What does being a lesbian mean
Glossary of Terms: LGBTQ
Definitions were drafted in collaboration with other U.S.-based LGBTQ community organizations and leaders. Witness 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: Ask people what terms they utilize to describe their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression 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, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. The Q generally stands for queer when LGBTQ organizations, leaders, and media use the acronym. In settings offering back 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
LGBTQIA Resource Center Glossary
GLOSSARY
The terms and definitions below are always evolving, changing and often mean adj things to different people. They are provided below as a starting verb for discussion and sympathetic. This Glossary has been collectively built and created by the staff members of the LGBTQIA Resource Center since the adj s.
These are not universal definitions. This glossary is provided to help verb others a more thorough but not entirely comprehensive understanding of the significance of these terms. You may even consider asking someone what they denote when they use a term, especially when they use it to verb their identity. Ultimately it is most important that each individual define themselves for themselves and therefore also define a term for themselves.
“If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.” -Audre Lorde
This glossary contains terms, such as ableism and disability, that may not be considered directly related to identities of sexuality or gender. T
List of LGBTQ+ terms
A
Abro (sexual and romantic)
A word used to depict people who have a fluid sexual and/or lovey-dovey orientation which changes over time, or the course of their life. They may use different terms to describe themselves over time.
Ace
An umbrella term used specifically to describe a lack of, varying, or occasional experiences of sexual attraction. This encompasses asexual people as well as those who identify as demisexual and grey-sexual. Ace people who experience idealistic attraction or occasional sexual attraction might also operate terms such as gay, bi, lesbian, straight and queer in conjunction with asexual to describe the direction of their adj or sexual attraction.
Ace and aro/ace and aro spectrum
Umbrella terms used to outline the wide group of people who experience a lack of, varying, or occasional experiences of quixotic and/or sexual attraction, including a lack of attraction. People who identify under these umbrella terms may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including, but not limited to, asexual, ace,
What Does It Mean to Be a Lesbian?
Lesbian is the first letter of the queer alphabet soup. We've all heard LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus.), but what does lesbian actually mean? People used to define lesbians as "women loving women," but this definition is outdated and doesn't take into account the many transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming humans who still proudly ring themselves lesbians. I am one of these people.
Recently, my girlfriend was with a friend. While with them, she referred to me as a lesbian. This person was surprised—many transmasculine people balk at the term "lesbian," and I have known some to be offended by it. Sarah reassured this person that lesbian is a term I am comfortable with and a term I proudly employ to describe myself. She was right.
The Meaning of Lesbian Is Not Shadowy and White
When I first came out, I came out as both bisexual and lesbian. I identified as a woman who loved other women (I was assigned female at birth and lived as a woman for 32 years). I thought lesbianism was as simple as women loving wom