Understanding LBGTQ+ Terms

As we exit Pride Month, if you feel you still fall short of having a total understanding of the community and the associated terms, here’s a quick LBGTQ+ directory. 

First, let’s begin with a breakdown of the acronym and what each of the terms in the growing alphabet means. 

LGBTQ+ — is a shorthand or umbrella term for all folks who have a non-normative (or queer) gender or sexuality, there are many different initialisms people prefer. LGBTQ is an acronym that stands for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer and/or Questioning.  Sometimes people at a + at the end in an effort to be more inclusive.

Lesbian – women who are primarily attracted romantically, erotically, and/or emotionally to other women.

Gay — experiencing attraction solely (or primarily) to some members of the same gender. Can be used to refer to men who are attracted to other men and women who are attracted to women. 2 adj. : an umbrella term used to refer to the queer community as a whole, or as an individual identity label for anyone who is not straight.

Bisexual — a person who experiences attraction to some people of their gender and another gender. Bisexual attraction does not have to be equally split, or indicate a level of interest that is the same across the genders an individual may be attracted to. Often used interchangeably with “pansexual”.

Transgender — a gender description for someone who has transitioned (or is transitioning) from living as one gender to another.

Queer — an umbrella term to describe individuals who don’t identify as straight and/or cisgender.

Questioning — an individual who or time when someone is unsure about or exploring their own sexual orientation or gender identity.

More Terms to Know 

asexual – experiencing little or no sexual attraction to others and/or a lack of interest in sexual relationships/behavior

cisgender /“siss-jendur”/  – a gender description for when someone’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity correspond in the expected way (e.g., someone who was assigned male at birth, and identifies as a man). A simple way to think about it is if a person is not transgender, they are cisgender. The word cisgender can also be shortened to “cis.”

drag queen – someone who performs (hyper-) femininity theatrically.

gay –an umbrella term used to refer to the queer community as a whole, or as an individual identity label for anyone who is not straight.

gender expression – the external display of one’s gender, through a combination of clothing, grooming, demeanor, social behavior, and other factors, generally made sense of on scales of masculinity and femininity. Also referred to as “gender presentation.”

gender identity –the internal perception of one’s gender, and how they label themselves, based on how much they align or don’t align with what they understand their options for gender to be.

homosexual – a person primarily emotionally, physically, and/or sexually attracted to members of the same sex/gender. This] term is considered stigmatizing due to its history as a category of mental illness, and is discouraged for common use (use gay or lesbian instead).

pansexual – a person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction for members of all gender identities/expressions. Often shortened to “pan.”

sex reassignment surgery – used by some medical professionals to refer to a group of surgical options that alter a person’s biological sex. “Gender confirmation surgery” is considered by many to be a more affirming term. In most cases, one or multiple surgeries are required to achieve legal recognition of gender variance. Some refer to different surgical procedures as “top” surgery and “bottom” surgery to discuss what type of surgery they are having without having to be more explicit.

transition / transitioning – referring to the process of a transgender person changing aspects of themself (e.g., their appearance, name, pronouns, or making physical changes to their body) to be more congruent with the gender they know themself to be, as opposed to the gender they lived as pre-transitioning.

transsexual – a person who identifies psychologically as a gender/sex other than the one to which they were assigned at birth. Transsexuals often wish to transform their bodies hormonally and surgically to match their inner sense of gender/sex.transvestite – a person who dresses as the binary opposite gender expression (“cross-dresses”) for any one of many reasons, including relaxation, fun, and sexual gratification (often called a “cross-dresser,” and should not be confused with transsexual).