Glossary
- Allosexual person
- A person who experiences sexual attraction. It is the word for anyone who is not asexual.
- Asexual person
- A person who does not experience sexual attraction.
- Biphobia / biphobic
- A discriminatory or prejudiced action related to someone’s actual or perceived bisexual orientation.
- Bisexual person / bi person
- A person who is emotionally, romantically and/or sexually attracted to people of more than one gender or regardless of gender.
- Cisgender / cis
- A person who identifies with the sex they were assigned at birth. Cisgender is the word for anyone who is not transgender.
- Demisexual
- A person who can only experience sexual attraction after an emotional bond has been formed. This bond does not have to be romantic in nature.
- Gay
- A person who is emotionally, romantically and/or sexually attracted to people of the same gender.
- Genderfluid
- See Non-binary person.
- Genderqueer
- See Non-binary person.
- Intersectionality
- Identities, experiences or approaches to equality work that fall into more than one equality strand at the same time.
- Lesbian
- A woman who is emotionally, romantically and/or sexually attracted to other women.
- LGBTIQ+
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer
- Non-binary person
- A person identifying as either having a gender which is in-between or beyond the two categories ‘man’ and ‘woman’, as fluctuating between ‘man’ and ‘woman’, or as having no gender, either permanently or some of the time. Other terms non-binary people use to describe their identity include ‘genderfluid’ and ‘genderqueer’.
- Pansexual person
- A person who is emotionally, romantically and/or sexually attracted to people of more than one gender or regardless of gender. Some people use the term pansexual rather than bisexual in order to be more explicitly inclusive of non-binary gender identities.
- Polyamory
- Relationships which involve more than two intimate partners, with the knowledge and consent of all involved.
- Protected characteristics
- A set of characteristics that are protected from discrimination according to the Equality Act 2010.
- Queer
- An umbrella term sometimes used for diverse sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, and/or gender-binary. It may be used to challenge the idea of labels and categories such as lesbian, gay and bisexual. It is important to note that the word queer is an in-group term (i.e. used by queer people about themselves), and is a word that can be considered offensive by some people, depending on their generation, geographic location, and relationship with the word.
- Transgender / trans
- Inclusive umbrella terms for anyone whose gender identity or gender expression does not fully correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth. We use trans to refer to trans men and trans women, non-binary people, and cross-dressing people.
