Glossary of LGBTQ+ Terms
Words matter. While there are many terms related to the LGBTQ+ community, many people (even LGBTQ+ individuals) aren’t aware of what they all mean. Becoming familiar with and using the correct terminology shows respect for people’s identities and promotes understanding, acceptance and inclusivity. Below is a list of key terms.
AFAB: Assigned Female at Birth. AFAB people may or may not identify as female some or all of the time. AFAB is a useful term for educating about issues that may happen to these bodies without connecting to womanhood or femaleness. Generally not considered an identity, as calling a transgender man “AFAB,” for example, erases his identity as a man. Instead, use a person’s pronouns and self-description. (Source)
Agender: Agender is defined as not having a gender. Some agender people describe it as having a “lack of gender,” while others describe themselves as being gender neutral. (Source)
Ally: A term used to describe someone who is actively supportive of LGBTQ+ people. It encompasses straight and cisgender allies, as well as those within the LGBTQ+ community who support each other (e.g., a lesbian who is an ally to the bisexual community). (Source)
AMAB: Assigned Male at Birth. AMAB people may or may not identify as male some or all of the time. AMAB is a useful term for educating about issues that may happen to these bodies without connecting to manhood or maleness. Generally, not considered an identity, as calling a transgender woman “AMAB,” for example, erases her identity as a woman. Instead, use a person’s pronouns and self-description. (Source)
Androgynous: Having physical elements of both femininity and masculinity, whether expressed through sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Androgyne is another term for an androgynous individual. (Source)
Asexual: Often called “ace” for short, asexual refers to a complete or partial lack of sexual attraction or lack of interest in sexual activity with others. Asexuality exists on a spectrum, and asexual people may experience no, little or conditional sexual attraction. (Source)
Bi: An umbrella term used to describe a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards more than one gender. Bi people may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including, but not limited to, bisexual, pan, queer, and some other non-monosexual and non-monoromantic identities. (Source)
Bigender: A term used to identify a person whose gender identity encompasses two genders, (often man and woman, but not exclusively) or is moving between being two genders. (Source)
Biphobia: The fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, people who love and are sexually attracted to more than one gender. (Source)
Bisexual: A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender or gender identity though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree. Sometimes used interchangeably with pansexual. (Source)
Cisgender: A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth. (Source)
Cisnormative: The assumption that everyone is cisgender and that being cisgender is superior to all other genders. This includes the often implicitly held idea that being cisgender is the norm and that other genders are “different” or “abnormal.” (Source)
Coming out: A term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth.
Conversion therapy: Any attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. (Source)
Gay: A person who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to members of the same gender. Men, women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves. (Source)
Genderfluid: A person who does not identify with a single fixed gender or has a fluid or unfixed gender identity. (Source)
Genderqueer: Refers to individuals who blur preconceived boundaries of gender in relation to the gender binary; they can also reject commonly held ideas of static gender identities. Sometimes used as an umbrella term in much the same way that the term queer is used, but only refers to gender, and thus should only be used when self-identifying or quoting an individual who uses the term genderqueer for themselves. (Source)
Gender binary: A system in which gender is constructed into two strict categories of male or female. Gender identity is expected to align with the sex assigned at birth and gender expressions and roles fit traditional expectations. (Source)
Gender dysphoria: Clinically significant distress caused when a person's assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify. (Source)
Gender expression: The manner in which a person communicates about gender to others through external means such as clothing, appearance, or mannerisms. This communication may be conscious or subconscious and may or may not reflect their gender identity or sexual orientation. While most people’s understandings of gender expressions relate to masculinity and femininity, there are countless combinations that may incorporate both masculine and feminine expressions, or neither, through androgynous expressions. All people have gender expressions, and an individual’s gender expression does not automatically imply one’s gender identity. (Source)
Gender identity: One’s innermost concept of self as male, female, 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. (Source)
Gender nonconforming: An umbrella term for those who do not follow gender stereotypes, or who expand ideas of gender express or gender identity. GNC does NOT mean non-binary and cisgender people can be GNC as well. It is important to respect and use the terms people use for themselves, regardless of any prior associations or ideas about those terms. While some parents and allies use the term “gender expansive," gender non-conforming is the preferred term by the LGBTQ+ community; always use the term preferred by an individual with whom you are interacting. (Source)
Gender questioning: A tentative gender identity label for a person who is in the process of figuring out how to describe and label their gender identity, but has reason to think that they might be transgender or nonbinary. Such people may or may not have shown signs of being gender nonconforming or gender variant. Gender questioning is also a label that can be used by nonbinary people who are still figuring out exactly what kind of nonbinary gender they have. (Source)
Gender variant: A term often used by the medical community to describe individuals who dress, behave, or express themselves in a way that does not conform to dominant gender norms. People outside the medical community tend to avoid this term because it suggests that these identities are abnormal, preferring terms such as gender expansive. (Source)
Heteronormativity: The assumption that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is superior to all other sexualities. This includes the often implicitly held idea that heterosexuality is the norm and that other sexualities are “different” or “abnormal.” (Source)
Homophobia: The fear and hatred of or discomfort with people who are attracted to members of the same sex. (Source)
Homosexual: A term to describe gay, lesbian, or queer people which may be offensive depending on the speaker. Originally used as a scientific or clinical term to describe LGBTQ+ people, the word has been reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community and may be colloquially used by an LGBTQ+ person to reference themselves or another member of the community. (Source)
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): A type of gender-affirming treatment that allows trans and gender-expansive people to medically transition or feel more at home in their bodies. Benefits of such therapy can include improved mental and physical wellness, and reduced anxiety and dysphoria, for those who experience it. (Source)
Intersectionality: A term coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, referring to the overlap of social categorizations or identities such as race and ethnicity, sexuality, gender, disability, geography, and class which exist in an individual or group of people that can contribute to discrimination or disadvantage. (Source)
Intersex: Intersex refers to people who are biologically between the medically expected definitions of male and female – through variations in hormones, chromosomes, internal or external genitalia, or any combination of any or all primary and/or secondary sex characteristics. While many intersex people are noticed as intersex at birth, many are not. Intersex is about biological sex and is distinct from gender identity and sexual orientation. An intersex person can be of any gender identity and can also be of any sexual orientation and any romantic orientation. (Source)
Lesbian: A woman who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to other women. Women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves. (Source)
LGBQTIA+: an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more. Sometimes shortened to LGBT+ or LGBTQ+. These terms are used to describe a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. (Source)
Neutrois: Neutrois people tend to feel “genderless” or as if their internal gender is, as the term suggests, neutral. As such, some neutrois people also identify with the terms “null-gender” or “agender.” Neutrois is also sometimes described as “the absence of gender.” Some neutrois-identifying folks may still feel a personal connection to some type of gender, so neutrois can also be used to describe people who may feel mostly gender-neutral but also transmasculine or transfeminine. (Source)
Non-binary: An adjective describing a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman. Non-binary people may identify as being both a man and a woman, somewhere in between, or as falling completely outside these categories. While many also identify as transgender, not all non-binary people do. Non-binary can also be used as an umbrella term encompassing identities such as agender, bigender, genderqueer or gender-fluid. (Source)
Pangender: Pangender is a gender identity that describes people who are comfortable with various types of gender labels. A pangender individual may identify with all the genders that they know. For example, if they know agender, nonbinary, or transgender, they identify with all these terms. (Source)
Pansexual: Describes someone who has the potential for emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to people of any gender though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree. Sometimes used interchangeably with bisexual. (Source)
Polyamorous: A term used to describe people who have the desire for multiple consenting intimate relationships at the same time. Also referred to as “ethically non-monogamous,” “polya” or “polyam.” There is a movement away from shortening polyamorous to “poly” since poly already means Polynesian. Consent and transparency are key components of polyamorous relationships. (Source)
Pronouns: The words used to refer to a person other than their name. Common pronouns are they/them, he/him, and she/her. Neopronouns are pronouns created to be specifically gender neutral, including xe/xem, ze/zir, and fae/faer. Pronouns are sometimes called Personal Gender Pronouns, or PGPs. For those who use pronouns--and not all people do--they are not preferred, they are essential. (Source)
Queer: A term people often use to express a spectrum of identities and orientations that are counter to the mainstream. Queer is often used as a catch-all to include many people, including those who do not identify as exclusively straight and/or folks who have non-binary or gender-expansive identities. (Source)
Questioning: A term used to describe people who are in the process of exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity. (Source)
Rainbow-washing: Put simply, rainbow-washing is the practice of using rainbow-themed symbolism in branding, advertising, merchandise or social media, ostensibly to support LGBTQ+ people during pride month, but without active support of LGBTQ+ people’s identities or rights. The term is sometimes also referred to as pinkwashing. (Source)
Romantic identity: Refers to an individual’s pattern of romantic attraction based on a person's gender(s) regardless of one's sexual orientation. Romantic identities and sexual orientations are not mutually exclusive. For some people, they are the same (i.e. they are pansexual and panromantic), while they may be completely different for other people (i.e. they are asexual and biromantic). (Source)
Sex assigned at birth: The sex, male, female or intersex, that a doctor or midwife uses to describe a child at birth based on their external anatomy. (Source)
Sexual orientation: An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people. Note: an individual’s sexual orientation is independent of their gender identity. (Source)
Transfeminine: An AMAB person who is closer to femininity than masculinity but is not a binary woman. Often abbreviated to transfem or transfemme. (Source)
Transgender: A term describing a person’s gender identity that does not necessarily match their assigned sex at birth. Transgender people may or may not decide to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically to match their gender identity. This word is also used as an umbrella term to describe groups of people who transcend conventional expectations of gender identity or expression--such groups include, but are not limited to, people who identify as transsexual, genderqueer, gender variant, gender diverse, and androgynous. “Trans” is often considered more inclusive than transgender because it includes transgender, transsexual, transmasc, transfem and those who simply use the word trans. (Source)
Transmasculine: An AFAB person who is closer to masculinity than femininity but is not a binary man. Often abbreviated to transmasc. (Source)
Transitioning: A series of processes that some transgender people may undergo in order to live more fully as their true gender. This typically includes social transition, such as changing name and pronouns, medical transition, which may include hormone therapy or gender affirming surgeries, and legal transition, which may include changing legal name and sex on government identity documents. Transgender people may choose to undergo some, all or none of these processes. (Source)
Two-spirit: A term used within some American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) communities to refer to a person who identifies as having both a male and a female essence or spirit. The term encompasses sexual, cultural, gender, and spiritual identities, and provides unifying, positive, and encouraging language that emphasizes reconnecting to tribal traditions. Non-indigenous people should not use this term. (Source)
Think this glossary is missing a frequently used LGBTQ+ term? Let us know.