AFAB – assigned female at birth

AMAB – assigned male at birth

Androngyny/ous – gender expression that has elements of masculinity and femininity

Aromantic – someone who experiences little to no romantic attraction to others

Asexual – someone who experiences little to no sexual attraction to others

Bisexual – there are a couple different definitions but generally defined as a person who is attracted to two or more genders OR attracted to the same and a different gender

Cisgender (cis) – a gender identity describing someone who identifies with their assigned sex at birth

Femme – someone who identifies as feminine (physically, mentally, emotionally), often used to refer to a feminine presenting queer woman

Gender identity – the sense of gender, of being male, female, neither, both, so on and so forth

Heteronormativity – Kris Nelson over at Everyday Feminism describes it as: “a system that works to normalize behaviors and societal expectations that are tied to the presumption of heterosexuality and an adherence to a strict gender binary”.

LGBTQ+ – term used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer/questioning community. Other variations also include the identities asexual/aromantic and intersex.

Pansexual – a person who is attracted to all genders.

Racism – as Nicki Lisa Cole puts it: “racism refers to a host of practices, beliefs, social relations and phenomena that work to reproduce a racial hierarchy and social structure that yields superiority and privilege for some, and discrimination and oppression for others.”

• Racism is privilege plus power

Transgender – a gender identity describing someone who does not identify with their assigned sex at birth; usually an umbrella term that covers various gender identities that do not match a person’s assigned sex

Trans man – a transgender person assigned female at birth but whose gender identity is a man.

Trans woman – a transgender person assigned male at birth but whose gender identity is a woman.

White supremacy – the belief and system that white people are superior to those of all other races. Discriminatory laws have both historically and presently create a system of white supremacy where white people (as a whole) benefit over people of color

Further terms and explanations can be found at the following places:

• University of Michigan Spectrum Center – LGBT Terms and Definitions
• It’s Pronounced Metrosexual – Comprehensive list of LGBTQ+ Term Definitions