Exploring

What does GLBTI stand for?

The initials ‘GLBTI’ refers to a group of people who identify as either: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex.

A lesbian, or a gay man, is someone who experiences a primary romantic or sexual attraction to other people who describe themselves to be of the same gender.

A bisexual person is a person who experiences these feelings to more than one gender. The term ‘bi‘ is also used to describe feelings for more than two genders.

Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people who were assigned a sex at birth that does not reflect their understanding of their gender or behaviours. Most people of who identify as transgender experience identify as a woman or a man, however some identify as ‘trans’ or as a gender other than female or male.

A person with an intersex characteristic is a person born with physical characteristics that differ from the medical norms of ‘female’ or ‘male’. Intersex is about physical variations. Most people with intersex characteristics describe their gender as female or male, not as a ‘third gender.’

But why do we refer to people in these five sub-groups as one group of GLBTI?

A ‘community’ can be defined as a group of people who share things in common.

The ‘GLBTI community’ is a group of people who have similarities around their experiences of sexuality, gender, body and relationships. Many will experience stigma, prejudice, exclusion and discrimination.

Therefore, there isn’t a single or unified ‘GLBTI community’, rather we often speak about GLBTI communities in plural to capture the variety of experiences.

Prevalence

Individual Diversity

Terminology

Activity:

Brainstorm examples of positive and negative terminology used to describe people who are part of the GLBTI community. Map out the impact of this terminology on the wellbeing (SPEECS) of individuals belonging to this group.

The community uses both positive and negative terminology to describe people who identify as part of the GLBTI community. Discuss the impact this might have on the wellbeing of individuals within the group (6 marks).