This is the master glossary and style notes for Several Problems Press.

Glossary

₹. The official currency symbol for the Indian rupee (INR).

§. Section. Used particularly in United States law. Commonwealth legal systems tend to prefer “s” instead.

§§. Sections. Used particularly in United States law. Commonwealth legal systems tend to prefer “ss” instead.

$. The currency symbol for, among others:

• the Australian dollar (AUD, AU$)
• the United States dollar (USD, US$)

AAP. In Australian media, the Australian Associated Press, a news agency. No relation to the Associated Press or The Australian.

In Indian politics, the Aam Aadmi (“Common Man’s”) Party, a Congress-aligned secular centre-left party.

In United States medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics.

AB. In Canada, the ISO 3166 abbreviation for the province of Alberta.

ABC. In Australian media, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia’s state broadcaster. Always “the ABC,” with the definite article.

In United States media, the American Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.

ACPeds. In United States politics, the American College of Pediatricians, a right-wing pseudoscience promotion group.

ADF. In Australia, the Australian Defence Force, the combined organisation of the Australian military.

In United States politics, (the) Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing legal advocacy group.

AEST. Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10). The timezone used for at least part of the year in the eastern states of Australia, and used year-round in the state of Queensland. Since SP Press is currently domiciled in the metro area of Queensland’s capital, Brisbane, most times on this blog that are not given in UTC are given in AEST.

AIFA. In Italian politics, the Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (“Italian Medicines Agency”).

A/L. At-large. Used by Several Problems as a constituency name in situations where every member of a legislature is elected by a single multi-member constituency.

ALP. In Australian politics, the Australian Labor Party or any of its state branches also called the Australian Labor Party.

Amenorrhoea. In medicine, the absence of menstruation.

Androgen. The class of steroid hormones in, among other species, humans, which regulates and maintains characteristics considered male. Includes testosterone.

APA. In medicine, the American Psychiatric Association or the American Psychological Association.

Appellant. The party pursuing a legal appeal.

Art. In legal parlance, “Article”.

Autogyn(a)ephilia. A pseudoscientific concept formulated by Ray Blanchard, an anti-trans Canadian sexologist, referring to a paraphilia whereby one is sexually gratified by imagining oneself as a woman. A person who experiences autogyn(a)ephilia is an autogyn(a)ephile; an experience reflective of autogyn(a)ephilia is autogyn(a)ephilic. Connotes being less “genuine” and “feminine” than its counterpart identity, homosexual transsexual; the term seems to have been invented with the intention of smearing queer trans women as fetishists, most likely because of their sexual unavailability to men.

United States English and most literature uses “autogynephilia,” but in British and Australian English, “autogynaephilia” is correct and is used here.

B. In queer and trans culture, when used as part of the LGBTQ+ acronym, can mean:

• “bisexual”;
• “brotherboy,” a trans identity particular to Blak Australian culture.

BBC. In British media, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the United Kingdom’s state broadcaster.

Brotherboy. A transmasculine gender identity culturally specific to Indigenous Australians.

CBC. In Canadian media, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s state broadcaster.

Chief minister. In some Westminster system states, the head of the executive of a subnational government, the subnational analogue of a prime minister.

The Crown. In Commonwealth legal systems, originally the legal entity of the office of the British monarch. Important because those legal systems operate on the fiction that the legal foundation for the state is the personal authority of the monarch; hence, in practice, the Crown embodies the state. For instance, in Commonwealth criminal courts, the prosecution is on behalf of the Crown in the same way that, in United States criminal courts, it is on behalf of the People, the State, or the United States.

CUP. Used by Several Problems when discussing British politics to refer to the Conservative and Unionist Party, who have no standardised abbreviation.

DMK. In Indian politics, the Dravidra Munnetra Kazhagam (“Dravidian Progressive Federation”), a Congress-aligned secular social-democratic party active in Tamil Nadu.

doi. Digital object identifier. A persistent identifier in the DOI System. An object’s DOI points to its DOI database record, which contains its metadata. This means that, for instance, if the object is initially retrievable via a particular URL but is then moved away from that URL to another one, it should still be immediately retrievable using its DOI, as its DOI record should contain the new URL. (In practice, this only works if the DOI registrant responsible for the object updates the DOI record to point to the new URL, but they usually do.)

DSM. The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Considered the de facto global nosological reference for psychology.

E. The standard abbreviation for estrogen.

E₂. The standard abbreviation for estradiol.

Estradiol. The most potent of the estrogens. Also the primary exogenous estrogen in feminising HRT.

Estrogen. The class of sex steroid hormones in, among other species, humans, which maintains and regulates characteristics typically considered female. For our purposes, estradiol is far and away the most notable hormone.

Et alia (et al.). “And others”.

GNC. Gender-nonconforming.

GnRH. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

Hansard. In some Commonwealth legislatures, the document which provides a transcript of remarks and proceedings in a legislative body.

HB. See House bill.

HD. In United States state politics, “House district”.

HF. See House file.

HM Government. His/Her Majesty’s Government. In some Commonwealth governments, the official name of the executive branch of the government. Regardless of official nomenclature, however, when not otherwise specified “HM Government” is typically understood to refer to the British executive.

House bill. In United States politics, a bill originating in a chamber whose name contains the word “House”, typically the lower chamber.

Iowa uses “House file” (HF) instead.

Ibidem (ibid.). In citations, indicates the same source cited in the immediate previous inline citation.

ICD. The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases.

House file. See House bill.

House study bill. See House bill, Study bill.

HRT. Hormone replacement therapy.

HSB. See House study bill.

Ind. In politics, denotes a politician who is not affiliated with a parliamentary group in the legislature.

Injunctive relief. In law, a form of relief sought by a plaintiff consisting of the issue of an injunction by the court.

In re. In United States law, “In the matter of”.

KP. In Pakistani provincial politics, the abbreviation for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; by extension, the prefix for a constituency in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Lok Sabha. The lower house of the Parliament of India.

LPA. Used by Several Problems when discussing Australian politics to refer to the Liberal Party of Australia, who have no standardised abbreviation.

LPC. In Canadian politics, the Liberal Party of Canada.

MLA. In most Westminster system states, Member of the Legislative Assembly. The pattern of usage is analogous to that of “MP” (see below), except that while MPs may sit at the national or subnational level, MLAs virtually always sit at the subnational level.

MLC. In Australian state politics, Member of the Legislative Council. Refers to a member of a legislative chamber called a Legislative Council, which in Australian politics is invariably the equivalent of a state senate, making an MLC a state senator.

MP. In Westminster system states, Member of Parliament. Typically appears as either postnominal letters (“John Smith MP”) or a count noun (“one MP”, “two MPs”).

An MP is virtually always a member of a legislative body called a parliament, but if the parliament has more than one chamber then the title is strictly speaking typically afforded to the members of only one chamber, typically the lower chamber. For instance, in the Parliament of Australia, only members of the House of Representatives are formally referred to as MPs; members of the Senate are formally referred to as Senators.

More generally, and strictly incorrectly, all legislators of a specific party in a multicameral parliament, or simply all legislators within the party, may be referred to as “MPs” even if they have different titles. However, this usage is not preferred and is not reflected here.

NA. In Pakistani federal politics, the prefix indicating a constituency in the National Assembly of Pakistan.

n.d. In a citation, “no date”.

NDP. In Canadian politics, the New Democratic Party of Canada or any of its provincial affiliates.

NGO. Non-governmental organisation.

NHS. In British politics, the National Health Service.

Ninefax. In Australian media, an informal term for either:

• the newspapers formerly published by Fairfax Media which are now published by Nine Publishing since the merger of Fairfax with Nine Entertainment Company;
• less commonly, the post-merger corporate entity, Nine Entertainment Company.

Notwithstanding clause. Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which allows federal and provincial parliaments to temporarily override the Charter by declaring that a law or part of a law applies “notwithstanding” sections of the Charter that contradict it.

OAM. Medal of the Order of Australia, an Australian civil decoration; the lowest of the four currently active grades of the Order of Australia.

Okla Stat. The Oklahoma Statutes, the law code of the U.S. State of Oklahoma.

OBE. Order of the British Empire, a United Kingdom civil decoration.

ON. ISO 3166 abbreviation for the province of Ontario, Canada.

Opere citato (op. cit.). “Work cited”. Used for inline citations where a single work by a particular author or group of authors is cited in the whole piece, to indicate that the reference is to that work.

People. In some United States legal systems, used to indicate that the government is a party to the case.

PHON. In Australian politics, one abbreviation for the party Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

Plaintiff. The party bringing a civil suit.

QC. ISO 3166 abbreviation for the province of Quebec, Canada.

QLD. ISO 3166 abbreviation for the state of Queensland, Australia.

R. In the legal technical terminology of the UK and other Commonwealth realms, used in case citations to indicate that the government is a party to the case. “R” refers to the Crown — it is written Rex/Regina (Lat.; “the King,” or “the Queen,” respectively) and usually read aloud as “the Crown”.

In United States politics, used in some contexts as an abbreviation for “Republican”.

/r/, r/. A prefix indicating a subreddit, a specific discussion board on the discussion board platform reddit.

Respondent. The party against which a civil suit is brought.

ROGD. The right-wing pseudoscientific concept of “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” which is used by anti-trans activists to suggest that transness which appears later is less durable and real. There is no scientific evidence to support ROGD and significant scientific evidence against it, but right-wing media refer to it as if it were uncontroversially real regardless.

S. In queer and trans culture, when used as part of the LGBTQ+ acronym, can mean “sistergirl,” a trans identity particular to Blak Australian culture. Not to be confused with 2S.

In United States federal politics, when used before a number, often refers to a bill of the United States Senate.

s. In Commonwealth legal systems, when used after the name of a bill or act, refers to a section of that act.

SBLGBTQ+. The variant of the queer and trans community initialism used by SP Press: sistergirl, brotherboy, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and others.

The placement of “SB” at the start of the acronym is based on the precedent of placing “2S” (Two-Spirit) in the same position among communities where Native American Two-Spirit people are present. The placement of “sistergirl” before “brotherboy” is based on the precedent of placing “L” before “G”.

To our knowledge, no community authority has endorsed this neologistic initialism (or rejected it; they do not know it exists) and we do not consider that we have the authority to do so ourselves. As an Australia-based press initially under white Australian leadership, however, we feel that there are certain ethical obligations which are incumbent upon us and we are attempting to honour them as best we can in the interim.

SCR. In United States politics, a Senate concurrent resolution.

SD. In the technical language of United States state politics, “Senate district”.

SDA. In Australian politics, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA), informally referred to as the “Shoppies,” the major trade union for retail workers, which is affiliated with the Australian Labor Party. The SDA itself notably forms a small caucus within the ALP, through legislators who have the SDA’s endorsement or are former SDA officials; the SDA and its proxies are typically considered some of the furthest-right elements of the ALP, and on many issues are to the right of the median Coalition MP.

SEA. In some United States legislatures, Senate Enrolled Act.

Secretary of State. In British politics, refers to the most senior category of government minister, ranking above ministers and junior ministers. Always given in the form “Secretary of State for x“.

In United States federal politics, refers to a single appointed office, the head of the Department of State, who serves as the United States’ foreign minister.

In United States state politics, refers to a type of office present in every state; the Secretary of State is the official who serves as a U.S. state’s interior minister.

Sistergirl. A transfeminine gender identity culturally specific to Indigenous Australians.

Study bill. In at least Iowa politics, a bill filed directly to a committee of a particular legislative chamber. If the committee endorses it then the bill will become an ordinary bill of that chamber with the committee as its sponsor, and will be redesigned and renumbered accordingly.

T. Testosterone, the primary androgen.

TERF. Transgender-exclusionary radical feminist.

TGD. Transgender and gender-diverse.

UCP. In Canadian politics, the United Conservative Party of Alberta.

USD. In international economics and finance, the United States dollar.

In United States state politics, a Unified School District.

UTC. Coordinated Universal Time. Notionally the observed solar time at the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) Reference Meridian, which passes through Greenwich, England, United Kingdom. All other time zones are given as an offset from UTC.

WDI. Women’s Declaration International, an anti-trans pressure group.

WPATH. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the global peak body for standardisation of trans health.

Style notes

Most inline citations and reference list entries are in a modified version of APA 7 style, i.e., of the style prescribed by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition.

Reference list entries and some inline citations for legal material are in a modified version of AGLC 4 style, i.e., of the style prescribed by the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th edition.

Effective 29 February 2024, it is Several Problems Press policy