GLAAD Terms - Transgender/Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Queer
Gender Expression
External manifestations of gender, expressed through a person's name, pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, and/or body characteristics. Society identifies these cues as masculine and feminine, although what is considered masculine or feminine changes over time and varies by culture. Typically, transgender people seek to align *THIS* with their gender identity, rather than the sex they were assigned at birth.
Homosexual
Outdated clinical term considered derogatory and offensive. The Associated Press, New York Times and Washington Post restrict usage of the term.
Out
A person who self-identifies as LGBTQ in their personal, public, and/or professional lives. For example: Ricky Martin is an *THIS* pop star from Puerto Rico. Preferred to openly gay.
Coming Out
A lifelong process of self-acceptance. People forge a LGBTQ identity first to themselves and then they may reveal it to others. Publicly sharing one's identity may or may not be part of *THIS*.
Bisexual
A person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of another gender. People may experience this attraction in differing ways and degrees over their lifetime. Bisexual people need not have had specific sexual experiences to be bisexual; in fact, they need not have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual. Do not use a hyphen in the word "bisexual," and only capitalize bisexual when used at the beginning of a sentence.
Gender Identity
A person's internal, deeply held sense of their gender. For transgender people, their own internal gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. Most people have *THIS* of man or woman (or boy or girl). For some people, *THIS* does not fit neatly into one of those two choices (see non-binary and/or genderqueer below.) Unlike gender expression (see below) *THIS* is not visible to others.
Cisgender
A term used by some to describe people who are not transgender. "Cis-" is a Latin prefix meaning "on the same side as," and is therefore an antonym of "trans-." A more widely understood way to describe people who are not transgender is simply to say non-transgender people.
Gender Non-Conforming
A term used to describe some people whose gender expression is different from conventional expectations of masculinity and femininity. Please note that not all gender non-conforming people identify as transgender; nor are all transgender people gender non-conforming. Many people have gender expressions that are not entirely conventional - that fact alone does not make them transgender. Many transgender men and women have gender expressions that are conventionally masculine or feminine. Simply being transgender does not make someone gender non-conforming. The term is not a synonym for transgender or transsexual and should only be used if someone self-identifies as gender non-conforming.
Lesbian
A woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay (adj.) or as gay women. Avoid identifying lesbians as "homosexuals," a derogatory term (see Offensive Terms to Avoid).
LGBTQ
Acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer.
Sex Reassignment Surgery
Also called Gender Confirmation Surgery (GCS). Refers to doctor-supervised surgical interventions, and is only one small part of transition (see transition above). Avoid the phrase "sex change operation." Do not refer to someone as being "pre-op" or "post-op." Not all transgender people choose to, or can afford to, undergo medical surgeries. Journalists should avoid overemphasizing the role of surgeries in the transition process.
Transition
Altering one's birth sex is not a one-step procedure; it is a complex process that occurs over a long period of time. *THIS* can include some or all of the following personal, medical, and legal steps: telling one's family, friends, and co-workers; using a different name and new pronouns; dressing differently; changing one's name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) one or more types of surgery. The exact steps involved in *THIS* vary from person to person. Avoid the phrase "sex change".
Queer
An adjective used by some people, particularly younger people, whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual (e.g. *THIS* person, *THIS* woman). Typically, for those who identify as *THIS*, 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. Some people may use *THIS*, or more commonly gender*THIS*, to describe their gender identity and/or gender expression (see non-binary) Once considered a pejorative term, *THIS* has been reclaimed by some LGBT people to describe themselves; however, it is not a universally accepted term even within the LGBT community. When Q is seen at the end of LGBT, it typically means *THIS* and, less often, questioning.
Asexual
An adjective used to describe people who do not experience sexual attraction. A person can also be aromantic, meaning they do not experience romantic attraction.
Heterosexual
An adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attraction is to people of the opposite sex.
Transgender
An older term that originated in the medical and psychological communities. Still preferred by some people who have permanently changed - or seek to change - their bodies through medical interventions, including but not limited to hormones and/or surgeries. Unlike *THIS*, transsexual is not an umbrella term. Many of these people do not identify as transsexual and prefer the word "*THIS*".
Intersex
An umbrella term describing people born with reproductive or sexual anatomy and/or a chromosome pattern that can't be classified as typically male or female. Those variations are also sometimes referred to as Differences of Sex Development (DSD.) Avoid the outdated and derogatory term "hermaphrodite." While some people can have *THIS* condition and also identify as transgender, the two are separate and should not be conflated.
Transgender
An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. People under *THIS* umbrella may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms - including *THIS*. Some of those terms are defined below. Use the descriptive term preferred by the person. Many of these people are prescribed hormones by their doctors to bring their bodies into alignment with their gender identity. Some undergo surgery as well. But not all of these people can or will take those steps, and *THIS* identity is not dependent upon physical appearance or medical procedures.
Domestic Partnership
Civil/legal recognition of a committed relationship between two people that sometimes extends limited protections to them.
Closeted
Describes a person who is not open about their sexual orientation. Better to simply refer to someone as "not out" about being LGBTQ. Some individuals may be out to some people in their life, but not out to others due to fear of rejection, harassment, violence, losing one's job, or other concerns.
Sexual Orientation
Describes a person's enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to another person. Gender identity and *THIS* are not the same. Transgender people may be straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer. For example, a person who transitions from male to female and is attracted solely to men would typically identify as a straight woman.
Openly Gay
Describes people who self-identify as gay in their personal, public, and/or professional lives. Also openly lesbian, openly bisexual, openly transgender, openly queer. While accurate and commonly used, the phrase still implies a confessional aspect to publicly acknowledging one's sexual orientation or gender identity.
Biphobia
Fear of bisexuals, often based on stereotypes, including inaccurate associations with infidelity, promiscuity, and transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Intolerance, bias, or prejudice is usually a more accurate description of antipathy toward bisexual people.
Homophobia
Fear of people attracted to the same sex. Intolerance, bias, or prejudice is usually a more accurate description of antipathy toward LGBTQ people.
Civil Union
Historically used in the U.S. to describe state-based relationship recognition for same-sex couples that offered some or all of the state (though none of the federal) rights, protections, and responsibilities of marriage. While many Western countries (including the United States) have now legalized marriage for same-sex couples, others only legally recognize same-sex relationships through *THIS*.
Sodomy Laws
Historically used to selectively persecute gay people, the state laws often referred to as *THIS* were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas (2003).
Gender Dysphoria
In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association released the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) which replaced the outdated entry "Gender Identity Disorder" with *THIS*, and changed the criteria for diagnosis. The necessity of a psychiatric diagnosis remains controversial, as both psychiatric and medical authorities recommend individualized medical treatment through hormones and/or surgeries to treat *THIS*. Some transgender advocates believe the inclusion of *THIS* in the DSM is necessary in order to advocate for health insurance that covers the medically necessary treatment recommended for transgender people.
Marriage
In June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that every American has the constitutional right to *THIS* with the person they love.
Lifestyle
Inaccurate term used by anti-LGBTQ extremists to denigrate LGBTQ people.
Genderqueer
Term used by some people who experience their gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside the categories of man and woman. They may define their gender as falling somewhere in between man and woman, or they may define it as wholly different from these terms. The term is not a synonym for transgender or transsexual and should only be used if someone self-identifies as *THIS*.
Non-Binary
Term used by some people who experience their gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside the categories of man and woman. They may define their gender as falling somewhere in between man and woman, or they may define it as wholly different from these terms. The term is not a synonym for transgender or transsexual and should only be used if someone self-identifies as *THIS*.
Outing
The act of publicly declaring (sometimes based on rumor and/or speculation) or revealing another person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Considered inappropriate by a large portion of the LGBTQ community.
Gay
The adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex (e.g., gay man, gay people). Sometimes lesbian (n. or adj.) is the preferred term for women. Avoid identifying gay people as "homosexuals" an outdated term considered derogatory and offensive to many lesbian and gay people.
Sex
The classification of a person as male or female. At birth, infants are assigned *THIS*, usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy. (This is what is written on the birth certificate.) A person's *THIS* , however, is actually a combination of bodily characteristics including: chromosomes, hormones, internal and external reproductive organs, and secondary *THIS* characteristics.
Trans
Used as shorthand to mean transgender or transsexual - or sometimes to be inclusive of a wide variety of identities under the transgender umbrella. Because its meaning is not precise or widely understood, be careful when using it with audiences who may not understand what it means. Avoid unless used in a direct quote or in cases where you can clearly explain the term's meaning in the context of your story.
Cross-Dresser
While anyone may wear clothes associated with a different sex, the term *THIS* is typically used to refer to men who occasionally wear clothes, makeup, and accessories culturally associated with women. Those men typically identify as heterosexual. This activity is a form of gender expression and not done for entertainment purposes. These people do not wish to permanently change their sex or live full-time as women. Replaces the term "transvestite".
