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LGBT+ Resources: What Does _ Mean?

Resources and research on LGBT+ and queer topics.

Basic Terminology

Sexual Orientation

"a person's sexual identity in relation to the gender to whom he or she is usually attracted." [Oxford English Dictionary]

Heterosexual (Straight) - "Sexually or romantically attracted to, or engaging in sexual activity with, people of the opposite sex." [OED]

Homosexual (Gay, Lesbian) - "Sexually or romantically attracted to, or engaging in sexual activity with, people of one's own sex." [OED]

Bisexual - "Sexually or romantically attracted to people of both sexes; engaging in sexual activity with both men and women." [OED]

Pansexual - "A person who may be sexually attracted to others regardless of their biological sex or gender identity." [OED]

Asexual (Ace) - "Not sexually attracted to anyone." [OED]

 

Gender

"The state of being male or female as expressed by social or cultural distinctions and differences, rather than biological ones; the collective attributes or traits associated with a particular sex, or determined as a result of one's sex. Also: a (male or female) group characterized in this way." [Oxford English Dictionary]

Cisgender (Gender normative) - "Designating a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds to his or her sex at birth; of or relating to such persons." [OED]

Transgender - "Designating a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond to that person's sex at birth, or which does not otherwise conform to conventional notions of sex and gender" [OED]

Non-Binary - "Of a person: not identifying as male or female; having a gender identity that does not conform to traditional binary notions of gender (according to which all individuals are exclusively either male or female)." [OED]

Genderqueer - "Designating a person who does not subscribe to conventional gender distinctions, but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders." [OED]

Agender - "Designating a person who does not identify as belonging to a particular gender; of or relating to such people." [OED]

 

Sex

"Either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and many other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions; (hence) the members of these categories viewed as a group; the males or females of a particular species, esp. the human race, considered collectively." [Oxford English Dictionary]

Male - "That belongs to the sex which can produce offspring only by fertilization of the opposite sex (contrasted with female); characteristic of or relating to this sex." [OED]

Female - "A person of the sex that can bear offspring; a woman or a girl." [OED]

Intersex - "Having physical characteristics of both sexes; having external or internal sexual organs that are not clearly male or female, that are a combination of typical male and female organs, or that do not correspond to the individual’s chromosomal sex." [OED]

The LGBT+ Spectrums

Spectrum of Gender and Orientation

FAQ about LGBT

Ally Resources