2SLGBTQI terms and definitions and other gender and attraction diversity terminology
This quick reference provides basic definitions for common terms related to gender and attraction diversity.
Below you will find definitions within the 2SLGBTQI acronym and other commonly used terminology for sexual orientation, romantic attraction, gender identity, and gender expression.
See also:
Featured Terms
Two Spirit (2S)
An umbrella term for the many Indigenous traditional identities forcefully suppressed by colonization. The term honours the fluid and diverse nature of gender and attraction and its connection to community and spirituality. An individual may choose to use this term instead of, or in addition to, identifying as LGBTQI.
Queer
An umbrella term that may variously describe 2SLGBTQI communities, one’s relationship to a particular community, or an individual identity. It can denote same-gender attraction or reflect more complex dynamics between one’s sex, gender, and attraction experiences.
Gender Identity & Assigned Sex
Gender Identity: A person’s internal and individual experience of gender. It is not necessarily visible to others and it may or may not align with what society expects based on assigned sex.
Agender
A person who experiences either having no gender or a neutral gender identity.
Cisgender
A person whose gender identity corresponds with what is socially expected based on their sex assigned at birth (e.g. A person who was assigned male at birth and identifies as a man).
Genderfluid
A person whose gender identity is experienced as not being fixed and that shifts and varies over time and in relation to the context.
Intersex
A person whose chromosomal, hormonal, or anatomical sex characteristics fall outside of the conventional classifications of male or female.
Nonbinary (Enby)
A person who experiences their gender as not exclusively man or woman. When used as an umbrella term, it encompasses identities reflecting a range of gender experiences, including agender and genderfluid.
Transgender (Trans)
A person whose gender identity does not correspond with what is socially expected based on their sex assigned at birth. It can be used as an umbrella term to refer to a range of gender identities and experiences.
Transfeminine
An umbrella term for trans people who identify with or express femininity. Transfeminine people may or may not identify as a woman.
Transmasculine
An umbrella term for trans people who identify with or express masculinity. Transmasculine people may or may not identify as a man.
Sexual Orientation/Attraction
Sexual Orientation/Identity: A person’s potential for emotional, spiritual, intellectual, intimate, romantic and/or sexual interest in other people and may form the basis for aspects of one’s identity and/or behaviour.
Asexual (Ace)
A person who does not experience sexual attraction, and/or who has little to no interest in sexual activity. When used as an umbrella term, it encompasses identities reflecting a range of experiences and degrees of interest in sexual intimacy, including demisexual and graysexual.
Aromantic (Aro)
A person who experiences little to no romantic forms of attraction to others.
Bisexual
A person who experiences attraction to both people of their own gender and people of gender different from their own.
Demisexual
A person who experiences sexual attraction to someone only after having an emotional attraction to them.
Gay
A person who experiences attraction to people of the same gender as themselves. It can be used by individuals of any gender but is often used to refer specifically to men who are attracted to the same or similar genders.
Graysexual
A person who experiences interest in sexual intimacy infrequently or with limited intensity.
Heterosexual
A person who experiences attraction to people of a gender different than their own. Also referred to as “straight”.
Lesbian
A person who identifies as either woman or nonbinary and who experiences attraction to the same or similar genders.
Pansexual (Pan)
A person who experiences sexual and/or romantic attraction to others, regardless of gender.
Other Terms
Questioning
An umbrella term for the process of reconciling one’s felt sense of self in terms of gender and/or attraction and the language one uses to describe those experiences. It may be experienced for a single period, episodically, or persistently over one’s lifetime.
Androgynous
A word to describe a behaviour, trait, or style of expression that either blends masculine and feminine forms of expression or is culturally read as gender neutral.
Learn further by understanding Terms and Definitions of Systems of Oppression and Privilege