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SEXUALITY

Romantic Orientation- Who you are romantically attracted to meaning wanting to be in a romantic relationship with and is unrelated to sexual attraction

Sexual Orientation- Who you are sexually attracted to meaning who you get turned on by or who you would want to engage in sexual behaviors with

Perioriented- When your sexual and romantic orientation targets the same gender (for example being heteroromantic and heterosexual or being biromantic and bisexual)

Varioriented- When your sexual and romantic orientations do not target the same set of genders (for example being heteroromantic and bisexual or being homoromantic and pansexual)

Heterosexual- The attraction to a gender different from their own (commonly used to describe someone who is gender binary [female or male] attracted to the other binary gender)

Heteronormative- The belief that heterosexuality is the norm and that sex, gender, sexuality, and gender roles all align

Erasure- Ignoring the existence of genders and sexualities in the middle of the spectrum

Cishet- Someone who is both cis-gendered and heterosexual.  This is sometimes used as a slur

Questioning- People who are debating their own sexuality/gender

Queer- A reclaimed slur for anybody in the LGBT+ community or who do not identify as cisgender and/or heterosexual/heteroromantic

Homosexual- The attraction to gender the same as their own (commonly used to describe someone who is gender binary [female or male] attracted to the same binary gender).  Sometimes referred to as gay

Lesbian- Women who are attracted only to other women

Bisexual- When you are attracted to two or more genders.  This term is generally used to describe being attracted to men and women but can apply to being attracted to any two or more genders. Note that you do not have to be equally attracted to each gender

Pansexual- When you are attracted to all genders and/or do not concern gender when you are attracted towards someone

Bicurious- People who are open to experimenting with genders that are not only their own but do not know if they are open to forming any sort of relationship with multiple genders

Polysexual- When you are attracted to many genders

Monosexual- Being attracted to only one gender

Asexual- Not experiencing sexual attraction (note that you can also be aromantic and you do not necessarily have to be asexual and aromantic at the same time).  Sometimes the term, ace, is used to describe asexuals

Grey Asexual- When you only experience attraction rarely, on a very low scale, or only under certain circumstances

Allosexual- When you are not asexual (attracted to at least one gender)

Demisexual- When you only experience sexual attraction after forming a strong emotional bond first or a romantic bond

Androsexual- Being attracted to masculine gender presentation

Gynosexual- Being attracted to feminine gender presentation

Polyamorous- An umbrella term referring to people who have or are open to having consensually had relationships with multiple people at the same time

Monoamorous- People who have or open to having relationships with only one other person at a time.  The term, monogamous, is also sometimes used

Terms: About Us
Image by Tim Mossholder

GENDER

Sex- Your assigned gender at birth and/or the gender of your reproductive organs

Designated gender- A gender assigned at birth based on an individuals sex and/or what gender society perceives a person to be

Gender roles- Certain behaviors an activities expected/considered acceptable of people in a particular society based upon their designated gender

AFAB- Assigned Female At Birth

AMAB- Assigned Male At Birth

Intersex- A biological difference in sex that is when people are born with genitals, gonads, and/or chromosomes that do not match up exactly with male or female.  Intersex individuals can have any romantic/sexual orientation and can have any gender identification. Intersex individuals are about as common as redheads

Gender- Where you feel that you personally fall on the spectrum between male and female. Commonly people identify as male or female, but some fall in the middle or move throughout the spectrum

Gender Presentation- The gender you present yourself to others.  This is sometimes referred to as gender expression

Dyadic- Someone who is not intersex and when their genitals, gonads, and chromosomes can all match into either a male or female category

Greygender- Somebody with a weak gender identification of themselves

Aporagender- Somebody with a strong gender identification of themselves that is non-binary

Cisgender- When you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth

Transgender- When you identify with a gender different than that you were assigned at birth

Social Dysphoria- Discomfort experienced when acting in ways socially different than your gender or being addressed in ways different to your gender

Body Dysphoria- Discomfort experienced because of the difference between gender and your sex, role, or gender expression

Transitioning- The process of using medical means to change your sex

Transsexual- When you have had Gender Reassignment Surgery (GRS) to change the sexual organs you were born with to that of a different gender

Male to Female (MtF)- When somebody that is assigned as a male at birth identifies as a female

Trans Woman- Someone who is assigned as a male at birth, but identifies as a woman

Female to Male (FtM)- When somebody that is assigned as a female at birth identifies as a male

Trans Man- Someone who is assigned as a female at birth, but identifies as a man

Trans Feminine- Someone who identifies as feminine, but identifies as neither a man nor a woman.  They must also be assigned male at birth

Butch- A term used to describe someone who's gender expression is more masculine than feminine.  This is commonly used in describing women or lesbians

Femme (Fem)- A term used to describe someone who's gender expression is more feminine than masculine.  This is commonly used in describing women or lesbians

Trans Masculine- Someone who identifies as masculine, but identifies as neither a man nor a woman.  They must also be assigned female at birth

Binary- The genders at each end of the gender spectrum (male and female)

Binarism- Putting gender strictly into two categories (male and female) and refusing to acknowledge genders outside of male and female

Maverick- A non-binary gender that exists outside of the orthodox social bounds of gender

Novigender- A gender that is super complex and impossible to describe in a single term

Androgyne- This term overlaps a lot between gender identification and presentation.  It can be used to describe others and as an identification. This term is used to describe people who are neither male nor female or are both male and female.  Basically anyone who does not fit into a binary gender category

Non-Binary- An umbrella term for genders that fall somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum and are neither strictly male or female.  This can be used as a gender identification without further explanation. Sometimes the term, genderqueer, is used

Genderfluid- Moving between genders or having a fluctuating gender identity

Intergender- Somebody whose gender is somewhere between male and female

Demigender- When you feel as if you are one part a defined gender and one or more parts an undefined gender.  Terms can include demigirl, demiboy, demiagender, etc

Bigender-  Identifying as two genders, commonly (but not exclusively) male and female.  Sometimes you feel like both genders at the same time and sometimes you fluctuate

Polygender- When you identify with multiple genders at once.  Sometimes referred to as multigender

Agender- Not identifying with any gender.  Sometimes referred to as being genderless

Neutrois- When you identify as agender, neither male nor female, and/or genderless

Gender Apathetic- When you really do not identify nor care about any particular gender.  You are fine passing off as whatever and you really do not have an opinion towards your own gender.

Terms: Welcome

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