Whether you are a member of LGBTQ + or are thinking of supporting such a movement, we have compiled a list of terms that include concepts related to modern sexuality.
Gender, sexual orientation and romantic choices cover the whole spectrum of sexuality today – and, as you know, everything has long been more than just black and white. Today, LGBTQ + members can identify their sexuality with many different terms, where everyone can choose what is more relevant to their specific interests.
So whether you’re identifying with one of these terms or just want to be a better ally, read on to learn more about the 23 sexuality and gender-related terms that are important to know.
1. Demi romances
A demro-romantic person can be described as one who feels romantic feelings only after a strong connection with someone has been established.
The main difference between a person who is demiromantic and one who is not is that there is actually no sense of romance in the beginning. They only occur over time, forming a deep emotional connection with the partner.
2. Bi romantics
Biromantism is a term that excludes sexuality from bisexuality and focuses instead on the emotional aspect. In other words, a biromantic person is able to feel a romantic connection with people who have both similar and different genders of their own. There is no concept of sexual interest in this case.
3. Self sexual
If you identify yourself as self-sexual, it could mean that you feel a sexual attraction to yourself. Although autosexuality is often associated with narcissism, experts agree that it is not an accurate description of the term.
Narcissists demand admiration and attention from others and they lack empathy. People who identify themselves as autosexual are able to form relationships with others but prefer to have sex with themselves.
4. Orientation
Orientation or sexual orientation describes what sexually attracts you.
5. Gender
Although there is often an equal sign between gender and orientation, there is a significant difference. Sexual orientation is what attracts you romantically, while gender identity is how a person perceives himself, for example, as a man, woman, non-binary, etc.
6. Heterosexual
Heterosexual people are attracted to the opposite sex.
7. Gay
The term ‘gay’ traditionally refers to men who are attracted to other men. However, it is used to refer to the LGBTQ + community as a whole, or to identify anyone who is not heterosexual.
8. Lesbian
A lesbian is a woman who meets and is attracted to other women.
9. Queer (direct Latvian translation would be ‘homosexual’, ‘strange, strange’ ) ‘
Queer is a term used by a person who is not heterosexual but is also dissatisfied with the limitations of the term ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’.
Most, if not all queer people at some point in life have been ashamed of their sexual orientation, especially at an early age, before they were able to find other people with similar interests.
Many queer can also move to new cities and find new families or communities. For Queer individuals, finding this community can be one of the most important turning points in life. Many people describe themselves as bisexual and at the same time queer.
10. LGBTQ+
LGBTQ stands for the wider queer community. This means lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), transgender (T), queer (Q) and others. Sometimes “Q” also means the word “question”, which are those who question their sexuality, or it is written as ‘LGBTQQ’ or ‘LGBTQ +’. Initially, the letter combination was ‘GLBT’, later also ‘LGBT’ or ‘LGBTQI’ (with ‘I’ for intersex people).
11. Bisexual
Bisexual refers to the ability to have sex with one’s own sex as well as the opposite sex.
12. Psexual
The terms ‘bisexual’ and ‘pansex’ seem to overlap, and some use both to describe their orientation. Psexuality is defined as having sex with people regardless of their gender identity. For psexuals, gender is not the determining point.
13. Bifobia
Bifobia is the fear, hatred and stigmatization of bisexual people. This is usually rooted in false stereotypes, such as the assumption that bisexuals cannot be monogamous and that they only meet other people, or that they consider themselves bisexuals, for example, men who do not want to admit that they are actually gay.
14. Gender binary
Due to gender binary, it is assumed that someone is either male or female based on the sex assigned at birth. As the gender revolution grows and there is more understanding of socialized gender roles, more and more people are beginning to understand themselves and others – that there can be more than just a woman and a man.
15. Non-binary
A non-binary person does not identify their gender in binary form (male and female). These people are usually not too masculine or too feminine.
16. Gender fluid
Usually, flowing sex describes a person whose gender fluctuates and who has a different gender identity at different times. Like non-binary people, how people of the fluid sex describe themselves and what terms they use to describe themselves can vary over time. One day they may feel more like men and the other more than women, at the same time both male and female, at the same time non-binary, female or all at the same time, and so on.
17. Transpersonal
It is sometimes referred to as ‘trans’. This term refers to a person whose gender, given by the doctor at birth, does not match his or her gender identity.
18. Intersex
A person who is born with chromosomes of both sexes, external genitals or the internal reproductive system, but who is not considered a standard – a man or a woman. About 1.7% of children are born with a mixed sexual anatomy, which makes it difficult to label them as male or female. People of the opposite sex are also called hermaphrodites.
19. Cis
Cis is an abbreviation for ‘cisgender’ or a person whose gender corresponds to the sex assigned to them at birth.
20. Cishet
Cishet is an abbreviation for someone who is both cis and heterosexual. A Cishet person is both identified with the sex that was given at birth and is heterosexual.
21. Asexual
Simply put, asexuality is related to the fact that a person is not sexually attracted to other people. You may want a close and even romantic relationship with people, but the idea of touching each other’s genitals is not particularly thrilling. Asexuality is different from celibacy, which is the deliberate decision not to have sex with other people. Asexuals may still enjoy masturbation , but they may not fantasize about involving other people.
22. Hypersexual
Hypersexuality is exactly what it sounds like. It can be defined as the ability to sexually attach to someone based solely on their appearance without knowing them personally. As long as communication is involved, there is nothing wrong with hypersexuality as it is with asexuality.
23. Demisexual
If sexuality is a spectrum that has asexuality at one end and hypersexuality at the other, there is demisexuality in the middle. Demonstration means that a person does not feel sexual attraction to others, but over time it can develop into intimacy and emotional connection.