Lesbian
A woman who is primarily attracted to other women.
Gay
A person who is attracted primarily to members of the same sex. Although it can be used for any sex (e.g. gay man, gay woman, gay person), "lesbian" is sometimes the preferred term for women who are attracted to women.
Genderqueer
A term which refers to individuals or groups who "queer" or problematize the hegemonic notions of sex, gender and desire in a given society. Genderqueer people possess identities which fall outside of the widely accepted sexual binary (i.e. "men" and "women"). Genderqueer may also refer to people who identify as both transgendered AND queer, i.e. individuals who challenge both gender and sexuality regimes and see gender identity and sexual orientation as overlapping and interconnected.
Bisexual
A person who is attracted to both people of their own gender and another gender. Also called "bi".
Demisexual
A person who is sexually attracted to people only after a strong emotional bond has been formed.
Transgender
This term has many definitions. It is frequently used as an umbrella term to refer to all people who do not identify with their assigned gender at birth or the binary gender system. This includes transsexuals, cross-dressers, genderqueer, drag kings, drag queens, two-spirit people, and others. Some transgender people feel they exist not within one of the two standard gender categories, but rather somewhere between, beyond, or outside of those two genders.
Transsexual
A person whose gender identity is different from their biological sex, who may undergo medical treatments to change their biological sex, often times to align it with their gender identity, or they may live their lives as another sex.
Twospirit
A person who adopts some combination of male and female gender identity, dress, and social roles, or who identifies as gay, lesbian, transgender, etc.
Intersex
A person whose sexual anatomy or chromosomes do not fit with the traditional markers of "female" and "male." For example: people born with both "female" and "male" anatomy (penis, testicles, vagina, uterus); people born with XXY.
Queer
1) An umbrella term sometimes used by LGBTQA people to refer to the entire LGBT community. 2) An alternative that some people use to "queer" the idea of the labels and categories such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, etc. Similar to the concept of genderqueer. It is important to note that the word queer is an in-group term, and a word that can be considered offensive to some people, depending on their generation, geographic location, and relationship with the word.
Questioning
For some, the process of exploring and discovering one’s own sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Asexual
A person who generally does not feel sexual attraction or desire to any group of people. Asexuality is not the same as celibacy.
Allies
Typically any non-LGBT persons who supports and stands up for the rights of LGBT people, though LGBT people can be allies, such as a lesbian who is an ally to a transgender person.
Pansexual
A person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction for members of all gender identities/expressions, not just people who fit into the standard gender binary (i.e. men and women).
Polyamorous
A person who participates simultaneously in more than one serious romantic or sexual relationship with the knowledge and consent of all partners.