A no-nonsense glossary of terms commonly used in the discussion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. This is a work in progress.
Terms and Acronyms
Gay: A person who is sexually attracted to someone of the same sex. Current use usually refers to men while same-sex attracted women are referred to as ‘Lesbians’.
Lesbian: A woman who is sexually orientated towards women.
Bisexual: A person who can experience sexual attraction for either the same or opposite sex.
Straight: A heterosexual man or woman, a person sexually orientated towards the opposite sex.
Queer: Used as a severe insult in the past (“queer-bashing”) currently allegedly ‘reclaimed’ and applied to seemingly anyone who self-identifies as apart from the mainstream.
Transgender: A person who thinks they have a gender identity that does not match their biological sex.
Cis: Supposedly the opposite of trans, i.e. the vast majority of people whose ‘gender identity’ matches their biological sex.
Homophobia: Fear or hatred of LGB people.
TERF: An term of abuse used by radical trans activists against women who oppose the erosion of women’s rights. It stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist”. A woman who is concerned that biological males have an unfair advantage in women’s sport, for example, might typically be called a “TERF” by trans activists.
Gender Dysphoria: A psychological disorder in which a person believes they are the opposite gender to their biological sex.
Puberty Blockers: A drug administered to block the onset of puberty. Originally thought to give a person suffering from “gender dysphoria” a chance to reflect, recent evidence links it to permanent damage, including sterility, poor physical development and cancers.
Autogynephilia: men who are sexually aroused by the idea of themselves as women.
Social contagion: A psychological condition that appears to spread through social memes. Examples in the past include anorexia and similar eating disorders, multiple personalities, past life or lost memory recovery, and so on.
ROGD: “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria”. Likely a form of social contagion where a child suffers ‘gender distress’ around puberty and concludes they’re transgender.
Common Phrases
“Transing Away The Gay” – this refers to the practice of assuming anyone who does not conform to a gender stereotype is “Trans” and ought to be encouraged to change their ‘gender’ – often by having a sex-change through drugs, hormone injections and surgery – when many would simply have grown up to be happy, intact, and fulfilled gay people. Critics believe this is driven by homophobia.
“LGB without the T” – The desire by many lesbian, gay and bisexual people to separate their campaigning interests from the demands of trans-activists. Many LGB people fear that the irrational demands of T will cause a social backlash threatening their hard-won rights.