Happy Pride Month! We love our LGBTQIA+ and ME Psych ally community:) Did you know that over 7% of people in the US identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, according to a recent poll?

For this month’s blog, we are going to share a basic definition guide about sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and gender transition.

We are always open to learning new terms and having an expanded dialogue with our LGBTQIA+ and client community, so please feel free to add any terms or definitions we are missing in this post to the comments section!

Colorful ribbons wiht the words "Lesbian", "Questioning", "Bisexual", "Intersex", "Ally", "Pansexual", "Asexual", "Transgender", "Gender-Expansive", and "Gay written on them

The basic definition of LGBTQIA+ and ally are below:

LGBTQIA+: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual and “plus”, which represents other sexual identities or genders including pansexual, asexual, omnisexual, etc

ALLY: a person who provides support and is respectful towards members of the LGBTQIA+ community

SEXUAL ORIENTATION:

All humans have a sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is your attraction, desires, and fantasies for other people. You may be attracted to people of the same sex, both sexes, opposite sex, or none of the above. Below are various sexual orientations.

HETEROSEXUAL: Heterosexual people are attracted to their opposite sex/gender.
ASEXUAL: Being asexual means having a low level of sexual desire for others and a general lack of interest in sex. Asexuality is thought to exist on a spectrum - ranging from having no desire for others at all, to very minimal levels of desire.

BISEXUAL: Bisexual people are attracted to both men and women.

BICURIOUS: Bicurious people have a desire to possibly explore attraction to people of the same gender/sex.

SEXUALLY FLUID: Sexually or gender-fluid people have a changing and shifting gender identify that goes between male and female, or bisexual and heterosexual.
PANSEXUAL: Someone who is pansexual is fluid in both sexual orientation and gender identity and is attracted to all people, regardless of those people’s gender identity or biological sex.
LESBIAN: Lesbians are women who are sexually and emotionally attracted to other women.
GAY: Gay men are sexually and emotionally attracted to other men.
MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN (MSM): Men who engage in same-sex behavior, but may not necessarily self-identify as gay.
QUEER: Queer is used as an umbrella definition for a multitide of sexual orientations - someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or is generally identifying as and/or being attracted to expressions outside of the typical binary code.
QUESTIONING: People who are questioning are in the process of exploring their own sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or their attraction to other genders and sexual orientations.

Two hands held together in fists with LGBTQIA+ written across the knuckles in rainbow letters

GENDER IDENTITY & EXPRESSION:

Gender identity and expression are how a person views themselves (male, female, other), how they feel about their own personal sense of gender and sexuality, and how they behave, look and express their gender and sexuality to others.

GENDER BINARY: The gender binary is the concept that there are only two genders that are biologically determined at birth and are unchangeable - male and female.
GENDER CONFORMING: Gender confirming people are those whose gender identity and sex match, for example, a women who is feminine and identifies as a female.
GENDER NON-CONFORMING: Gender-queer, gender-fluid, and gender-non confirming people do not align with the gender binary and have a more fluid and flexibly changing identity.
TRANS/TRANSGENDER: Trans/transgender people identify and express themselves outwardly as a member of a gender other than their sex assigned at birth.
INTERSEX AND/OR ANDROGYNY/OUS: Intersex and/or androgynous people are born with biological aspects of both sexes, to varying degrees, and who may express their gender with both feminine and masculine presentations.
CISGENDER: A person whose gender identity and biological sex assigned at birth are aligned (a woman who is female-assigned).

Hand holding up a whiteboard with "Hello my pronouns are _____ / _____" written in rainbow letters

GENDER TRANSITION:

Transgender people who would like to have their outward appearance match their internal gender identity may go through the process of gender transition. This can take many forms, including dressing like another gender, using different names and pronouns to match their aligned gender, or other social ways to be recognized as a member of another gender. Some trans people will also undergo physical changes, using medical or hormonal interventions, to more closely align with their chosen gender identity and expression.

FTM: This is an abbreviation for a trans person who was assigned female at birth and now identities as male. Another term for this is a trans man.
MTF: This is an abbreviation for a trans person who was assigned male at birth and now identities as female. Another term for this is a trans woman.
GENDER DYSPHORIA: Gender dyphoria is a psychological experience of emotional discomfort that arises from a trans person‘s conflict between gender identity (internal experience) and biological sex (external experience).