Many terms are associated with sexual and gender identities, and terminology continues to evolve. Below are some of the terms currently used by the Division of Adolescent and School Health. This list and the definitions offered may change over time.
Ace – Someone who identities as Asexual.
Agender – A person without gender. An agender individual’s body does not necessarily correspond with their lack of gender identity. [Related Terms: neutrois, genderless, gender neutral]
Ally – 1. Someone who confronts heterosexism, anti- LGBTQIA biases, heterosexual and cisgender privilege in themselves and others 2. Has concern for the well being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, intersex, queer, and other similarly identified people 3. Believes that heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia are social justice issues.
Androgyne – A person appearing and/or identifying as neither man nor woman. Some androgyne individuals may present in a gender neutral or androgynous way.
Asexual – A person who does not experience sexual attraction. They may or may not experience emotional, physical, or romantic attraction. Asexuality differs from celibacy in that it is a sexual orientation, not a choice. People who are asexual may call themselves “ace.”
Assigned at Birth – This term illustrates that an individual’s sex (and subsequently gender in early life) was assigned without involving the person whose sex was being assigned. Commonly seen as “Female Assigned At Birth” (FAAB or AFAB) and “Male Assigned At Birth” (MAAB or AMAB).
Bicurious – A person showing some curiosity for a relationship or sexual activity with a person of a gender they do not usually engage with. [Related terms: heteroflexible, homoflexible]
Bigender – A person whose gender identity is a combination of man and woman. They may consciously or unconsciously change their gender-role behavior from masculine to feminine, or vice versa.
Bisexual: A person who is attracted to both people of their own gender and other genders.
Butch – 1.A person who identifies themselves as masculine, whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally 2. Sometimes used as a derogatory term for lesbians, but it can also be claimed as an affirmative identity label.
Cisgender: Individuals whose current gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth.
Cisgender Privilege – The set of privileges conferred to people who are believed to be Cisgender. (Examples: having one’s personal pronouns correctly used, no harassment in public restrooms, no denial of expected access to health care, etc.)
Cisnormativity – The assumption, in individuals or in institutions, that everyone is cissexual, and that cisgender persons identities are more normal, valid, and worthy of respect than transgender people’s identities.
Coming Out – 1. The process of accepts one’s own sexuality, gender identity, or status as an intersex person (to “come out” to oneself). 2. The process of sharing one’s sexuality, gender identity, or intersex status with others (to “come out” to friends, etc.). 3. A life-long process for individuals in the LGBTQIA community. Cross-dressing – To occasionally wear clothes traditionally associated with people of the other gender.
Cross-dressing is a form of gender expression, is not necessarily tied to erotic activity, and is not indicative of sexual orientation.
Discrimination – Prejudice + power. It occurs when members of a more powerful social group behave unjustly or cruelly to members of a less powerful social group. Discrimination can take many forms, including both individual acts of hatred or injustice and institutional denials of privileges normally accorded to other groups. Ongoing discrimination creates a climate of oppression for the affected group.
Down Low – Originating within communities of color, used to describe men who identify as heterosexual but who are sexually active with men. Many avoid sharing this information even if they are also sexually active with women. [Related terms: Men who sleep with men (MSM)] Drag – The performance of one or multiple genders theatrically.
Drag King – A person who performs masculinity theatrically.
Drag Queen – A person who performs femininity theatrically.
Dyke – 1.Sometimes adopted affirmatively by lesbians (not necessarily masculine ones) to refer to themselves. 2. Derogatory term referring to (often masculine) lesbians.
Femme – An individual of any assigned sex or gender identity who identifies with femininity as dictated by traditional gender roles.
FTM – Abbreviation for a female-to-male transgender person. This term reflects the direction of gender transition. Some prefer the term MTM (Male to Male) to underscore the fact that though they were assigned female at birth, they never identified as female. [Related terms: transgender man, trans man]
Gay: A person who is attracted primarily to members of the same gender. Gay is most frequently used to describe men who are attracted primarily to other men, although it can be used for men and women.
Gender: The cultural roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes expected of people based on their sex.
Gender Confirming Surgery – Medical surgeries used to modify one’s body to be more congruent with one’s gender identity. Also known as ‘Sex Reassignment Surgery,’ especially within the medical community. In most states, one or multiple surgeries are required to achieve legal recognition of gender status.
Gender Dysphoria – Discomfort or distress caused by one’s assigned sex and the desire to change the characteristics that are the source.
Gender Expression: How an individual chooses to present their gender to others through physical appearance and behaviors, such as style of hair or dress, voice, or movement.
Gender Identity: An individual’s sense of their self as man, woman, transgender, or something else.
Gender Minority: Individuals whose gender identity (man, women, other) or expression (masculine, feminine, other) is different from their sex (male, female) assigned at birth.
Gender Nonbinary: Individuals who do not identify their gender as man or woman. Other terms to describe this identity include genderqueer, agender, bigender, gender creative, etc.
Gender Nonconforming: The state of one’s physical appearance or behaviors not aligning with societal expectations of their gender (a feminine boy, a masculine girl, etc.).
Gender Oppression - The societal, institutional, and individual beliefs and practices that privilege Cisgender and subordinate and disparage transgender or gender non conforming people.
Heteronormativity – The assumption, in individuals or in institutions, that everyone is heterosexual, and that heterosexuality is superior to homosexuality, bisexuality, and other sexual orientations.
Heterosexual or Straight: A man who is primarily attracted to women or a woman who is primarily attracted to men.
Homophobia – The irrational fear, hatred, or intolerance of people who identify or are perceived as non-heterosexual, including the fear of being read as part of the “gay” community. Homophobic behavior can range from telling gay jokes, to verbal abuse, to acts of physical violence.
Institutional Oppression – Arrangements of a society used to benefit one group at the expense of another through the use of language, media, education, religion, economics, etc.
Internalized Oppression – The process by which a member of an oppressed group comes to accept and live out the inaccurate stereotypes applied to the oppressed group.
Intersex Person(s) – Individual(s) born with the condition of having physical sex markers (genitals, hormones, gonads, or chromosomes) that are neither clearly male nor female. Intersex people are sometimes defined as having “ambiguous” genitalia.
Lesbian: A woman who is primarily attracted to other women.
LGBTQ: Acronym that refers to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning community.
MTF – Abbreviation for a male-to-female transgender person. This term reflects the direction of gender transition. Some people prefer the term FTF (female to Page 8 female) to underscore the fact that though they were assigned male at birth, they never identified as male.
Oppression – The systematic subjugation of a group of people by another group with access to social power, the result of which benefits one group over the other and is maintained by social beliefs and practices.
Outing – When someone discloses information about another’s sexual orientation or gender identity without their knowledge and/or consent.
Pansexual – A person who has the potential to be attracted to all or many gender identities and expressions.
Prejudice – A conscious or unconscious negative belief about a whole group of people and its individual members. Anyone can be prejudiced toward another individual or group.
Queer: An umbrella term sometimes used to refer to the entire LGBT community.
Questioning: For some, the process of exploring and discovering one’s own sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Sex: An individual’s biological status as male, female, or something else. Sex is assigned at birth and associated with physical attributes, such as anatomy and chromosomes.
Sexual Minority: Individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, or who are attracted to or have sexual contact with people of the same gender.
Sexual Orientation: Refers to a person’s sexual and emotional attraction to another person and the behavior and/or social affiliation that may result from this attraction (lesbian, gay, bisexual, etc.)
SGM: Acronym for sexual and gender minorities.
SGMY: Acronym for sexual and gender minority youth.
SMY: Acronym for sexual minority youth.
Stereotype – A preconceived or oversimplified generalization about an entire group of people without regard for their individual differences. Some stereotypes can be positive. However, they can have a negative impact, simply because they involve broad generalizations that ignore individual realities.
Straight – Another term for heterosexual.
Straight-Acting – A term usually applied to gay men who readily pass as heterosexual. The term implies that there is a certain way that gay men should act that is significantly different from heterosexual men. Straight-acting gay men may be critiqued by members of the LGBTQIA community for seemingly accessing heterosexual privilege.
Top Surgery – This term usually refers to surgery for the construction of a maletype chest, but may also refer to breast augmentation.
Transgender: Individuals whose current gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.
Transition – This term is primarily used to refer to the process a gender variant person undergoes when changing their bodily appearance either to be more congruent with the gender/sex with which they identify and/or to be in harmony with their preferred gender expression.
Transphobia – The irrational hatred of those who are transgender or gender non-conforming, sometimes expressed through violent and sometimes deadly means.
Transsexual – A person who identifies psychologically as a gender/sex other than the one to which they were assigned at birth. Transsexuals often wish to transform their bodies hormonally and surgically to match their inner sense of gender/sex. Two-Spirit – A Native American term for people who blend the masculine and the feminine. It is commonly used to describe individuals who historically crossed gender. It is often used by contemporary LGBTQIA Native American people to describe themselves.
Ze / Hir – Alternate pronouns that are gender neutral. Pronounced /zee/ and /here/, they replace “he”/”she” and “his”/”hers” respectively.
* Terms listed are referenced from APA’s Definitions Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity and the World Health Organization’s glossary of terms and tools. Additional terms are referenced from UC Riverside LGBT Resource Center http://students673.ucr.edu/docsserver/lgbt/terminology.pdf