Sex characteristics are made up of things
in your body:
You are born with your sex characteristics. Some of your sex characteristics also grow or change during puberty.
You can change the sex or gender on your personal documents. Each document will have different things you need to do to make this change. You may need to provide a letter of support from a medical professional. You can ask a trusted someone to help you with this.
is who you feel attracted to and also how you feel about yourself. Sexuality is related to your sense of self and your relationship with others. It is not just about who you have sex with or want to have sex with. It involves self expression, fantasies, desires, and more. You can talk to someone you trust or call QLife on 1800 184 527 to talk about your sexuality or get support
is a word that describes people born with sex characteristics that do not fit doctors’ ideas of a typical male or female body. This is not always obvious at birth. For some people it might not be obvious until later in life.
This might be during puberty or when they are trying to have a baby. Doctors have words for many different kinds of intersex variation. Doctors also use terms like “differences of sex development”.
Sexual activity can include lots of different things.
It can mean any kind of sexual touch including hand jobs, fingering, oral sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, genital to genital contact, using sex toys with partners, sexual intercourse and other things too. Sex is with another person or persons. Sex needs to be consensual, meaning you both want to do it. You can stop having sex at any time. Sex should feel good for both partners.
Sexuality is who you feel attracted to and also how you feel about yourself. Sexuality is related to your sense of self and your relationship with others. It is not just about who you have sex with or want to have sex with. It involves self expression, fantasies, desires, and more.
Intersex is a word that describes people born with sex characteristics that do not fit doctors’ ideas of a typical male or female body. This is not always obvious at birth. For some people it might not be obvious until later in life. This might be during puberty or when they are trying to have a baby. Doctors have words for many different kinds of intersex variation. Doctors also use terms like “differences of sex development”.