Benefits with Company

LGBTQ+-Inclusive Language

Why Words Matter

The words people use sometimes send signals of welcome or hostility, respect or disrespect, whether intended or not. Language can help bring understanding, and understanding can help bring compassion and connection, leading to more respectful and inclusive communities and workplaces.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

When it comes to LGBTQ+-inclusive language, a good starting place is to understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. Sexual orientation refers to attraction—whether a person is attracted romantically or sexually to people of the same or the opposite gender (or to both equally, or neither). Gender identity refers to whether a person sees themself as male, female, or nonbinary. A person who was assigned one gender at birth but grows up to identify as the other gender is considered transgender—a term of gender identity.

Some experts put it this way: Sexual orientation is who you go to bed with. Gender identity is who you go to bed as.

The other key thing to understand is that sexual orientation and gender identity are not "preferences" or "lifestyle choices." They are simply aspects of who a person is. This is why "sexual orientation" is the accepted term and "sexual preference" may be considered offensive.

LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQI+ — What do all these letters mean?

In recognizing different sexual orientations and gender identities, language has evolved to be more inclusive. What started as "gay and lesbian"—to describe people who are romantically or sexually attracted to people of the same gender—has expanded to include additional terms for a broader array of people. The initials are a shorthand way to describe the larger set of people who are attracted to people of the same sex, who identify as a different gender from the one assigned to them at birth, or who in some other way don't conform to "traditional" gender roles.

LGBT stands for

• Lesbian—A woman who is attracted romantically or sexually to other women
• Gay—Primarily used to describe a man who is attracted romantically or sexually to other men, but also used for women with same-sex attraction, as in "gay woman"
• Bisexual—A person who is attracted romantically or sexually to both men and women
• Transgender or trans—A person who doesn't identify with the gender they were assigned at birth

LGBTQ includes

• Questioning—A person who is still exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity
• Queer—An umbrella term for all LGBTQ+ people that some find empowering and useful and others find offensive

LGBTI includes

• Intersex—A person born with sexual anatomy or chromosomes that aren't clearly male or female

LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTI+, or longer sets of initials are used to include other groups, such as those who are

• Pansexual or omnisexual—A person who is romantically or sexually attracted to people of any sex or gender identity
• Pangender—A person who identifies as all genders
• Two-spirit—A term used in some native American/First Nations cultures for a person with the ability to see the world from both female and male perspectives or who has both male and female spirits
• Asexual—A person who does not experience sexual attraction to anyone, or who has low levels of sexual attraction
• Agender—A person who identifies as having no gender or who has no gender identity
• Ally—A person who actively supports, respects, and advocates for members of the LGBTQ+ community

Which set of initials is used to include all of these groups is a matter of preference, and can vary from person to person, group to group, and country to country. In the United States (U.S.), LBGTQ or LGBTQ+ are the most commonly used and widely accepted sets of initials. In the United Kingdom (UK), LGBT is more widely used. In Australia, LGBTI is the most common. Some individuals and some groups prefer a longer set of initials, such as LGBTQIA. Some advocates have proposed a simpler all-encompassing term, such as "queer" or "Q," though this has not gained broad acceptance.

If a set of initials has been discussed and accepted within your organization, that's the one you should use at work. However, respect individual coworkers and friends if they use something different in your dealings with them.

Other Terms Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

• Androgynous—A person who identifies or presents as neither male nor female
• Bigender—A person who moves between male and female gender identities, sometimes depending on the situation, or who identifies as both genders
• Cisgender—A person whose internal sense of identity corresponds to the sex they were assigned at birth (a person born a female who identifies as a female, for example)
• Coming out—The ongoing process of accepting one's sexual orientation or gender identity and sharing it with others
• Gender-affirming surgery—Surgery, often a combination of procedures, to change a person's body to align with their gender identity
• Gender expression—The combination of behaviors, dress, grooming, mannerisms, speech patterns, and ways of interacting socially that cause a person to be perceived as a man or a woman
• Gender nonconforming or gender variant—A person whose gender identity and gender expression is different from conventional expectations of masculinity and femininity
• Heterosexual or straight—A person whose enduring romantic or sexual attraction is toward those of the other sex
• Nonbinary—A person who does not identify as only male or only female, or who identifies as neither male nor female
• Transition—The process through which a person modifies their appearance and behavior to assume a gender expression different from the one assigned at birth (a process that may include hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgery, as well as a name change and change of sex on legal documents)

Terms to Avoid

• Biologically male or biologically female—These terms oversimplify the complexities of gender; use "assigned male at birth" or "assigned female at birth" instead.
• Homosexual—This is an outdated clinical term now considered to be derogatory and offensive.
• Sex change—This is an outdated term; use "transition" to describe the process of transitioning from male to female or female to male, and "gender-affirming surgery" for medical procedures that may be part of the transition.
• Sexual preference—This term implies that sexual orientation is a matter of choice; use "sexual orientation" instead.
• Transgendered or transgenders—Use "transgender" instead and only as an adjective (as in "a transgender person").
• Transsexual—This is an outdated term; use "transgender" instead.

For More Information

GLAAD Media Reference Guide (2016, 10^th edition)
This includes glossaries of terms and guidance on inclusive language.
Link opens in a new windowhttps://www.glaad.org/reference

"How to Navigate the Gender Landscape at Work," Harvard Gazette (February 15, 2019)
Link opens in a new windowhttps://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/02/lessons-in-how-to-make-the-workplace-inclusive-for-lgbtq-employees

"What is LGBTQIA+?" (Gay Center)
Link opens in a new windowhttps://gaycenter.org/about/lgbtq

"From LGBT to LGBTQIA+: The Evolving Recognition of Identity" National Geographic (2021)
Link opens in a new windowhttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/from-lgbt-to-lgbtqia-the-evolving-recognition-of-identity

"The ABCs of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+" New York Times (Updated 2019)
Link opens in a new windowhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/style/lgbtq-gender-language.html