INTRODUCTION TO LGBT+ TERMS

LGBT+ Terms

AN INTRODUCTION TO BASIC

Information sourced from the It Gets Better Project website.

Cisgender: Someone whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth Transgender: Someone whose gender identity differs from the sex assigned to them at birth. Many trans people identify as men or women, while others use “transgender” as an umbrella term and identify as gender nonconforming.

Asexual: Someone who experiences little or no sexual attraction, or does not feel the need to act on their attraction. Bisexual: Someone who is attracted to those of their gender as well as those of a different gender. Some people use bisexual to describe people who are attracted to more than one gender, making it closely related to the term pansexual Gay: Someone who is attracted to those of their same gender. Most often used to describe men who are attracted to men, but can also be used as an umbrella term. Lesbian: A woman who is attracted to other women

Sex: Infants are usually assigned a sex at birth based on the appearance of their external anatomy. Sex is often confused with gender, but sex is actually just a combination of physical characteristics such as chromosomes and reproductive organs. Sexual Orientation: The desire you have for emotional and romanic relationships with others based on their gender expression, gender identity, and sex.

Gender Expression: The external manifestations of gender (names, pronouns, clothes, haircuts, voice, body) Gender Identity: One’s internal sense of gender. Unlike gender expression, gender identity is not visible to others.

Gender Nonconforming: Someone whose gender identity and/or expression does not conform to social expectations of gender. This can be an umbrella term for identities such as a-gender, bigender, genderfluid, genderqueer, etc.