LGBTQ+ Terminology

Capturing the ever-evolving terminology of the LGBT community, London based designer Jacqui Ma created this glossary of terms to shed light on the complexity and importance of language. The designer states “Over the years, many LGBT terms have become redundant through misuse, assumptions and misunderstandings. Other terms are dropped and then reclaimed, so this list is definitely a sign of the times in 2022 and should be used to educate our kids, our allies, and our community”

“Education is the vaccine for violence.” Edward James Olmos

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Here are the terms included on this print:

Ally

Typically a non-queer person who supports and advocates for the queer community; an individual within the LGBTQ+ can be an ally for another member that identifies differently than them.

Aceflux

Someone whose capacity for sexual or romantic attraction changes over time. It is an emerging micro-label withinin the asexual (or ace) community, it challenges the idea that we need to have just one consistent feeling about sexual desire.

Aromantic

People who experience little or no romantic attraction. (Asexual people do not always identify as aromantic; aromantic people do not always identify as asexual.)

Asexual

Asexual is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or a low interest in sexual activity. Some people consider asexuality to be their sexual orientation, and others describe it as an absence of sexual orientation.

Bisexual

Someone who feels a sexual and/or romantic attraction to people of a different gender as well as their own. People who identify as bisexual may be pansexual.

Cisgender

Someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth. If a person’s sex at birth is said to be male and this person identifies as a man, they would be cisgender. It is a term that describes a person’s gender identity, not their sexual or romantic attractions.

Drag

The theatrical act of dressing in gendered clothing and/or adopting gendered behaviours as part of a performance . It does not indicate the performer’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Demisexual

A sexual orientation in which a person feels sexually attracted to someone only after they've developed a close emotional bond with them. Demisexuality only refers to the type of attraction that person feels, not how often they have sex.

G.N.C

Gender Non-confirming is someone who expresses gender outside traditional norms associated with masculinity or femininity. Not all gender-nonconforming people are transgender, and some transgender people express gender in conventionally masculine or feminine ways.

Gay

An identity label sometimes claimed by man-identified people who form their primary romantic and sexual relationships with other man-identified people.

Gender fluid

A term used by people whose identity shifts or fluctuates. Sometimes these individuals may identify or express themselves as more masculine on some days, and more feminine on others.

Graysexual

Also known as gray asexuality, gray-a, gray-ace, or grey-ace — is a term to describe people who identify as asexual but don't fit into the main types of asexuality.

Intersex

A term for someone born with biological sex characteristics that aren’t traditionally associated with male or female bodies. Intersexuality does not refer to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Lesbian

An identity label sometimes claimed by woman-identified people who form their primary romantic and sexual relationships with other woman-identified people. Some nonbinary people also identify with this term.

LGBTQI+

LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or sometimes questioning). The "plus" represents other sexual identities including pansexual and Two-Spirit. The 'plus' is used to signify all of the gender identities and sexual orientations that are not specifically covered by the other initials.

M.A.A.B

Male assigned at birth. There is also F.A.A.B./U.A.A.B. which stand for female-assigned at birth and unassigned at birth.

Non-binary

Also known as genderqueer is an umbrella term for gender identities that are not solely male or female. It is a person who identifies as neither male nor female and sees themselves outside the gender binary. It does not describe sexual preference.

Pansexual

Someone who is attracted to people of all gender identities or someone who is attracted to a person’s qualities regardless of their gender identity. People of any gender identity can and do identify as pansexual.

Passing

Being perceived by others as the gender you are aiming to present as. Usually used to describe if a trans person is able to live convincingly and publicly as the gender they identify as.

Pronoun

Words we use to refer to people’s gender in conversation - for example, ‘he’ or ‘she’. Some people may prefer others to refer to them in gender neutral language and use pronouns such as they/their and ze/zir.

Questioning

Within the community, "questioning" has come to mean anyone who hasn't yet self-defined their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or some combination of the three. Simply put: they have a feeling they might be different, but are still in a process of exploration.

Queer

A multi-faceted word that is used in different ways and means different things to different people. In general a queer person may be attracted to people of many genders. It is a general term referring to all non-heterosexual people.

Trans

An umbrella term to describe people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with the sex they were assigned at birth. Sub terms include transgender, transsexual, trans man, trans woman, trans masculine, trans feminine + others.