Videos + More - Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia

Beyond the Binary: Videos + More

🎥 Learn More: Watch Our Video Series

New to Beyond the Binary? These four short videos are a great place to begin. They offer an introduction to the project, highlight why gender inclusion matters, and share practical ways to create more welcoming spaces for gender-diverse people in Nova Scotia. Watch at your own pace—whether you're learning solo or starting a conversation with your team.

We partnered with Mirror Image Media to create a Moving Beyond the Binary video!
It features three tips to include gender-diverse folks at work, with appearances from some of the participants from the print guide.

We are also pleased to offer three other educational videos.

📚 Additional Resources

Looking to dig deeper? Our curated resource list offers articles, toolkits, legal information, and more to support your learning and action.

Organizations that provide support and outreach on the local or national level

Online Educational Resources

Glossary

Ally - Someone who actively supports a marginalized community through their actions and commitment to learning. An ally is usually someone who is not part of the community (for example, a straight ally who supports 2SLGBTQIA+ rights) but sees the importance of making positive changes that benefit the oppressed group.

Cisgender - Someone whose gender identity is the same as the gender they were assigned at birth. For example, a cisgender woman is someone who was identified as female when she was born and still identifies with this gender.

Deadname - The name that a two-spirit, trans, non-binary, or other gender diverse person was given at birth and that is different from the name they have adopted for themselves.

Gender affirming healthcare - This includes a variety of medical processes and treatments that allow a person to feel that their body is better aligned with their gender identity. Some examples of gender affirming healthcare include hormone treatment, chest surgery, electrolysis, and many others.

Gender assigned at birth - This term refers to how someone is categorized at birth according to the gender binary. For example, a baby with a penis will usually be assigned male at birth and a baby with a vulva will usually be assigned female at birth. A person’s gender identity can be different from the gender they were assigned at birth.

Gender expression - How someone expresses their gender (for example, whether they wear clothing or hair styles that are traditionally read as masculine or feminine; what pronouns they use; how they speak; the name they use).

Gender identity - How someone identifies and understands their own gender (for example, if they identify as a man, a woman, two-spirit, agender, genderqueer, more than one gender, or somewhere else within the gender spectrum). Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of self, while gender expression more often refers to how they outwardly express their gender.

Pinkwashing - A term for when organizations show only a superficial commitment to 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, for example, when companies participate in a Pride Parade but do not have inclusive policies aimed at supporting their 2SLGBTQIA+ employees and clients.

Genderqueer - Someone whose gender identity cannot be categorized as exclusively male or female. Some genderqueer people identify with both ends of the gender spectrum, while others identify as outside of gender or have a fluid understanding of their gender.

Man - someone who identifies as a man, which includes both cisgender and trans men.

Non-binary - Someone who identifies outside the gender binary of male and female. Non-binary people are often grouped under the trans umbrella, but not all non-binary people identify as trans. Non-binary people sometimes use gender neutral pronouns such as they/them, but not all non-binary people do. Remember to ask about someone’s pronouns rather than assuming.

Trans or Transgender - Someone whose gender identity is different than how they were identified at birth. Trans people may identify with the gender binary (for example, trans men and trans women) or outside the gender binary (for example, non-binary people).

Transfeminine - A term to refer to trans and gender diverse people who are on the feminine end of the spectrum, for example trans women.

Transmasculine - A term to refer to trans and gender diverse people who are on the masculine end of the spectrum, for example trans men.

Two-spirit - A term used by Indigenous communities to describe someone who identifies as having both a masculine and feminine spirit. “Two-spirit” can refer to gender identity or sexual orientation or both of these. Being two-spirit may mean that someone experiences same-gender attraction, or it can mean that the person is gender diverse (i.e. not cisgender), or it can mean both of these things. “Two-spirit” should only be used to refer to people who are Indigenous.

Queer - A term used to refer to people who are not straight and/or not cisgender. If someone refers to themselves as queer, that person may fall anywhere in the 2SLGBTQIA+ umbrella. “Queer” doesn’t necessarily tell you a lot of information about someone, such as what kind of people they’re physically or romantically attracted to (if they experience attraction) or how they identify in terms of gender. “Queer” used to be a slur, but has been reclaimed by the 2SLGBTQIA+ community as empowering.

Woman - someone who identifies as a woman, which includes both cisgender and trans women.

2SLGBTQIA+ - An acronym usedto refer to the following identities: two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and + for the many other identities that exist within the queer spectrum.

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