Brief overview of the LGBTQ+ acronym and the most commonly discussed identities. Heavily based on the PFLAG National Glossary of Terms.
A woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay or as gay women.
The adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same gender. Lesbian is often a preferred term for women, though many women use the term gay to describe themselves. People who are gay need not have any sexual experience; it is the attraction and self-id that determine orientation.
Refers to an individual who has the capacity for attraction—sexually, romantically, emotionally, or otherwise—to two or more genders.
An umbrella term for people whose gender differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Transgender people may or may not decide to take hormones or have gender affirming surgeries.
A term used by some people to describe themselves and/or their community. Reclaimed from its earlier negative use, the term is valued by some for its defiance, by some because it can be inclusive of the entire community, and by others who find it to be an appropriate term to describe their more fluid identities. Traditionally a negative or pejorative term for people who are gay, queer is still sometimes disliked within the LGBTQ+ community.
Sometimes, when the Q is seen at the end of LGBT, it can also mean questioning. This term describes someone who is questioning their sexual orientation or gender.
Refers to an individual who does not experience sexual attraction. Each asexual person experiences relationships, attraction, and arousal differently.
A nonbinary gender is one that does not fall within (or completely outside of) the standard categorizations of man/woman.
Nonbinary people can be AFAB, AMAB, or intersex, and may have any sexual orientation.
Refers to a person whose emotional, romantic, and/or physical is to people inclusive of all genders.