With the recent additions to the LGBTTQQIAAP acronym, as well as the deviations such as LGBTQIAGNCK, it may be a bit hard to keep up with what all the letters stand for even if you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Don’t worry we are here to decode the letter combos for you!
The LGBTQ Acronym – Most people are familiar with at least the L – Lesbian, G – Gay, B – Bisexual, T – Trans, Q – queer beginning of the acronym, however, can become a little lost once it wanders on into the intersex, asexual, and gender-non-conforming letter. The version of the acronym you encounter may change from user to user with terms including ‘questioning’, ‘pansexual’, ‘ally’ or ‘allied’, ‘straight’, ‘leather’ and ‘fetish’, though nobody has found a way of stringing them together to make a word that sticks. Someone did come up with ‘Quiltbag’, which for obvious reasons hasn’t caught on. Another suggestion is ‘Glow’ — ‘gay, lesbian or whatever’.
ACE – Asexual’s experience little or no sexual attraction.
Ally – A supporter of equal civil rights, gender equality, and LGBTQ+ social movements.
Binary – The belief that such things as gender identity have only two distinct, opposite, and disconnected forms. In other words, they believe in the gender binary, or that only male and female genders exist. As a rejection of this belief, many people embrace a non-binary gender identity.
GE – Gender Expression is the external manifestations of gender, expressed through such things as names, pronouns, clothing, haircuts, behavior, voice, body characteristics, and more.
GI – Gender Identity is one’s internal, deeply held sense of gender. Some people identify completely with the gender they were assigned at birth, while others may identify with only a part of that gender, or not at all. Some people identify with another gender entirely. Unlike gender expression, gender identity is not visible to others.
SO – Sexual Orientation is the emotional, romantic, or sexual, relationships and desires one has based of their gender expression, and gender identity.
Hopefully we have cleared up some of the slang you may see out and about. Remember its okay to ask questions if you are confused understanding is an important part of challenging and ending fear and discrimination.
