became the umbrella term for all gender non-conforming people, and was then shortened to Trans. But there were always a myriad of other terms and labels to describe trans people. Today Facebook offers 71 alternatives to male and female that doesn't include at least 20 others that I know of, and I am far too old it seems to keep up with the dazzling array of new terms and labels added daily

Today I am going to look at some primary labels and what they all mean - but there will be lots more to look at later.

Today I will talk about Gender Identity - the internal sense and feeling of who we are. For most people, their gender identity matches their sex and their gender. For many, though, that is not the case. Today I want to explore how people cope with this mis-match.

Join me for my regular discussions on Gender issues. Today I will be speaking about Gender - What is gender, why is this so confusing for everyone and why is this such a source of passionate debate. Feel free to ask questions?

Find out more and view the video versions on my Youtube Channel here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6pXUOc9W43Zv3DafPX1mszZISM2mzjzX

My mission is to help create a fairer world where every person's gender is accepted and respected. This is the first of a series of Video Blogs and Podcasts designed to help achieve that mission - I'll be here everyday throughout September talking about the issues of the day and helping to make sense of everything Gender and LGBTQ.