Also, a person's partner in marriage, life, dating. Avoids assumption of gender identity or sexual orientation. Partner - gender-inclusive term for someone with whom one is involved, usually in a primary relationship. Outing - exposing someone's gender identity and/or sexual orientation to others, usually without their permission. Coming out is a lifelong process, starting with coming out to oneself and then to others. Many LGBTQIA+ people find that being in the closet can be an isolated, confining experience.Ĭoming Out - the developmental process in which a person acknowledges, accepts, and appreciates their gender identity and/or sexual orientation.
Many LGTBQIA+ people remain in the closet because of fear of rejection, harassment, and anti-gay violence. Experiential TerminologyĪlly - a person who supports and honors LGBTQIA+ diversity, acts accordingly to challenge homophobic/transphobic and heterosexist/cisgender centric remarks and behaviors, and is willing to explore and understand these forms of bias within themselves.Ĭloset - being "in the closet" means keeping your gender identity and/or sexual orientation a secret. Even positive stereotypes can have a negative impact, however, simply because they involve broad generalizations that ignore individual realities. Though often negative, can also be complimentary. Stereotype - A preconceived or oversimplified generalization about an entire group of people without regard for their individual differences. Prejudice - A conscious or unconscious negative belief about a whole group of people and its individual members. It involves institutional control, ideological domination, and the promulgation of the dominant group's culture on the oppressed. Oppression - the systematic exploitation of social groups by another for its own benefit. Internalized Oppression - The process by which a member of an oppressed group comes to accept and live out the inaccurate stereotypes applied to the oppressed group. Institutional Oppression - Societial processes and expectations that benefit one group at the expense of another through the use of language, media, education, religion, economics, etc.
bisexual), but define it differently (i.e. Ask the individual what that term means for them and their identity - Two people might use the same term (i.e.Search it - the Internet is our friend!.If you see or hear a term not in the glossary: This list is "non-comprehensive" because language within the community is fluid and often changing.
Here is a non-comprehensive list of LGBTQIA+ terminology that you may come across when interacting with individuals in the community.