LGBT+ Glossary of Terms

LGBT+ Glossary of Terms

• 1.
  A man orwoman who is sexually, emotionally and romantically attracted to people of the same gender. Gay The assumption that being heterosexual is the typical and ‘normal’ sexual orientation, with an underlying assumption that it is the superior sexual orientation. Heteronormative Someone who does not feel confined by the binary division of male and female. Genderfluid/Genderqueer Irish legislation which was enacted in 2015 to provide a process enabling transgender people to achieve full legal recognition of their preferred gender and to access a new birth certificate that reflects this change. Someone’s identification as male, female, or any other identity. This may or may not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender Identity Gender Recognition Act A term which describes individuals who experience and express their gender identity in ways which correspond to the biological sex they were assigned at birth. Cisgender Someone who is sexually, emotionally and romantically attracted to people of more than one gender. Bisexual Someone who is not sexually and may or may not be emotionally and romantically attracted to other people. Asexual An individual who experiences a lack of romantic attraction or a lack of interest in forming romantic relationships. Aromantic An analytic framework that attempts to identify how interlocking systems of power and oppression impact those who are most marginalised in society. Someone who is sexually, emotionally and romantically attracted to a person of the opposite sex. Heterosexual Intersectionality The insensitivity, exclusion or discrimination towards other sexual orientations and gender identities, including those within the LGBT+ community, that often occurs due to heteronormativity. Heterosexism www.aurionlearning.com LGBT+ Glossary of Terms
• 2.
  Someone who issexually, emotionally and romantically attracted to people of any sex or gender identity. Pansexual Pre-exposure prophylaxis. Medication used to prevent the contraction of HIV. PrEP The chronically higher levels of stress faced by members of stigmatised minority groups compared to non-stigmatised groups. Minority Stress An acronym for ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender’. LGBT A woman who is sexually, emotionally and romantically attracted to other women. Lesbian The process through which a person takes steps to express their gender identity when it is different to that assigned to them at birth. Transitioning An umbrella term referring to people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the gender they were assigned at birth. Transgender/Trans An enduring pattern of emotional, romantic or sexual attraction. It includes a wide range of attractions and terms, the most common being gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual and heterosexual. Sexual Orientation/Sexual Identity While historically queer has been used as an abusive term, some people have reclaimed the word and self-identify as ‘queer’. For them, this reclamation is a celebrated of not fitting into heteronormative norms or a radical stance that captures multiple aspects of identities. Queer www.aurionlearning.com This glossary of terms and definitions has been produced with permission by LGBT Ireland. To learn more about LGBT Ireland, visit www.lgbt.ie