Note: Asexuality is not the same as celibacy, which is the willful decision to not act on sexual feelings.
Assigned Sex - Sex recorded at birth by a doctor, on the basis of socially defined external genitalia.
Bisexual - A description for people who are emotionally, erotically, and/or physically attracted to males and females.
Cisgender - A description of people whose gender identity is the same as their assigned sex at birth.
Closeted - Hiding one's sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
Coming Out
(Personal) - Becoming aware of one's own sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
(Social) - Revealing one's own sexual orientation and/or gender identity to others.
Cross-dresser - Someone who periodically dresses and/or expresses themselves as opposite to their assigned sex, but do
not desire to change their birth sex. They dress-up for a variety reasons, including self-expression, personal enjoyment, and/or sexual gratification. Many cross-dressers are heterosexual.
Drag King/Queen - People who dress as members of the "other" sex periodically, for the purpose of entertainment, making a political statement, and/or expressing their own masculine or feminine side.
Dyke - A sometimes derogatory term that usually refers to a lesbian woman. Some members of the LGBTQ community have reclaimed the term, but others still consider it offensive.
Fag - A sometimes derogatory term that usually refers to a gay man. Some members of the LGBTQ community have reclaimed the term, but others still consider it offensive.
FTM / F2M (female-to-male) - A trans individual who was assigned the female sex at birth who identify as male some or all of the time.
Gay - A term that is often used to describe a male-identified person who is emotionally, erotically, and/or physically attracted to some other male-identified people. Sometimes, gay is used as a catch-all phrase for people who identify as homosexual.
Gender - A collection of traits thought by a culture to be associated with maleness/masculinity or femaleness/femininity.
Gender Expression - The way that individuals present their appearance and/or mannerisms to express their gender.Gender Identity - How one experiences and conceptualizes one's own gender: regardless of biological sex.
Genderqueer - A description for people who do not identify as either male or female, but rather something outside the traditional binary gender system.
Heterosexual - Someone who is emotionally, erotically, and/or physically attracted to people of the "opposite" gender/sex.
Homosexual - Someone who is emotionally, erotically, and/or physically attracted to people of the "same" gender/sex.
Intersex - A generalized term for people who are born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the traditional definitions of female or male.
Lesbian - A female-identified person who is emotionally, erotically, and/or physically attracted to some other female-identified people.
MSM (men who have sex with men) - Male-identified individuals who have sex with other male-identified individuals.
MTF / M2F (male-to-female) - A trans person who was assigned the male sex at birth and who identify as female some or all of the time.
Pansexual - A person who is emotionally, erotically, and/or physically attracted to some individuals of any gender identity.
Queer - Having a sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or gender expression different from those deemed "normal" by mainstream society. The term has been reclaimed by some, but others in the LGBTQ community find it derogatory.
Sex - Categorization as male, female, or intersex by the shape of genitalia or other biological features.
Sexual Orientation - Describes a person's pattern of romantic, erotic, or physical attraction to individuals of a particular gender or genders.
SGL (same gender lover) - A term sometimes used instead of homosexual.
Straight - A term for someone who identifies as heterosexual and cisgender.
Trans - A term that describes a gender identity and/or gender expression that is outside of the gender binary social norms.
Transgender - Describes individuals who cross over gender identities without necessarily changing their bodies.
Transsexual - Describes people whose gender identity does not match the culturally assigned gender identity for their anatomical sex and who generally desire a physical transition that includes hormones and/or surgery.
WSW (women who have sex with women) - female-identified individuals who have sex with female-identified individuals.
This list was adapted from a publication of the Washington Coalition Sexual Assault Programs. The original document can be found in .pdf format here.
Now I'm confused. I have always called myself "celibate" although I didn't make a conscious, willful decision to become celibate. Instead, I was merely "following my heart", or subconscious, in becoming celibate. But now you tell me that celibacy must be a willful decision! Help!
ReplyDeleteMaybe following your heart is similar to making a willful decision? I understand it as Asexual people have no sexual drive, while celibate people do, but don't indulge it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe. Or maybe we just don't have a word for what folks like me do. If so, it wouldn't be the first time English lacked a word for something.
ReplyDeleteWho says will must be in conflict with heart?
ReplyDeleteI'm confused, Paul.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like following your heart could also be described as your will - or what you wanted to do. I don't think your experience contradicts the definition for celibacy, at all. :)