Difference between gay and transgender

Glossary of Terms: LGBTQ

Definitions were drafted in collaboration with other U.S.-based LGBTQ people organizations and leaders. See acknowledgements section.

Additional terms and definitions about gender identity and gender expression, transgender people, and nonbinary people are available in the Transgender Glossary. 

Are we missing a term or is a definition outdated? Email press@glaad.org

*NOTE:  Request people what terms they use to describe their sexual orientation, gender persona and gender verbalization before assigning them a label. Outside of acronyms, these terms should only be capitalized when used at the beginning of a sentence.
 

LGBTQ
Acronym for lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer. The Q generally stands for queer when LGBTQ organizations, leaders, and media use the acronym. In settings offering support for youth, it can also stand for questioning. LGBT and LGBTQ+ are also used, with the + added in recognition of all non-straight, non-cisgender identities. (See Transgender Glossary ) Both are acceptable, as are other versions of this acronym. The term “gay community” should be avoided, as it does not accuratel

difference between gay and transgender

LGBTQIA Resource Center Glossary

GLOSSARY

The terms and definitions below are always evolving, switching and often mean diverse things to different people. They are provided below as a starting direct for discussion and comprehending. This Glossary has been collectively built and created by the staff members of the LGBTQIA Resource Center since the initial 2000s.

These are not universal definitions. This glossary is provided to help offer others a more thorough but not entirely comprehensive understanding of the significance of these terms. You may even consider asking someone what they represent when they use a term, especially when they use it to illustrate their identity. Ultimately it is most important that each individual define themselves for themselves and therefore also define a word for themselves.

 

“If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.” -Audre Lorde

This glossary contains terms, such as ableism and disability, that may not be considered directly related to identities of sexuality or gender. These terms are significant to acknowledge as part of our mission to challenge all forms of oppress

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It’s easy to receive this confused, particularly because T is included in the LGBTQ+ acronym (T standing for “Transgender”). The key is to remember that transgender is referring to someone’s gender identity and not their sexuality orientation. Transgender people can be gay, linear, pansexual, queer, asexual, or any other sexual orientation (just like cisgender people!).

Recent FAQs

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What about advanced workshops? Unharmed Zone 201 perhaps?

Our Foundational Curriculum is a designed to create a Protected Zone 101 overview workshop. We praise this workshop for all audiences – gay, straight, homosexual, allied, and anywhere in between (or outside) those categories. While some of it may be old information for some, we think that everyone, no matter their awareness level, will obtain something out of the experience.

We perform have exercises that can be used for more advanced/specific workshops. Just verify out the search activities tab and search under the “201” levels for more advanced activities!

I have an task I think you should add to the site. Carry out you want to see it?

Yes! One of our goals for this proposal is to rotate it into the go-to resour

Up until 2015, I’d never met a transgender person. Most of my same-sex attracted friends hadn’t either, except for some who encountered drag artists in pubs. I’m unsure whether this is indicative of the larger gay community but if so, maybe it’s because whilst the male lover and trans community are grouped together under the LGBT framework, their differences sometimes outnumber their similarities. The former is about sexuality and the latter is about gender, with each sharing different nuances, history and direction. I discovered these facts whilst writing the book and my motive for writing lay sorely with my curiosity as to why a person would try to change their gender.

Trans Voices examines gender dysphoria by looking at the lives of ordinary people who reported having incongruence between their brains and physical bodies from an early age, before deciding the only way to release this mental anguish was to transition to the opposite gender. Male lover people do not acquire to endure these difficulties, which entail lifelong hormone treatment and sometimes multiple surgeries to bring the new gender into physical reassignment. I’m not saying gay people don’t deal with rejection and homophobia in socie

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Definitions

Sexual orientation

An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people. Note: an individual’s sexual orientation is independent of their gender identity.

Gender identity

One's innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One's gender identity can be the same or other from their sex assigned at birth.

Gender expression

External appearance of one's gender self, usually expressed through conduct, clothing, body characteristics or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically paired with being either masculine or feminine.

Transgender

An umbrella legal title for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, gender diverse people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, pansexual, etc.

Gender transition

The process by which some people try to more closely align their intern