Glossary
This section hosts a glossary of various terms including the meaning of the terms Transgender and heterosexism, for example.
Lesbian: Girls or women who have an emotional and physical attraction to the same sex.
Gay: Boys or men who have an emotional and physical attraction to the same sex.
Bisexual: People who are emotionally and physically attracted to both sexes.
Transgender: An umbrella term used to describe a whole range of diversity of gender identity and expression, including transsexual. For more information please read Gender Identity – information for Transgender people and their families
Transsexual: A medical term used to describe people whose sex and gender do not match up. This means someone whose biological sex is female, but whose gender is male or someone whose biological sex is male, but whose gender is female. Transsexual people often feel like they were born in the wrong body. This can be extremely distressing. Many transsexual people have hormone treatment and surgery to align their sex with their gender. The term transsexualism is also known as gender identity disorder and gender dysphoria.
Intersex: A term used to describe people who are born with chromosomal anomalies or ambiguous genitalia. Intersex people are usually assigned a male or female gender as babies by medical staff. Sometimes this works and the person’s gender identity matches their assigned gender, but sometimes intersex people can develop gender identity issues because they have been assigned the wrong gender. Some intersex people do not identify as male or female, but as intersex. A person in Australia won the right to have an ‘X’ on their passport rather than ‘F’ or ‘M’ for female or male.
Transition: A term primarily used to describe when transgender people are moving from their assigned gender at birth to their current gender. For example a person undergoing gender realignment surgery may be described as being in gender transition.
LGBT: This is the acronym used to talk about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. For example, LGBT communities, LGBT sector (organisations involved in this area of equality and diversity), LGBT societies etc. There is also a greater demand from people to include ‘questioning’ (Q), which recognises the time and space needed by individuals who may be exploring their sexual identity.
Straight: People who are emotionally and physically attracted to the opposite sex.
Sex: This term refers to biological and anatomical characteristics, which can be defined as female, male or intersex.
Gender: Sex is the biological difference between men and women, but a person’s gender is socially constructed. For example women often take more responsibility for childcare than men. Traditional gender roles of women and men have often limited their choices and expectations in terms of education, career, family etc. LGBT people often challenge society’s traditional notions of masculinity and femininity, which are bound in heteronormativity; stepping outside traditional gender roles can often be a source of homophobia. For example, a young woman who excels at sport will often be thought ‘too masculine’ and therefore the target of homophobic verbal abuse e.g. lesbo, dyke etc.
Sexual orientation: A term used to describe a person based on who they are emotionally and physically attracted to. For example, a person who is attracted to the opposite sex might describe their sexual orientation as straight.
Sexuality: A term used to encompass the social, cultural and personal components of a person’s sexual orientation. Therefore, it describes not only sexual orientation, but also sexual practice and behaviour, cultural expectations and social expectations.
Coming Out: This is the phrase used to describe the process that someone goes through when they decide to be open and honest about their sexuality and/or transgender status. For lesbian, gay and bisexual people it is often a life-long process because people assume that everyone is straight. LGB people may not be out at work or college, but might be at home or to a few close friends. For transgender people coming out is both an emotional and physical process where family, social and work spaces are negotiated at the same time. This can often lead to higher levels of anxiety and distress in anticipation of rejection or discrimination. Individuals usually go through a period of coming out to themselves, where they accept their own sexuality, before coming out to other people.
Homophobia: this term describes an irrational feeling of fear or contempt towards gay men and lesbian women and could also describe behaviour towards lesbians and gay people. Homophobia can manifest itself at different levels.
Transphobia: this term describes an irrational feeling of fear or contempt towards transgender women and men and could also describe behaviour towards transgender people.
Biphobia: this term describes an irrational feeling of fear or contempt towards bisexual women and bisexual men and could also describe behaviour towards lesbians and gay people.
Heterosexism: is a term used to describe the discrimination towards non-heterosexual behaviour due to either a cultural or sociological bias. Heterosexuality is presumed to be superior to any other sexual orientation and therefore service provision or policies can be heterosexist by ignoring or failing to include all sexual orientations. It can be very subtle, but can also mean that some laws are prejudice towards straight people.
LGBT Domestic abuse: can be perpetrated by partners or ex-partners and can include physical abuse (assault and physical attack involving a range of behaviour), sexual abuse (acts which degrade and humiliate and are perpetrated against the person’s will, including rape), and mental and emotional abuse (such as threats, verbal abuse, racial abuse, homophobic/biphobic/transphobic abuse, withholding money and other types of controlling behaviour such as ‘outing’ or the threat of ‘outing’ or enforced isolation from family and friends).