Ally
noun: A (typically) straight and/or cis person who supports members of the LGBT community
Androgyny
noun: A gender expression that has elements of both masculinity and femininity
AFAB queen
adj: Assigned female at birth. Usually used in the drag environment
Asexual
adj: Experiencing little or no sexual attraction to others and/or a lack of interest in sexual relationships/behavior. Asexuality exists on a spectrum, form people who experience no sexual attraction or desire to those who experience it under low levels or under specific circumstances
Bicurious
adj: A curiosity between experiencing attraction to people of the same gender/sex
Bi-erasure
noun: Bisexual erasure or bisexual invisibility is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of bisexuality in history, academia, the news media, and other primary sources. In its most extreme form, bisexual erasure can include the belief that bisexuality itself does not exist
Bigender
adj: A person who fluctuates between traditionally “woman” and “man” gender-based behavior and identities, identifying with two genders
Biphobia
noun: Fear or hatred of people who are bisexual, pansexual, or omnisexual
Bisexual
noun: A person who experiences attraction to both men and women
Butch
noun & adj: Used to describe someone who expresses themselves in a typically masculine way. You shouldn’t use these terms about someone unless you know they identify with them
Chapstick lesbian
noun & adj: A lesbian who presents somewhere between masculine and feminine, often dressing in comfortable or sensible clothing
Cisgender
adj: a gender description for when someone’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity correspond in the expected way. Can be abbreviated to cis.
Cisnormativity
noun: The assumption, in individuals and in institutions, that everyone is cisgender, and that cisgender identities are superior to trans
Closeted
adj: An individual who is not open to themselves or others about their (queer) sexuality or gender identity
Coming out
noun: When a person first tells someone/others about their orientation and/or gender identity
Constellation
noun: A way to describe the arrangement or structure of a polyamorous relationship
Demiromantic
adj: Little or no capacity to experience romantic attraction until a strong sexual connection is formed with someone
Demisexual
adj: Little or no capacity to experience sexual attraction until a strong romantic connection is formed with someone
Drag king
noun: Someone who performs (hyper-) masculinity theatrically
Drag queen
noun: Someone who performs (hyper-) femininity theatrically
Dyke
noun: Referring to a masculine presenting lesbian. While often used derogatorily, it is also reclaimed affirmatively
Fag(got)
noun: Derogatory term referring to a gay person, or someone perceived as queer. While often used derogatorily, it is also used reclaimed by some
Femme
noun & adj: Femme is a term used in LGBT culture to describe someone who expresses themselves in a typically feminine way. You shouldn’t use these terms about someone unless you know they identify with them
Fluid(ity)
adj: Generally with another term attached, like “gender fluid” or fluid sexuality, fluid(ity) describes an identity that may change or shift over time between or within the mix of the options available
Gay
adj: Refers to a man who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards men. Also a generic term for lesbian and gay sexuality
Gender
noun: A social construct used to classify a person as a man, woman, or some other identity. Largely culturally determined and is assumed from the sex assigned at birth
Gender dysphoria
noun: Used to describe when a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their sex assigned at birth and their gender identity
Gender expression
noun: How a person chooses to outwardly express their gender, within the context of societal expectations of gender. A person who does not conform to societal expectations of gender may not, however, identify as trans
Gender reassignment
noun: Another way of describing a person’s transition
Genderqueer
adj: A gender identity label often used by people who do not identify with the binary of man/woman
Heteronormativity
noun: The assumption, in individuals and/or in institutions, that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is superior to all other sexualities
Heterosexism
noun: Behavior that grants preferential treatment to heterosexual people
Heterosexuality
noun: A sexual orientation in which a person feels physically and emotionally attracted to people of a gender other than their own
Internalised homophobia
noun: The fear and self-hate of one’s own LGBTQ+ identity, that occurs for many individuals who have learned negative ideas about LGBTQ+ people throughout childhood. One form of internalized oppression is the acceptance of the myths and stereotypes applied to the oppressed group
Intersex
adj: Term for a combination of chromosomes, gonads, hormones, internal sex organs, and genitals that differs from the two expected patterns of male or female. Formerly known as hermaphrodite (or hermaphroditic), but these terms are now outdated and derogatory
Lesbian
noun & adj: Women who are primarily attracted romantically, erotically, and/or emotionally to other women
Lipstick Lesbian
adj: Feminine lesbian. Sometimes also used to refer to a lesbian who is assumed to be (or passes for) straight
Non-binary
noun: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity doesn’t sit comfortably with ‘man’ or ‘woman’.
Outing
verb: When a lesbian, gay, bi or trans person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is disclosed to someone else without their consent
Pansexual/omnisexual
noun: a person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction for members of all gender identities/expressions. Often shortened to “pan”
Passing
adj & verb: Trans people being accepted as, or able to “pass for,” a member of their self-identified gender identity (regardless of sex assigned at birth) without being identified as trans.
adj: An LGBTQ+ individual who is believed to be or perceived as straight
Polyamorous
noun: Refer to the practice of, desire for, or orientation toward having ethical, honest, and consensual non-monogamous relationships. Often shortened to “poly”
Queer
noun: Used by those wanting to reject specific labels of romantic orientation, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. It can also be a way of rejecting the perceived norms of the LGBT community (racism, sizeism, ableism etc). Although some LGBT people view the word as a slur, it was reclaimed in the late 80s by the queer community who have embraced it.
Stonewall
proper noun: A lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights charity in the United Kingdom, named after the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City’s Greenwich Village
Transexual
noun: A person who lives full-time in a gender different than their assigned birth sex and gender. Some pursue hormones and/or surgery while others do not
Transgender
Transition/transitioning
verb: The steps a trans person may take to live in the gender with which they identify
Womxn
noun: An alternative term for the English language word women which has been occasionally in use since 2015 to explicitly include non-cisgender women