While reading a children’s book, “The Gay BC’s,” to my niece recently I thought to myself, how wonderful it is that she can have the exposure to queer language and terms at only the age of two. I began to think about all the Queer folks that could have used a similar book as a child, and how their parents could have benefited from such a book even more. This led me to create a little LGBTQ+ ABC’s for adults in the form of a blog post so whether you are a family member of a LGBT+ individual wanting to gain more language, an educator wanting to be better informed, or a Queer individual wishing you had the “The Gay BC’s” growing up I hope this blog post finds you well…
please note this is not a comprehensive list, and is one of many definitions for these terms
A is for Asexual: A person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to others.
B is for Bisexual: A person who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to more than one gender.
C is for Cisgender: A person whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth.
D is for Demisexual: A person who experiences sexual attraction typically only after forming a strong emotional connection with someone.
E is for Enby: A term used for non-binary, spelling out the abbreviation of the gender identity.
F is for Femme: A person who expresses themselves in a traditionally feminine way.
G is for Genderqueer: A person whose gender identity goes beyond the traditional binary of male or female.
H is for Heteronormative: Relating to a world view that views heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation.
I is for Intersex: A person who may be born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the boxes of “female” or “male.”
J is for Journey: This may include the gender or sexuality Journey that someone embarks on as they discover their own identity, come out to others, and continually explore themselves.
K is for Kink: Sexual preferences and practices that involve dominance, submission, bondage, and more. Typically considered sexual preferences that go beyond the “norm.”
L is for Lesbian: Typically a woman who is attracted to other women. It is important to note that many non-binary and transgender individuals identify as lesbians even if they do not identify as a woman.
M is for Mx.: Pronounced as “mix,” a gender neutral title option, as opposed to Mr, Ms, Miss, Mrs, etc.
N is for Non-Binary: A person whose gender identity goes beyond the “male” or “female” gender spectrum.
O is for Omnisexual: Person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical attraction to all gender identities/expressions. “Omni” means all!
P is for Polyamorous: Refers to the practice or desire to have ethical, consensual relationships with more than one person.
Q is for Queer: An umbrella term referring to a broad range of sexual orientations and gender identities that are not heterosexual or cisgender.
R is for Romantic Attraction: Affinity to show affection or to engage in relational intimate or behavior (flirting, dating) with another person or people.
S is for Sex: Physical elements of one’s biology and anatomy. People’s sex assigned at birth is usually determined based on their reproductive organs, gentians, hormones, and chromosomes.
T is for Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth.
U is for Unsure: This refers to the oh so normal experience of being uncertain of your gender or sexuality that so many people in the LGBTQIA+ community experiences many times in their lives.
V is for Voguing: A modern, street-style dance created by Black and LatinX transgender individuals and drag queens in the ballroom scene.
W is for Womxn: Some folks spell the word with an “X” as a form of inclusion to non cisgender womxn.
X is for X-Gender: Representing non-binary individuals both legally and in medical terms…giving a third option to the typically seen “M” for Male and “F” for Female.
Z is for Ze/Zem/Zir: A set of gender neutral neopronouns.
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