Lgbtq questioning
People are often confused by the terms lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, queer and the related acronym LGBTQIA+. The following definitions will help you to realize these terms.
LGBTQIA+: The first four letters of this standard abbreviation are “Lesbian, queer , bisexual and transgender.” The letter Q can rise for “questioning” -- as in still exploring one’s sexuality -- or “queer,” or sometimes both. The I,A and + were added on later to stand for Intersex, Ally or Asexual, and the PLUS sign for everyone else that wasn't included in the first letters.
Lesbian: A woman whose enduring physical, romantic and/or emotional attraction is to some other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay (adj.) or as gay women. Avoid spotting lesbians as “homosexuals,” a derogatory term (see Disgusting Terms to Avoid).
Gay: The adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, sentimental and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex (e.g., gay man, gay people). I
It is, perhaps, a little bill in the wonderful scheme of things at the General Assembly. Perhaps not. House Bill , the School Violence Prevention Act, is better recognizable as the anti-bullying bill. The House passed it in May. Hopefully the Senate will pass it, too, once the essential mattersthe ones involving coins and bulldozersare settled. Billions first, then bad behavior.
No one in the Residence was for bad deed, of course. But someincluding most of the Republicansobjected to the part of HB that went beyond a general sanction against “bullying and harassing” to spell out why it’s happening. Usually it’s becausethe bill makes clearthe bully doesn’t like your race, color, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, physical appearance, or sexual orientation.
Conservative Republicans tried hard to get that last part out. They’re against any suggestion in the commandment that it’s all right to be gay or act gay or execute like a girl if you’re a boy anatomically or any of that funny stuff. Can’t we just be against bullying, they said, without digging up a lot of, you know, issues?
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Glossary of Terms: LGBTQ
Definitions were drafted in collaboration with other U.S.-based LGBTQ society organizations and leaders. See acknowledgements section.
Additional terms and definitions about gender identity and gender expression, transgender people, and nonbinary people are available in the Transgender Glossary.
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*NOTE: Seek people what terms they use to describe their sexual orientation, gender culture and gender utterance before assigning them a label. Outside of acronyms, these terms should only be capitalized when used at the beginning of a sentence.
LGBTQ
Acronym for lesbian, male lover, bisexual, transgender, and queer. The Q generally stands for queer when LGBTQ organizations, leaders, and media use the acronym. In settings offering support for youth, it can also stand for questioning. LGBT and LGBTQ+ are also used, with the + added in recognition of all non-straight, non-cisgender identities. (See Transgender Glossary ) Both are acceptable, as are other versions of thi
In bringing up “Q,” I am not referring to the politically-based/conspiracy theory/scratch-my-head phenomenon. Nor am I referring to the “Q” in LGBTQIA+ as queer. Instead, I am referring to that “Q” as questioning.
Typically, LGBTQIA+ is not written out as LGBTQQIA+ to make a distinction between queer and questioning, although some would prefer that allowance be made. Questioning refers to individuals who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity. Research on sexual orientation or gender persona has been rather neglectful of those who identify as questioning, yet there is a wealth of avenues to pursue.
“Do We Really Need This Category?”
I often hear, “Why do we possess to complicate all this with a different name for everything? Can’t we just use heterosexual and homosexual?” No. I’m sorry if it’s confusing for some, but a binary like that excludes individuals and/or does not truly capture their sexual identity.
Being demisexual, for example, is not about being straight or gay; it’s about emotional attachment. The same applies to being sapiosexual;