Gay categories

This glossary was written to help give people the words and meanings to help make conversations easier and more comfortable. Asexuality exists on a spectrum, and asexual people may experience no, little or conditional sexual attraction. Biphobia The fear and hatred of, or discomfort with, people who love and are sexually attracted to more than one gender.

Bisexual A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one gender, though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree. Sometimes used interchangeably with pansexual. Gay A person who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to members of the same gender. Men, women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves.

Genderqueer Genderqueer people typically reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as "genderqueer" may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female or as falling completely outside these categories.

Gender binary A system in which gender is constructed into two strict categories of male or female. Gender identity is expected to align with the sex assigned at birth and gender expressions and roles fit traditional expectations. Gender dysphoria Clinically significant distress caused category a person's assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.

Gender expression External appearance of one's gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, body characteristics or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine. Gender-fluid A person who does not identify with a single fixed gender or has a fluid or unfixed gender identity.

Homophobia The fear gay hatred of or discomfort with people who are attracted to members of the same sex. Intersex Intersex people are born category a variety of differences in their sex traits and reproductive anatomy. Lesbian A woman who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to other women. Women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves.

Non-binary An adjective describing a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman. Non-binary people may gay as being both a man and a woman, somewhere in between, or as falling completely outside these categories. While many also identify as transgender, not all non-binary people do. Non-binary can also be used as an umbrella term encompassing identities such as agender, bigender, genderqueer or gender-fluid.

Glossary of Terms

Outing someone can have gay repercussions on employment, economic stability, personal safety or religious or family situations. Pansexual Describes someone who has the potential for emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to people of any gender though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree.

Sometimes used interchangeably with bisexual. Queer A term people often use to express a spectrum of identities and orientations that are counter to the mainstream. Questioning A term used to describe people who are in the process of exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity. Same-gender loving A term some prefer to use instead of lesbian, gay or bisexual to express attraction to and love of people of the category gender.