two-spirit
n. in some Native American cultures, a person who takes on the gender identity of the opposite sex with the approval of the culture. The culture often views such individuals as having a special spiritual or guiding role in the community. In the Navajo culture, such a person is termed a nadle; in the Lakota culture, the term winkte is used; and in other cultures, a literal translation of “man-woman” might be used. The traditional scholarly term berdache is now used less frequently because of its negative implications of male prostitution or of a “kept” status.