The LGBT+ community is a diverse group of people whose experience with sexuality and gender identity fall outside societal norms. It’s important to know a few terms in order to properly understand the LGBT+ community.

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Sexuality/Sexual Orientation: Which people you’re romantically/sexually attracted to

Gender Identity: Your internal sense of gender; what gender you feel that you are

Homosexual: A person attracted to someone of the same gender; includes Lesbians and Gay men

Bisexual: A person attracted to their own and other genders

Heterosexual: A person attracted to those of a different gender than their own

Transgender: A person whose gender identity does not align with their gender assigned at birth

Cisgender: A person whose gender identity aligns with the gender they were assigned at birth

AGAB: Acronym meaning Assigned Gender at Birth

Queer: A word now used as an umbrella/non-specific term to describe anyone in the LGBT+ community; though it was once used as a slur, many people in the LGBT+ community have reclaimed it to describe themselves

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Based on these terms, the acronym LGBT+ may make a bit more sense. The L stands for Lesbian, the G for Gay, the B for Bisexual, and the T for Transgender. The plus in the acronym encompasses many other identities, including Intersex, Queer, Questioning, Asexual, Aromantic, Non-Binary, and more! While the number of identities that fall under the LGBT+ spectrum can be overwhelming, it is much less important to fully understand every identity than to treat everyone with respect and decency.

Contrary to popular belief, queer people are not an invention of the last half century. Many pre-colonial North American Indigenous societies allowed same-sex relationships as well as gender variance, erotic Pre-Incan Moche ceramics prompted scholars to study the role of same-sex relationships, and South Asian Hijras, including a vast array of gender non-conforming people, have been well documented since antiquity. These are only a few examples of queerness throughout history! The idea that the LGBT+ community is a new creation for the sake of popularity or fabricated victimhood is not only false, but actively harmful to modern queer people.

Every single person’s experience of sexuality and gender identity is almost infinitely nuanced and unique, whether or not they fall under the LGBT+ umbrella. Support and acceptance of queer people ensures that everyone, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, can live safely and authentically.