Make LGBT+ people feel at home

Ally

​A (typically) straight and/or cis person who supports members of the LGBT+ community.​

 

Asexual​

A person who does not experience sexual attraction. Some asexual people experience romantic attraction, while others do not. Asexual people who experience romantic attraction might also use terms such as gay, bi, lesbian, straight and queer in conjunction with asexual to describe the direction of their romantic attraction.​

 

Bi​

Bi is an umbrella term used to describe a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards more than one gender.​

 

Cisgender or Cis​

Someone whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. ​

 

Coming out​

When a person first tells someone/others about their orientation and/or gender identity.​

 

Deadnaming​

Calling someone by their birth name after they have changed their name. This term is often associated with trans people who have changed their name as part of their transition.​

 

Gay​

Refers to a man who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards men. Also a generic term for lesbian and gay sexuality - some women define themselves as gay rather than lesbian. Some non-binary people may also identify with this term.

 

Gender​

Often expressed in terms of masculinity and femininity, gender is largely culturally determined and is assumed from the sex assigned at birth.​​

 

Gender dysphoria

​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. This is also the clinical diagnosis for someone who doesn’t feel comfortable with the sex they were assigned at birth. ​

 

Gender expression​

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 identity​

A person’s innate sense of their own gender, whether male, female or something else (see non-binary below), which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned at birth. ​

 

Gender reassignment​

Another way of describing a person’s transition. To undergo gender reassignment usually means to undergo some sort of medical intervention, but it can also mean changing names, pronouns, dressing differently and living in their self-identified gender. ​

 

Homosexual​

This might be considered a more medical term used to describe someone who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards someone of the same gender. The term ‘gay’ is now more generally used. ​

 

Intersex

​A term used to describe a person who may have the biological attributes of both sexes or whose biological attributes do not fit with societal assumptions about what constitutes male or female. Intersex people may identify as male, female or non-binary.​

 

Lesbian​

Refers to a woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards women. Some non-binary people may also identify with this term.

 

​LGBT+​

The acronym that collectively refers to individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans.​The “+” represents those who are part of the community, but for whom LGBT+ does not accurately capture or reflect their identity.

 

Non-binary​

An umbrella term for people whose gender identity doesn’t sit comfortably with ‘man’ or ‘woman’. Non-binary identities are varied and can include people who identify with some aspects of binary identities, while others reject them entirely.​

 

Outed​

When a lesbian, gay, bi or trans person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is disclosed to someone else without their consent.​

 

Passing​

If someone is regarded, at a glance, to be a cisgender man or cisgender woman.​Cisgender refers to someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were ‘assigned’ at birth. This might include physical gender cues (hair or clothing) and/or behaviour which is historically or culturally associated with a particular gender.​

 

Pronoun​

Words we use to refer to people’s gender in conversation - for example, ‘he’ or ‘she’. Some people may prefer others to refer to them in gender neutral language and use pronouns such as they/their and ze/zir.​

 

Queer​

Queer is a term 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).

 

​Sex​

Assigned to a person on the basis of primary sex characteristics (genitalia) and reproductive functions. Sometimes the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are interchanged to mean ‘male’ or ‘female’.​

 

Sexual orientation

​A person’s sexual attraction to other people, or lack thereof. Along with romantic orientation, this forms a person’s orientation identity.​

 

Trans​

An umbrella term to describe people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth. Trans people may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including (but not limited to) transgender, transsexual, gender-queer (GQ), gender-fluid, non-binary, gender-variant, crossdresser, genderless, agender, nongender, third gender, bi-gender, trans man, trans woman, trans masculine, trans feminine and neutrois.​ Find out more about trans experiences on our Trans Hub.

 

Transgender man

​A term used to describe someone who is assigned female at birth but identifies and lives as a man. This may be shortened to trans man, or FTM, an abbreviation for female-to-male.​

 

Transgender woman

​A term used to describe someone who is assigned male at birth but identifies and lives as a woman. This may be shortened to trans woman, or MTF, an abbreviation for male-to-female.​

 

Transitioning​

The steps a trans person may take to live in the gender with which they identify. Each person’s transition will involve different things. For some this involves medical intervention, such as hormone therapy and surgeries, but not all trans people want or are able to have this.​Transitioning also might involve things such as telling friends and family, dressing differently and changing official documents.​

 

Transphobia

​The fear or dislike of someone based on the fact they are trans, including denying their gender identity or refusing to accept it. Transphobia may be targeted at people who are, or who are perceived to be, trans.​

 

Transsexual​

This was used in the past as a more medical term (similarly to homosexual) to refer to someone whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth. This term is still used by some although many people prefer the term trans or transgender.