Disclaimer [ENGLISH]
Disclaimer: This material is for educational purposes only. You, the reader, assume full responsibility for how you choose to use it. It is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, nor does it replace the advice or counsel of a doctor or health care professional. Reference to a specific commercial product or service does not imply endorsement or recommendation of that product or service by CPCMG.
- The LGBTQ+ community is a true community.
- For parents, extended family, and neighbors, it can be challenging to enter this community with your child.
- This is especially true if you do not understand all the terms.
- These definitions are intended to be used as a start in your exploration of the LGBTQ+ community but are not absolute or unchanging.
- Please read these knowing that not everyone will use the same definitions.
- Using the pronouns (examples: he, she, them) your child prefers will help them feel supported and accepted by you.
Sexual/Romantic Orientation
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Physical Attraction | Used to describe a person’s ability to feel attraction to physical traits of an individual or to the individual based on their appearance. |
| Romantic Attraction | Used to describe a person’s ability to feel the capacity for a romantic relationship with an individual |
| Asexual | A person who does not experience or infrequently experiences physical attraction to people of any gender. This does not mean that this person does not experience other forms of attraction. |
| Bisexual | A person who experiences attraction to others of the same and different genders to themself. In the past, “bisexual” has been used to describe a person who experiences attraction to men and women, but some have since expanded this definition so that it also includes those who identify as nonbinary. |
| Demisexual | A person who does not experience physical attraction to people of any gender without a strong emotional attraction, an identity that falls under the asexual umbrella. |
| Gay | A man/masculine-identifying person who is attracted to other men/masculine-identifying people. “Gay” may also be used as an umbrella term within the community to describe any non-heterosexual person. |
| Lesbian | A woman/non-man identifying person who is primarily attracted to other women/non-men identifying people. |
| MLM | Short for “men loving men;” another way that same sex attracted men may describe their sexual orientation that is more open to other identities outside of gay, as it can also describe bisexual and pansexual men, among other identities. |
| Pansexual | A person who experiences physical attraction to people of all or multiple genders. |
| Queer | An umbrella term used to describe a non-heterosexual person. It is best practice that a person waits for another to self-identify with the word “queer” rather than use this term for every LGBTQ+ person. “Queer” historically has been used an anti LGBTQ+ slur but has been reclaimed by some members of the LGBTQ+ community. |
| Questioning | A person who is not sure of their sexual orientation and who may be currently in a state of exploring labels or identities which they may choose to identify with. |
| WLW | Short for “women loving women;” another way that same sex attracted women may describe their sexual orientation that is more open to other identities outside of gay or lesbian, as it can also describe bisexual and pansexual women, among other identities. |
| sexual | Used to denote having to do with a person's capacity to experience physical or sexual attraction. |
| romantic | Used to describe a person’s ability to experience. |
Gender Identity
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Gender Binary | The idea that there are only two genders fixed, biologically based, and attached to social norms. |
| Gender Spectrum | Instead of binary, a recognition of gender as a complex aspect of self, including sex, gender expression, and gender identity. |
| Agender | A person who does not identify with any gender as constructed by society/societal expectation. |
| Bigender | A person who identifies with two genders at the same time. |
| Cis-Cisgender | A person whose gender identity is in alignment with the sex they were assigned at birth. |
| Gender Diverse/Gender Expansive | A more flexible definition of gender identity/expression than is typical in the gender binary system. |
| Gender Fluid | A person whose gender identity can change with time and/or situation, as opposed to a fixed gender. People who identify as gender fluid may change pronouns to match their current gender identity, and some may use the same pronouns across identities. |
| Gender Queer | A term used by some to describe a gender which is not exclusively male or female. |
| Nonbinary | A term used by some to describe a gender which is not exclusively male or female. |
| Questioning | A person who is not sure of their gender identity and may be currently in a state of exploring labels or identities which they may choose to identify with. |
| Trans/Transgender |
A person whose gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth. (Trans people do not have to complete a medical transition.)
|
From Kathie Moellgi of Trans SOS services
“Recognizing the word ‘cisgender’ helps us to establish language equality and justice, as it creates the space for trans folks in our sense of what people means. Consider if we did not have the ‘cisgender’ we would live in a world with people (implied normal) and trans people. Using this language of cis people and trans people helps to show that trans identities are not outside of ‘normal’ society.”
Gender Expression
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Androgynous | A person who presents as neither masculine nor feminine. |
| Gender Nonconforming | A person whose gender expression differs from what we consider the normal appearance is for a male or female. |
| passing | A term used by some trans/nonbinary people to describe the experience of a trans person who is regularly referred to by their correct pronouns and other identifying words, even by strangers. |
Transition for Transgender Individuals
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Gender dysphoria | The distress that some trans and non-binary people may experience based on their sex assigned at birth/the gender society perceives them as vs their actual gender identity. |
| Gender euphoria | The joy that trans and non-binary people may experience from being seen as their actual selves. It is important that allies celebrate trans joy just the same as they grieve gender dysphoria. |
| Social Transition | An aspect of transition that may include changes such as name used by friends and family, gender presentation (clothing, haircut, etc.) and other less “formal” changes. |
| Legal Transition | Refers to the process by which trans and nonbinary people change their legal name and gender through state and/or federal institutions. |
| Medical Transition | Refers to the process by which trans and non-binary people seek out medical services to affirm their gender identity and/or alleviate gender dysphoria. This may include surgeries, hormone therapy, and speech therapy, among other options. |
| Top Surgery | Can either refer to breast augmentation or double mastectomy for a trans person. |
| Bottom Surgery | Can refer to any surgery involving private areas (genitalia) or reproductive organs. |
| Facial Reconstruction | Surgical procedures performed to make facial features look more feminine or more masculine. |
| Deadname | A term used by some trans people to describe when a trans or nonbinary person is referred to by the incorrect name (often the name they were given at birth). |
| Misgender | A term used to describe when trans or nonbinary people are referred to by incorrect pronouns or other gendered language that does not match their gender identity. |
- These definitions are taken with permission from Trans Family Support Services: a national serving non-profit that seeks to create a safer and more affirming world for the trans and non-binary community and their loved ones.
- If you are interested in having access to the full document that these definitions, come from, you can reach out to TFSS at info@transfamilysos.org to book a training session for your workplace or organization.
- If you are a trans/non-binary person or the parent of a trans/nonbinary person, please check out the resources and programs TFSS can offer at no cost at transfamilysos.org.
Reviewed by: LGBTQ+ Committee and TT D.O, AR D.O. | 07/2024