Being an LGBTQIA+ Ally

As our world becomes more accepting of broader and more diverse identities, you may have questions about how you can better support the LGBTQIA+ community, or even about what LGBTQIA+ stands for. Every person has their own journey in understanding what it means to support LGBTQIA+ people, whether you’re LGBTQIA+ or not.

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We’ll Start With the Basics:

What does LGBTQIA+ stand for?

LGBTQIA+ is a common acronym that includes people whose sexual orientation or gender does not align with traditional social norms. It is not all-encompassing, as it only includes a few broad groups by name.

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We Have Multiple Identities

Being lesbian, gay, or bisexual refers to a person’s sexual orientation, or who they are attracted to. Being transgender refers to a person’s gender identity or their internal sense of gender. People may refer to themselves as queer if their sexual orientation or gender identity is outside of the mainstream.

Here is What the Letters Traditionally Stand For:

L

LESBIAN

Lesbian

A woman who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to other women. Women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves.

G

GAY

Gay

A person who is emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to members of the same gender. Men, women, and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves.

B

BISEXUAL

Bisexual

A person emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender, or gender identity, though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree. This is sometimes written as bisexual+ or bi+ to incorporate many non-monosexual identities, such as pansexual, fluid, or queer. At least 62 percent of LGBTQIA+ adults identify as bisexual, according to the HRC Foundation’s analysis of General Social Survey data.

T

TRANSGENDER

Transgender

People whose gender identity or expression is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may be straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or of another sexual orientation. Transgender is sometimes colloquially shortened to “trans.” The opposite of transgender is cisgender, meaning someone whose gender identity matches the one assigned to them at birth.

Q

QUEER

Queer

A term people often use to express a spectrum of identities and orientations that are counter to the mainstream. This includes those who do not identify as exclusively straight or folks who have non-binary or gender-expansive identities. This term has been used as a slur but has also been reclaimed by many parts of the LGBTQ+ movement. Like all identities, you should only refer to someone as queer when they have let you know they identify that way.

I

INTERSEX

Intersex

An umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural biological variations that differ from those classically thought to be typical to either men or women. In some cases these traits are visible at birth, while in others they are not apparent until puberty. Some chromosomal variations of this type may not be physically apparent at all.

A

ASEXUAL

Asexual

Describes a person who experiences little or no attraction to anyone, and/or does not experience desire for sexual contact.

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