LGBTQ+ glossary

This glossary can support engagement when researching with LGBTQ+ communities.

It is designed to provide a short introduction and explainer to some basic terms around LGBTQ+ people and communities.

It’s important to recognise that language is constantly evolving, and these labels are not a strict taxonomy. People may use language in ways which reflect their personal history, experiences, and social world.

Lesbian

• typically refers to women who are romantically/sexually attracted to other women

• some lesbians may also identify as ‘gay’ or as ‘gay women’

• the L is at the front of the acronym to recognise and honour the role of lesbians in caring for and fighting for gay men, who were the most vulnerable to HIV, during the worst years of the HIV/AIDs epidemic in the 80s and 90s

Gay

• refers to people who are  romantically/sexually attracted to people of the same gender – within the acronym it is usually understood as referring to men, but is not exclusively used this way

• some lesbians may also identify as ‘gay’ or as ‘gay women’

Bisexual

• refers to people who are romantically/sexually attracted to people of the same gender and another gender, e.g. men and women

• ‘pansexual’ refers to people who are attracted to people regardless of their gender

Transgender

• often abbreviated to ‘trans’

• refers to people whose gender identity is different to the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, someone may be assigned female at birth, but identify and live as a man, and they could be described as a trans man

• there are a range of terms under this umbrella, the most common being ‘trans man, ‘trans woman’, and ‘non-binary’

• ‘non-binary’ refers to people whose gender identity is neither male nor female. Sometimes abbreviated to ‘NB’

• people who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are referred to as ‘cisgender’

Queer

• ‘queer’ used to be a slur used against LGBTQIA+ people, but has been reclaimed by large sections of the community from the 90’s onwards

• it refers broadly to people whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression is not exclusively cisgender or heterosexual

• variety of feeling around its use, varying broadly by age (and sometimes personal politics)

• increasingly used by younger LGBTQ+ people as a shorthand/umbrella term. Older LGBT+ may still find it offensive

Intersex

• describes people with innate characteristics of sex (e.g. genitals, gonads, chromosomes etc.) which fall outside of normative expectations of female or male bodies

• not all intersex people identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community

Asexual

• refers to people who do not experience sexual attraction. Sometimes this is abbreviated to ‘ace’

• you may also come across the term ‘aromantic’, meaning people who do not experience romantic attraction

• these can occur together or separately (for more information you can look up the Split Attraction Model)

Other terms

Cisgender

• often abbreviated to ‘cis’

• refers to people whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth e.g. someone who was assigned male at birth and identifies as a man

• from the Latin prefix ‘cis-‘ meaning ‘on this side of’ or ‘on the same side of’, as compared to ‘trans-‘ meaning ‘across from’ or ‘on the other side of’

Heterosexual/straight

• refers to people who are romantically/sexually attracted to the opposite binary gender i.e. women who are attracted to men, and men who are attracted to women

Cishet

• pronounced ‘cis-het’, a contraction of ‘cisgender/heterosexual’. Commonly used to describe people who are cisgender and heterosexual, not a part of the LGBTQ+ community