HOW TO BE AN ABSOLUT ALLY

A woman who feels enduring physical, romantic and/or emotional attraction to other women.

An umbrella term for people whose enduring physical, romantic and/ or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex, which can also include other identities like lesbians.

A term for those who have the potential to be physically, romantically and/or emotionally attracted to people of more than one gender, not necessarily at the same time, in the same way or to the same degree. Bi+ encompasses many other terms, including pansexual. It’s important to know that the bi in bisexual refers to attraction to genders the same as and different from one’s own gender, not attraction to men and women.

An adjective for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. People who are transgender may also use other terms (see GLAAD’s glossary of transgender terms) in addition to transgender. 

Once considered a slur, queer has been reclaimed by some young LGBTQ+ people to describe a sexual orientation that isn’t exclusively heterosexual. Typically, for those who identify as queer, the terms lesbian, gay and bisexual are perceived to be too limiting and/or fraught with cultural connotations they feel don’t apply to them. It’s not a universally accepted term, so it’s important to be cautious using it outside of describing someone who self-identifies as queer.

A term describing people with one or more innate sex characteristics, including genitals, internal reproductive organs and chromosomes, that fall outside of traditional conceptions of male or female bodies. (See GLAAD’s In Focus: Intersex People.)

A word that describes people who don’t experience sexual attraction. It also serves as an umbrella term, which can include people who are demisexual, meaning they experience some sexual attraction, but only in certain situations, like after forming a strong emotional or romantic connection with a partner, and people who are aromantic.

An umbrella term describing people who don’t experience romantic attraction. Aromantic can also include people who are demiromantic, meaning people who don’t experience romantic attraction until they’ve formed a strong emotional or sexual connection with a partner.

An umbrella term used by some Indigenous and First Nations people to describe people who aren’t straight and/or cisgender. This term shouldn’t be used to describe people who aren’t Indigenous.

The ‘plus sign’ represents all the other limitless gender identities and sexual orientations that aren’t fully expressed by the letters.

A person’s internal, deeply held knowledge of their own gender. A person’s gender identity may or may not match the sex they were assigned at birth, or fit neatly into either of the two binary genders of man and woman (see our nonbinary definition). Gender identity is not visible to others. You can’t look at someone and “see” their gender identity.

External manifestations of gender, expressed through a person’s name, pronouns, clothing, haircut, voice and/or behavior. Societies classify these external cues as masculine and feminine, although what is considered masculine or feminine changes over time and varies by culture.

Nonbinary is an umbrella term used by people whose gender identity and/or gender expression falls outside the binary gender categories. Some nonbinary people might consider themselves part of the transgender community; others don’t. Some nonbinary people may also use words like agender, bigender, demigender, pangender, etc. to describe the specific way in which they are nonbinary.

A cisgender person is someone whose gender identity is aligned with the sex they were assigned at birth. A term describing people who aren’t transgender.

A term describing people who have the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic and/ or emotional attractions to any person, regardless of gender identity. This is one of several terms under the bi+ umbrella.

Pronouns, like “he,” “she” and “they” convey gender. Using accurate gender pronouns is very important for transgender and nonbinary people, who—like all people—deserve for others to refer to them using the pronouns that best reflect their true gender identity. As a note: The trans community no longer uses the phrase “preferred pronouns” as it implies that someone’s accurate pronouns are a preference, not a fact.