NRCEMH - Glossary - Glossary of terms

Bisexual: A person who is sexually and emotionally attracted to people of both sexes.

Coming Out: An accepted phrase that describes LGB people's experience of disclosing their sexual orientation. In this report 'coming out' is also used to describe the process through which Transgender people come to recognise and publicly acknowledge their gender identity. As the coming out process is never over for LGBT people, this is an ongoing, sometimes daily, decision and can cause the person significant stress.

Gay: A person who is sexually and emotionally attracted primarily to people of the same sex. The term is more commonly applied to men who self-identify as same sex attracted, rather than men who have sex with men but do not self-identify as gay. While many women identify as gay, the term lesbian is commonly used to describe same sex attracted women.

Gender Identity: A person's sense of identity defined in relation to the categories of male and female. In this report, the term is primarily used to describe people whose gender identity does not match their biological sex at birth. However, it is important to note that not everybody identifies exclusively with one sex or the other. Some may identify as both male and female, while others may identify as male in one setting and female in another.

Heterosexual: A person who is sexually and emotionally attracted primarily to people of the opposite sex.

Heterosexism: The belief that heterosexuality is naturally superior to homosexuality or bisexuality. This belief justifies domination and the imposition of values and beliefs.

Homophobia: An irrational fear and dislike of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, which can lead to hatred resulting in verbal and physical attacks and abuse.

Homosexual: A person whose primary sexual attraction is toward people of the same sex. This term is primarily used to medicalise and/ or stigmatise, and is a term lesbians, gay men or bisexuals rarely use to define themselves.

Internalised Homophobia: For many people, regardless of sexual orientation, homophobia can be internal and not always recognised by the individual. However, internalised homophobia can and does cause many negative effects for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. It can affect the way people see themselves and the way others (heterosexual society) treat them. Internalised homophobia often leads to denial of one's true sexuality in situations that are threatening or require the individual to "come out".

Intersex: A person who is born with chromosomal anomalies or ambiguous genitalia. Intersex people are usually assigned a male or female gender as babies by staff, often undergoing surgical procedures. Sometimes the person's gender identity matches the gender they were assigned, but some intersex people develop gender identity issues because they have been assigned the wrong gender. Some intersex people do not define as male or female but as intersex.

Lesbian: A woman who is sexually and emotionally attracted primarily to other women. This term often refers to women who are same sex attracted rather than women who have sex with other women but do not self-identify as lesbian.

Organisational or Institutional Homophobia, Transphobia and Heterosexism: This is systematic discrimination of LGBT people by government, business, employers, public services and other organisations. This includes issues such as invitations to a company event for an employee and their husband or wife, which explicitly excludes same sex relationships or family membership to a fitness club that only mentions opposite sex partnerships. This exclusion is not necessarily deliberate but means that institutions have not considered same sex partners as an option. In schools this can emerge in sex and relationships education sessions which tend to focus on heterosexuality as the accepted norm for all students.

Sexual Identity: A person's sense of identity defined in relation to the categories of sexual orientation, usually only using the four main terms, lesbian, gay bisexual and heterosexual. Someone's sexual identity may not necessarily match their sexual behaviour.

Sexual Orientation: This is an umbrella term which describes the whole spectrum of sexual and emotional attraction, including the four most commonly used terms, lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual.

Societal or Cultural Homophobia, Transphobia and Heterosexism: This relates to the general assumption of heterosexuality and gender norms in society. This means that social and cultural norms promote discrimination against LGBT people. Homosexuality is always considered as "different" to be welcomed, tolerated, or despised. The media, film, TV, books, holiday brochures, insurance companies, religious institutions, schools back this up.

Transgender: Transgender is an inclusive, umbrella term used to describe the diversity of gender identity and expression. The term can be used to describe all people who do not conform to common ideas of gender roles, including transsexuals.

Transphobia: An irrational fear and dislike of Transgender people, which can lead to hatred resulting in verbal and physical attacks and abuse.

Transsexual: Transsexual is a term used to describe people who are born into the wrong physical sex - this includes pre-operative, post-operative and non-operative.

Transvestite: A person who dresses in clothes associated with their opposite gender, as defined by socially accepted gender dress codes, but the person still identifies with their biological sex. There are both female-to-male (FTM) and male-to-female (MTF) transvestites.