[ a l l i a n c e] at Cornell College

A new wave of grassroots activism

GPAC works with a broad coalition of bipartisan organizations on Capitol Hill to educate the public, raise media awareness of prominent hate crimes, and educate Members of Congress on the need for law and public policy that will discourage gender-based hate.

GPAC's Workplace Fairness Program supports major corporations in adding gender identity and expression language to their Equal Employment

GPAC is a leading voice on gender rights of children. They educate professional groups and the public on the need to end cosmetic genital cutting of intersex infants and the psychiatric misuse of Gender Identity Disorder against gender non-conforming children.

Students know the reality -- whether it is in class or after school, walking the halls or during gym -- you're always too tall or too short, too feminine or too masculine, too aggressive or too passive, your skirt is too short or your hair is too long, you "throw like a girl" or act too much "like a boy". Students who fail to meet their classmates' expectations can quickly find themselves the target of ostracism, intimidation, harassment or assault.

GENDER
Refers to the way we perceive things as masculine or feminine. We tend to associate masculinity and femininity with such things as: biological sex and genitals; physical characteristics (height, weight, and body hair); sexual orientation (gay men are often considered to be more feminine than their heterosexual counterparts, and lesbian women more masculine); hair and dress; behavior (a man who cries may be considered unmanly, while a woman who is aggressive or athletic may be seen as unfeminine).

GENDER CHARACTERISTICS
Refers to primary and secondary physic sexual characteristics, such as height, weight and body hair. As physic attributes, they are not generally included in "gender expression" or "gender identity." Examples might include a man with a high voice or a woman with prominent facial hair.

GENDER EXPRESSION
Refers to things like clothing and behavior that manifest a person's fundamental sense of themselves as masculine or feminine, and male or female. This can include dress, posture, hair style, jewelry, vocal inflection, and so on.

GENDER IDENTITY
Refers to an individual's fundamental sense of themselves as masculine or feminine, and male or female. The phrase originated in psychiatry, and most commonly has been used to refer to transsexual or transgender individuals who have or want to change sexes and genders.

GENDER STEREOTYPES
Refer to the templates most of us have for how one sex or another should look, act, and dress. Gender stereotypes in themselves need not be overly oppressive, unless we insist that people conform to them.

GENDER STEREOTYPING
Refers to the act of trying to force individuals to conform to gender stereotypes. This can take subtle form like disapproval, ostracism, or ridicule, as well as more overt forms like job discrimination, verbal abuse, or assault. Gender Stereotyping also includes biases based on gender stereotypes, such as refusing to hire a women because of the belief that women are too passive, or assuming that a feminine-looking blond is dumb, straight, or only interested in boys