LGBTQ+ Terms
bisexual: a person who is primarily attracted romantically, erotically, and/or emotionally to some people of their gender and another gender. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
butch: a person whose appearance, behavior, or other qualities are perceived as masculine; sometimes used as a derogatory term for a lesbian, but used by participants as a positive self-identification. (see also Safezone.com)
dyke: a lesbian; sometimes used as a derogatory term, but used by participants as a positive self-identification. (see also Safezone.com)
cisgender: a current gender identity that aligns with the sex one was assigned at birth. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
femme: a person whose appearance, behavior, or other qualities are perceived as feminine; often used to refer to a feminine-presenting queer woman or people.
FtM / F2M; MtF / M2F: abbreviation for female-to-male transgender or transsexual person; male-to-female transgender or transsexual person. (see also Safezone.com)
gay: a person who is romantically, erotically, and/or emotionally attracted to people of their own gender. It can be used regardless of gender identity, but is more commonly used to describe men.Sometimes used as an umbrella term used to refer to the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
gayby boom (aka gay baby boom): an increase in the number of lesbian and gay parents in the 1990s onward, including wider access to ART and adoption for LG(B) communities
genderqueer: describes a person whose gender identity falls outside of traditional gender binaries (i.e. male/female); other terms participants used for people whose gender identity falls outside the traditional gender binary include genderfluid,gender variant, gender non-conforming, and non-binary. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
heteronormative/heteronormativity: presumption of heterosexuality, often including assumptions about who should get pregnant (heterosexual couples), how they should do so (procreative intercourse), etc., which have detrimental effects on LGBTQ+* people and families. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
heterosexism: belief or action that gives preferential treatment to heterosexual people. (see also Safezone.com)
homophobia: a fear of or discrimination against gay/queer/lesbian people. Sometimes more specific monikers apply, such as biphobia, transphobia, et cetera. These sentiments or actions are typically understood as held by individuals, or groups of people. In practice, however, and in the experiences of LGBTQ people, they are inevitably influenced by broader political agendas, gender expectations, racialized assumptions, nationalist ideals, religious ideologies, and other societal norms around who should—and should not—form families. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
lesbian: women who are primarily attracted romantically, erotically, and/or emotionally to other women. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
LGBTQ: a common acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education, and extensive discussion in “Terminology: Politics and Practice”)
masculine of center (also masculine-of-center): a gender identity and expression for people who present, understand themselves, and/or relate to others in ways that are perceived as masculine, but don’t necessarily identify as men. (see also Safezone.com)
non-binary: a person whose gender identity falls outside of a traditional gender binary. Sometimes abbreviated as NB or “enby.” (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
QPOC: an acronym for queer people of color, a description that highlights the importance of addressing the intersections of racism, classism, heterosexism, cissexism, and other oppressions as interlocking. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
queer: an umbrella term to describe individuals who don’t identify as heterosexual and/or cisgender; used as a term to describe personal identity (e.g., a queer person), and often used interchangeably with LGBTQ (e.g., “queer people” instead of “LGBTQ people”). Because of its historical use as a derogatory term to describe LGBTQ people and communities, and how it is still used as a slur many communities, it is not embraced or used by all LGBTQ people. (see also Safezone.comand LGBT Health Education)
poly/polyamorous: someone who has intimate relationships with multiple people with the knowledge and consent of all their partners. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
same-gender-loving (SGL): an identity term used by some members of African-American or Black communities to express a non-straight sexual orientation without relying on terms and symbols of European descent. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
stud: most commonly used to describe Black/African-American and/or Latinx masculine lesbian/queer woman. Also known as ‘butch’ or ‘aggressive.’ (see also Safezone.com)
takatāpui: indigenous Māori term used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (New Zealand). (see also https://www.makingqueerhistory.com/articles/2017/10/8/takatpui)
trans/transgender: an umbrella term to describes a person whose gender identity and assigned sex at birth do not correspond. These can include genderqueer and non-binary identities, and transmen and transwomen (who may also prefer men or women, as not to draw attention to their transition). (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
transman/transmasculine: an identity label sometimes adopted by female-to-male transgender people or transsexuals to signify that they are men while still affirming their history as assigned female sex at birth. (see also Safezone.com and LGBT Health Education)
transwoman/transfeminine: an identity label sometimes adopted by male-to-female transsexuals or transgender people to signify that they are women while still affirming their history as assigned male sex at birth. (see also Safezone.com andLGBT Health Education)