Lexicon of the LGBTQ+ Community

Here are some terms in use by the LGBTQ+ community today.

By Sarah Langot

Aromantic

Someone who is aromantic, or aro, does not feel romantic sentiments for individuals.

Asexual

An asexual person, or an ace, does not feel a sexual attraction for individuals. To define yourself as aroace or aro ace means it’s understood you will have a hard time forming a couple and starting a family.

Bisexual

A bisexual person is sexually attracted to more than one gender: those genders include cisgender men and women, or transgenders, non-binary persons, among others.

Cisgender

A person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex.

Gender Fluid

A gender fluid individual fluctuates between a masculine identity and a feminine identity. Sometimes they feel like a man, and sometimes, like a woman.

Intersex

This person does not have normal purely male or purely female (binary) biological characteristics.

Non-Binary

Someone who identifies as non-binary doesn’t identify with the binary principle of gender: they feel neither exclusively male nor exclusively female.

Queer

This term is used to define all those who don’t fit into the hetero-normal system, or who are not cisgender.

Transgender

Trans-identity means not adhering to the gender you were born as. This person is in discord with their gender. The opposite of cisgender.