Gender Variant

Gender variant, often used interchangeably with gender nonconforming, describes behavior or gender expression that does not match the masculine or feminine norms a society expects. It focuses on expression rather than identity, so a person can be gender variant whether they are transgender, non-binary, or cisgender. GLAAD and others note that not all gender-variant people identify as transgender, and many trans people simply identify as men or women, not as gender variant. The phrase appears most often in clinical and research writing. Many people now prefer 'gender nonconforming' or 'gender expansive' as everyday language, since 'variant' can imply a deviation from a norm.