Glossary

Ohio State University Glossary (Requires Adobe Reader. Download Adobe Reader for free.)

Bisexual
Type of sexual orientation in which a person is emotionally and sexually attracted to either sex.

Coming Out
The process by which a person begins to self-identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, or queer. Coming out can happen over a long or short period of time and at different levels (e.g., a person may be out to their friends, but not to their family).

Cross Dresser
A person who enjoys wearing clothes usually associated with the opposite of her/his assigned sex or gender. Some cross dressers may also identify as transgender.

Drag
Stands for (DR)essed (A)s a (G)irl. It is when a person performs in the clothes or using the mannerisms usually associated with the opposite sex or gender. Most people that do drag do not consider themselves transgender. Drag is usually done for entertainment purposes. There are Drag Queens (men dressing up as women) and Drag Kings (women dressing up as men).

F+M
A Female to Male transsexual.

Gay
A man who is emotionally and sexually attracted to other men. Preferred self-identifier for many homosexual men. Also, a term used to describe the GLBT community. See Sexual Orientation. [Some men who have sex with men do not identify as gay.]

Gender
A social construct in Western culture typically divided between men and women and masculine and feminine. Behavior, appearance, and societal roles are differently defined for each gender. For most people, gender is their sex made visible.

Gender Expression/Identity
Refers to the way in which people externally communicate their internal, personal sense of gender to others through behavior and appearance. For transgender people, their birth-assigned gender or sex and their own internal sense of gender identity do not match, and they seek to make their gender expression match their internal identity, rather than their birth-assigned gender or sex.

Hermaphrodite
Considered a pejorative term, referring to an intersexed person.

Heterosexism
Belief that heterosexuality is superior or more valid than other sexual orientations. Gives people who follow a more culturally traditional heterosexual lifestyle greater power, as well as increased opportunities for legal, medical, and economic, and social privilege, assistance and status.

Heterosexual
Type of sexual orientation in which a person is emotionally and sexually attracted to the opposite sex (males attracted to females, females attracted to males).

Homophobia
Irrational fear and hatred of homosexuality and anyone who identifies as anything other than heterosexual. Can often be internalized by someone who is having difficulty with her/his own gay, lesbian, or bisexual orientation. A direct result of heterosexism.

Homosexual
Type of sexual orientation in which a person is attracted to the same sex (males attracted to males, females attracted to females). A term originally used by the medical community to "diagnose" people wo were not hererosexual. Considered a pejorative to some people who prefer the terms "gay," "lesbian," or "queer."

Intersexed
People who are born with ambiguous genitalia. Use "intersexed" rather than "hermaphrodite." Intersexed people may or may not identify as transgender or transsexual.

Lesbian
A woman who is emotionally and sexually attracted to other women. Preferred self-identifier for many homosexual women. Can also refer to the community and culture of women who love/are attracted to other women.

LGBT
Common abbreviation for (L)esbian, (G)ay, (B)isexual, and (T)ransgender.

M+F
A Male-to-Female transsexual. See Transsexual and Transition.

Sex
1. Verb: Consensual, intimate physical contact between adults.
2. Noun: Biologically based (though, some argue socially constructed) determination of a person's label of "female" or "male." Often based on doctor's visual assessment of a baby's genitalia.

Sexual Orientation
Refers to the identifiers used to describe the kind of sex a person finds attractive. Includes heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual. See Gay and Lesbian. *Transgender is not an indicator of a person's sexual orientation. Transgender people may have a heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual orientation.

Transgender
Often an umbrella term including transsexuals, cross-dressers, as well as people who identify as neither male nor female. Can also be the preferred self-identifier for someone who feels their gender identity differs from their birth-assigned gender or sex, but who does not wish to transition.

Transition
The process by which a person who identifies as transgender or transsexual changes their sex and gender. Can include changing name/ and or sex on legal documents, hormone therapy, living as the opposite gender or sex for an extended period of time, Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS). Not all transgender/transsexual people choose to transition, or may choose some but not all of the options related to transition (an F+M or M+F may choose hormonal therapy but never have Sex Reassignment Surgery).

Transsexual
A person who does not feel that their birth-assigned sex matches their internal sense of their sex. Transsexuals may be male-to-female (M+F) or female-to-male (F+M). Transsexuals may or may not choose to alter their bodies hormonally or surgically. Some transsexuals also identify as transgender. See Transgender and Transition.

Transvestite
Considerd a pejorative term when used to describe someone who is a Cross Dresser.

Queer
An umbrella term used for anything not heterosexual. Historically, it has been considered pejorative. However, the term has recently been reclaimed by many GLBT people as a preferred self-identifier, as well as an adjective (e.g., Queer Politics, Queer Studies).