Glossary of LGBTQIA+ Terms
Terms and concepts to define and describe gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation
This glossary is a brief overview of terms that may show up in the LGBTQIA+ Peer Facilitator Guide and connected conversations. Please note that some definitions shift over time and there are often many ways to describe and define similar terms.
Ally
A person who shows support for LGBTQ people and actively promotes equality in a variety of ways.
Androgynous
Identifying and/or presenting as neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine or a blend of both.
Asexual
The lack of a sexual attraction or desire for other people. Asexual people experience attraction on a spectrum and have capacity to develop sexual attraction to others based on emotional connection or time.
Biphobia
Prejudice, fear or hatred directed toward bisexual people.
Bisexual
A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender or gender identity though not necessarily simul- taneously, in the same way or to the same degree.
Cisgender
A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.
Closeted
Describes an LGBTQ person who has not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Coming out
The process in which a person first acknowledges, accepts and appreciates his or her sexual orientation or gender identity and begins to share that with others.
Gay
A man who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to members of the same gender. Also an umbrella term to describe individuals under the LGBTQ umbrella.
Gender dysphoria
Clinically significant distress caused when a person’s assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify. Accord- ing to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the term - which replaces Gender Identity Disorder - “is intended to better characterize the experiences of affected children, adolescents, and adults.”
Gender-expansive
Conveys a wider, more flexible range of gender identity and/or expression than typically associated with the binary gender system.
Gender expression
External appearance of one’s gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.
Gender-fluid
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a person who does not identify with a single fixed gender; of or relating to a person having or expressing a fluid or unfixed gender identity.
Gender identity
One’s innermost concept of self as man, woman, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One’s gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.
Gender non-conforming
A broad term referring to people who do not behave in a way that conforms to the traditional expectations of their gender, or whose gender expression does not fit neatly into a category.
Genderqueer
Genderqueer people typically reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as “genderqueer” may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female or as falling completely outside these categories.
Gender transition
The process by which some people strive to more closely align their internal knowledge of gender with its outward appearance. Some people socially transition, whereby they might begin dressing, using names and pronouns and/or be socially recognized as another gender. Others undergo physical transitions in which they modify their bodies through medical interventions.
Homophobia
The fear and hatred of or discomfort with people who are attracted to members of the same sex.
Intersex
Intersex is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definitions of female or male. Sometimes an intersex person is assigned a female or male sex at birth through surgery, if external genitals are not obviously male or female. Intersex babies are always assigned a legal sex, but sometimes when they grow up, their gender doesn’t match the sex selected for them.
Lesbian
A woman who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to women.
LGBTQ
An acronym for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.”
Living openly
A state in which LGBTQ people are comfortably out about their sexual orientation or gender identity – where and when it feels appropriate to them.
Non-binary
is a gender identity which describes someone who does not identify exclusively as man or woman—this can include identities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary people may identify as having two or more genders (being bigender or trigender); having no gender (agender, nongendered, genderless, genderfree or neutrois); moving between genders or having a fluctuating gender identity (genderfluid); being third gender or other-gender (a category that includes those who do not place a name to their gender).
Outing
Exposing someone’s lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identity to others without their permission. Outing someone can have serious repercussions on employment, economic stability, personal safety or religious or family situations.
Pansexual
A person who has capacity for attraction to people of multiple genders. Some pansexual people have capactity to be attracted to people regardless of gender.
Queer
An umbrella term people often use to identify broadly as LGBTQ. Also a term to express fluid gender identities and sexual orienta- tions. Often used interchangeably with “LGBTQ.” Queer has historically been used to harm the LGBTQ community and has since been reclaimed.
Questioning
A term used to describe people who are in the process of exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Same-gender loving
A term used to describe attraction to and love of people of the same gender. Sometimes shortened to SGL.
Sexual orientation
A term to describe a person’s attraction to others. Who you love.
Transgender
An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is not exclusive to cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
Transphobia
The fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, transgender people.