Definitions
| Lesbian |
A woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards women. |
| Gay |
A man who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards men.
* Gay is also a generic term commonly used by individuals in the LGBTQ+ community to describe themselves.
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| Bisexual |
An over-arching term to describe a person who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards more than one gender. |
| Trans |
An over-arching term used to describe people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth. |
| Queer |
A term used by those wanting to reject specific labels of romantic orientation, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity.
* Historically, “queer” has been used as a slur. Although it has been reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community, who in general now embrace the word, it still makes some LGBTQ+ people very uncomfortable.
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Sex vs Gender
Your sex is assigned to you at birth, based on your genitalia and biological characteristics.
Your gender is largely culturally determined- gender is your own sense of identity.
These are not always the same!
Pronouns
Pronouns are words we use to refer to people’s gender in conversation - for example, ‘he’ or ‘she’. Everyone has pronouns. Some people may prefer others to refer to them in gender neutral language and use pronouns such as they/their.
More information
For more definitions visit the Stonewall website for their glossary.
We want to make sure that everyone understands all that they can about the LGBTQ+ community in order to be inclusive. It is important that people feel able to ask the questions in a safe and appropriate way. If you want to ask a question, then you can ask in our survey and we will post the answers below. It is an anonymous system so don’t be shy to ask, chances are someone else is thinking the same thing!