In our ever-changing world that is thankfully becoming more and more inclusive and open towards members of the LGBTQ+ community, it can sometimes be a struggle to keep up with the numerous terms that come with the topic. Knowing many people that define themselves as queer in various ways, but so far identifying as straight and cisgender myself, it sometimes overwhelms me a little not to get anything mixed up and most importantly hurt anyone with my lack of knowledge about their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In order to help people like myself and others that are even less traversed in the LGBTQ+ terminology, I put together a little guide. Please note that while I did thorough research, included as many terms as possible and tried to get them all right, I might have made errors or accidentally left something out. It is not my intention to hurt anybody’s feelings and I sincerely apologize if that is the case.
Heterosexual/straight: If you’re attracted to a gender other than your own, you may identify as heterosexual. That could be, for example, if you are a man and are attracted to women.
Homosexual: Someone attracted to people of their own gender often refers to themselves as homosexual.
Gay: The term gay can be applied to any sex, but often it is used by homosexual men.
f.l.t.r.: lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual flag
Lesbian: The term lesbian refers to homosexual women. They may also identify as gay.
Bisexual: If you are attracted to both men and women, you might call yourself bisexual.
Pansexual: A person attracted to multiple or all gender identities, whether it be transgender, male, female, intersex or anything else, may call themselves pansexual.
Asexual: People feeling no sexual attraction to any gender identity may refer to themselves as asexual or ace. Not being sexually attracted to anyone does not mean this person is never aroused or does not feel romantic attraction towards others. Some asexual people opt to have sex with their significant other(s), but do not feel the need to have it themselves. Because they can still be romantically attracted to people, they may additionally identify as e.g. gay, straight or pansexual.
Note that the current relationship status of a person has nothing to do with their sexual orientation. A bisexual man with a boyfriend is still bisexual, not just gay. A bisexual woman dating a man is still bisexual, not straight. An asexual person exploring a sexual relationship for their partner’s benefit is still asexual.
That being said, as people change throughout their lives, so can their sexual orientation. Your sexual orientation is most importantly what you identify as, so as your perception of yourself changes, so might your sexual orientation. This is called fluidity.
If you’re unsure about your sexual orientation: you are not alone. Many people question their own sexuality. Especially with a more and more open-minded society, people think about it for the first time and simply don’t know. In this stage, someone may refer to themselves as „experimenting“, „curious“ and similar.
And some people don’t like labels at all. As I said before - only you can decide what you identify with. Whether you give that feeling a label like many others do or cannot / don’t want to put a name on it is entirely up to you. Sexual orientations can be a sensitive topic. While some are very open about it, others may be struggling with it. So if you’re not sure what someone identifies as, respectfully ask them, before stumbling over your own assumptions.
Assigned sex: This describes the gender that you are assigned at birth given anatomical factors such as genitals, chromosomes and hormones. Some people also refer to this as their „biological sex“.
Intersex: Sometimes the sexual and reproductive anatomy of a person cannot be fitted to either male or female due to various reasons. When that is the case, they may be referred to as intersex. Oftentimes doctors and family of the child in question decide on a gender and the child is raised as is expected for that particular gender. The child may also receive hormone therapy and surgery to fit their assigned gender. This way of treating intersex children, however, is fortunately changing and it is now more and more common for intersex people to grow up without an assigned sex and choose their gender identity later on in life.
Gender: The term gender is much more complicated and complex than assigned sex and based on many things including societal structures and expectations of how someone belonging to a certain gender should behave or which rights they have. While assigned or biological sex is about your anatomy, gender is about how society expects men and women to behave.
Cisgender: People that identify with the sex they have been assigned at birth may refer to themselves as cisgender. (Often, however, this term is rather used by people that are not cis to refer to cisgender people, as gender identity awareness has not yet reached a big part of the public. While many people call themselves straight to clarify their sexual orientation, most unfortunately don’t even know that what they identify as is called cisgender.)
Transgender: Pretty much the opposite of cisgender, transgender describes all the ways in which somebody may identify differently from their assigned sex. It can be shortened to trans or trans*, for example, or indicate the person’s gender identity in the form of trans male or trans female. As with sexual orientation, if you are unsure what a person identifies as, it is recommended to ask them which label (if at all) and which pronoun they prefer.
Gender fluidity: Some people reject the concept of gender and the expectations society has for both the male and female gender altogether. The may call themselves genderfluid. This describes the idea that gender identity can change over time. One can feel male, female, transgender or anything else on any given day.
Gender non-binary / nonconforming / genderqueer: These terms can describe someone whose gender identity does not fit into either of the two traditional categories male or female that can be referred to as the gender binary. Some people use these words interchangeably, others feel differently about them.
Gender dysphoria: This describes the unhappiness and anxiety transgender people often feel about their gender identity and assigned sex not matching up. This is not a mental illness per se and the diagnosis can help transgender people to receive medical treatment that aids their transition. While gender dysphoria is not a mental illness, it can still cause emotional distress and even lead up to depression.
There are also words to describe whether you are telling people about your sexual orientation and gender identity or not. The former is known as Coming Out. This is the process of first acknowledging your sexual orientation or gender identity and beginning to share it with others. Someone who has not come out due to whichever reason is said to be in the closet, closeted or down low.
Queer: So what does queer mean - the word that might cross your path most often? To put it simply, queer means anything other than straight and cisgender. Queer is one of the less complicated words because it fits almost everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. Sometimes you or a friend might not know which label they want to put on themselves, so queer is a good ”starting point” while figuring it all out. As with all the other terms, however, asking someone what they identify as is key to avoiding hurting their feelings. Just because queer fits so many people within the community, you should not go walking around calling everyone queer because they might not be okay with that.
I hope this little guide has helped you make some of the terminology clear or at least clearer than before. If you are straight and cisgender, but support and respect the members of the LGBTQ+ community, I’ve got one last term for you: ally. While it’s important to join marches for LGBTQ+ rights and actively support and stand up for everyone facing discrimination in our society, sometimes the best we can do is be there for our friends and make sure that they know they are not alone, they are loved and accepted for who they are and they should be proud of their lovely souls. Us allies can make a difference in how hard or easy it is for someone to get through another day.
This blog is full of LGBTQ+ members and allies and we are proud that this year’s Berlinale is featuring so many LGBTQ+ movies.
In order to help people like myself and others that are even less traversed in the LGBTQ+ terminology, I put together a little guide. Please note that while I did thorough research, included as many terms as possible and tried to get them all right, I might have made errors or accidentally left something out. It is not my intention to hurt anybody’s feelings and I sincerely apologize if that is the case.
LGB
Like the abbreviation LGBTQ+, I’ll start with sexual orientation. Your sexual orientation describes who you are attracted to and which gender they belong to.Heterosexual/straight: If you’re attracted to a gender other than your own, you may identify as heterosexual. That could be, for example, if you are a man and are attracted to women.
Homosexual: Someone attracted to people of their own gender often refers to themselves as homosexual.
Gay: The term gay can be applied to any sex, but often it is used by homosexual men.
Lesbian: The term lesbian refers to homosexual women. They may also identify as gay.
Bisexual: If you are attracted to both men and women, you might call yourself bisexual.
Pansexual: A person attracted to multiple or all gender identities, whether it be transgender, male, female, intersex or anything else, may call themselves pansexual.
Asexual: People feeling no sexual attraction to any gender identity may refer to themselves as asexual or ace. Not being sexually attracted to anyone does not mean this person is never aroused or does not feel romantic attraction towards others. Some asexual people opt to have sex with their significant other(s), but do not feel the need to have it themselves. Because they can still be romantically attracted to people, they may additionally identify as e.g. gay, straight or pansexual.
Note that the current relationship status of a person has nothing to do with their sexual orientation. A bisexual man with a boyfriend is still bisexual, not just gay. A bisexual woman dating a man is still bisexual, not straight. An asexual person exploring a sexual relationship for their partner’s benefit is still asexual.
That being said, as people change throughout their lives, so can their sexual orientation. Your sexual orientation is most importantly what you identify as, so as your perception of yourself changes, so might your sexual orientation. This is called fluidity.
If you’re unsure about your sexual orientation: you are not alone. Many people question their own sexuality. Especially with a more and more open-minded society, people think about it for the first time and simply don’t know. In this stage, someone may refer to themselves as „experimenting“, „curious“ and similar.
And some people don’t like labels at all. As I said before - only you can decide what you identify with. Whether you give that feeling a label like many others do or cannot / don’t want to put a name on it is entirely up to you. Sexual orientations can be a sensitive topic. While some are very open about it, others may be struggling with it. So if you’re not sure what someone identifies as, respectfully ask them, before stumbling over your own assumptions.
T
Now that we’ve discovered many of the terms associated with sexual orientation, let’s move on to gender identity. While many people identify with the sex they have been assigned at birth and live happily with it all of their lives, that is not the case for everyone. Gender identity describes how you feel inside, independently from your body’s looks, and how you express your gender. That can feel very different from person to person and that’s why there are so many different terms and labels around - people are trying to communicate how they identify and that is not always an easy task, especially in a world that is still used to the conservative idea of man and woman.Assigned sex: This describes the gender that you are assigned at birth given anatomical factors such as genitals, chromosomes and hormones. Some people also refer to this as their „biological sex“.
Intersex: Sometimes the sexual and reproductive anatomy of a person cannot be fitted to either male or female due to various reasons. When that is the case, they may be referred to as intersex. Oftentimes doctors and family of the child in question decide on a gender and the child is raised as is expected for that particular gender. The child may also receive hormone therapy and surgery to fit their assigned gender. This way of treating intersex children, however, is fortunately changing and it is now more and more common for intersex people to grow up without an assigned sex and choose their gender identity later on in life.Gender: The term gender is much more complicated and complex than assigned sex and based on many things including societal structures and expectations of how someone belonging to a certain gender should behave or which rights they have. While assigned or biological sex is about your anatomy, gender is about how society expects men and women to behave.
Cisgender: People that identify with the sex they have been assigned at birth may refer to themselves as cisgender. (Often, however, this term is rather used by people that are not cis to refer to cisgender people, as gender identity awareness has not yet reached a big part of the public. While many people call themselves straight to clarify their sexual orientation, most unfortunately don’t even know that what they identify as is called cisgender.)
Transgender: Pretty much the opposite of cisgender, transgender describes all the ways in which somebody may identify differently from their assigned sex. It can be shortened to trans or trans*, for example, or indicate the person’s gender identity in the form of trans male or trans female. As with sexual orientation, if you are unsure what a person identifies as, it is recommended to ask them which label (if at all) and which pronoun they prefer.Gender fluidity: Some people reject the concept of gender and the expectations society has for both the male and female gender altogether. The may call themselves genderfluid. This describes the idea that gender identity can change over time. One can feel male, female, transgender or anything else on any given day.
Gender non-binary / nonconforming / genderqueer: These terms can describe someone whose gender identity does not fit into either of the two traditional categories male or female that can be referred to as the gender binary. Some people use these words interchangeably, others feel differently about them.
Gender dysphoria: This describes the unhappiness and anxiety transgender people often feel about their gender identity and assigned sex not matching up. This is not a mental illness per se and the diagnosis can help transgender people to receive medical treatment that aids their transition. While gender dysphoria is not a mental illness, it can still cause emotional distress and even lead up to depression.
There are also words to describe whether you are telling people about your sexual orientation and gender identity or not. The former is known as Coming Out. This is the process of first acknowledging your sexual orientation or gender identity and beginning to share it with others. Someone who has not come out due to whichever reason is said to be in the closet, closeted or down low.
Q+
Queer: So what does queer mean - the word that might cross your path most often? To put it simply, queer means anything other than straight and cisgender. Queer is one of the less complicated words because it fits almost everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. Sometimes you or a friend might not know which label they want to put on themselves, so queer is a good ”starting point” while figuring it all out. As with all the other terms, however, asking someone what they identify as is key to avoiding hurting their feelings. Just because queer fits so many people within the community, you should not go walking around calling everyone queer because they might not be okay with that.
I hope this little guide has helped you make some of the terminology clear or at least clearer than before. If you are straight and cisgender, but support and respect the members of the LGBTQ+ community, I’ve got one last term for you: ally. While it’s important to join marches for LGBTQ+ rights and actively support and stand up for everyone facing discrimination in our society, sometimes the best we can do is be there for our friends and make sure that they know they are not alone, they are loved and accepted for who they are and they should be proud of their lovely souls. Us allies can make a difference in how hard or easy it is for someone to get through another day.
This blog is full of LGBTQ+ members and allies and we are proud that this year’s Berlinale is featuring so many LGBTQ+ movies.
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