2SLGBTQIA+

Nádleehí (Diné) – the root of the word is, “changing”, “fluidity”, around what we now understand as gender and sexuality. Nádleehí represents the balancing of the complementaries and that balance represents hózhó. 

Dilbaa (Diné) – word for a fourth-gendered person whose biological make up is female but they live out their daily life as a male, in other words they are a male-bodied female.  

Two Spirit (Indigenous “umbrella” term) – is a contemporary umbrella term that refers to the historical and current First Nations people whose individual spirits were a blend of female and male spirits. This term has been reclaimed by Native LGBT communities to honor their heritage and provide an alternative to the Western labels of gay, lesbian, or transgender. Only Indigenous people can claim and use the term Two-Spirit to help describe their identities. 

Other adopted terms: Indigiqueer

LGBTQIA+, an acronym used to build community among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual people. 

• Lesbian: A female-identified person who is attracted to women 
• Gay: A person who is emotionally or physically attracted to a person of the same gender. 
• Bisexual: A person who is attracted to both women and men. 
• Transgender: A person who identifies as a gender not assigned at birth.      
• Queer: A person who does not subscribe to dominant social norms to define their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. 
• Intersex: A person born with reproductive organs that do not align with medical expectations of male or female biological markers. 
• Agender: A person who does not identify with a specific gender or feels neutral when it comes to their gender identity. 
• Asexual: A person who does not experience sexual attraction, but they could still experience romantic attraction.
• Cisgender: A person who feels their gender identity and expression align with the sex they were assigned at birth. 
• Gender: Identifying with a specific set of traits (behavioral, cultural, community roles) on the male to female spectrum. 
• Gender Nonconforming: A person who does not identify with a specific set of traits (behavioral, cultural, community roles) on the male to female spectrum. 

Inclusion is the practice of actively acknowledging, respecting, and honoring Two-Spirit and Native LGBTQIA+ life experiences and perspectives. 

Examples of inclusion:

• Speak to culture/language teachers about their understanding (or maybe lack of understanding) of Two-Spirit, Dilbaa, Nádleehí, and queer relatives in the past and present. 
• Research community funding, grant opportunities, co-sponsorships, and other fundraising opportunities to support ideas for events or meetings       
• Support Indigenous youth and/or Two-Spirit, Dilbaa, Nádleehí, and queer programs/initiatives in your region to build relationships that can sustain and support Dilbaa, Nádleehí and 2SLGBTQIA+ relatives. Learn from one another and explore resources and opportunities to build more inclusion efforts together. 
• Heavily advocate for Indigenous led data on the violence our 2SLGBTQIA+ relatives face in our communities
• Hold relatives accountable to the culture they’re creating and the assimilation processes they sustain that harm traditional understandings of gender identity.
   

    Gender identity is the way a person identifies their own gender. Some examples of gender identities include ‘male,’ ‘female,’ ‘androgynous,’ ‘transgender,’ and ‘genderqueer.’ 

Gender identity means an internal sense of our gender. We can ask ourselves periodically throughout our lives: Do I feel more female, male, neither, or a combination? Do I feel somewhere along the spectrum but am not sure where? These are the first questions that may come to mind when contemplating gender identity. An important perspective to keep in mind is that this identity does not have to be definitive, and that many of our relatives never decide to define themselves and are in fact gender fluid, non-binary, or agender. If you find yourself feeling more fluid in your gender identity, then you are welcome to join the queer collective and continue to learn more about our various roles in the community today and in the past. Again, this is an internal sense that is determined by an individual. 

    As Indigenous people, we can read or listen to our creation stories and/or revisit our own traditional teachings of sexuality to better understand our internal sense of attractions and actions, or lack thereof. Sexuality is understood within three major components: sexual orientation (who you are attracted to physically, emotionally, and/or sexually, or the absence of such attraction); sexual behavior (who you choose to be sexual with, or the choice not to be sexual); sexual identity (how you view yourself). Understandably, sexuality can be fluid and many of our peers and relatives may express or describe their sexuality differently depending on where they are on their journey to self-affirmation and acceptance. 

Decolonize/Decolonization is the act of restoring rights, privileges, and practices that were taken by settler colonialism. 

Homophobia are negative and harmful feelings about and fear of homosexuals based on social attitudes. Homophobia is violence. 

Assigned Sex is the sex that is assigned to an infant at birth based on their reproductive organs. 

Gender Expression is the way a person expresses their gender in ways that make them feel more comfortable and aligned to who they are. Some forms of expression could be clothing, voice, cosmetics, or mannerisms. 

Transphobia is negative feelings about and fear of transgender people based on social attitudes. Transphobia is violence.