This document discusses terms related to gender identity and sexual orientation. It defines terms like cisgender, transgender, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, and non-binary. It also discusses concepts like gender identity versus biological sex, romantic orientation versus sexual orientation, and umbrella terms. The document notes that gender identity and pronouns are personal, and certain terms should be avoided. It outlines flags used in the LGBTQIA community and closes by discussing challenges faced due to stigma and discrimination.

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2. Introduction
• LOs:
 To recognize a range of terms relating to identity.
 To understand their context and how to use them without being offensive.
 To appreciate the problems some people face because of their identity.
• Be respectful during this presentation. We will discuss some sensitive and
personal issues.
• There are a lot of words because are trying to categories everyone.
• Using any these words is a personal choice.
• Definitions may vary from person to person.
• Respect other people’s identities.

3. Queer
Pansexual
Bisexual
Straight
Gay/Lesbian
Asexual
Sexual
Orientation
How much do you know about sexuality?
Lack of sexual attraction
Attraction to a gender
different from your own
Attraction to two or
more genders
Attraction to all
genders
Umbrella or stand
alone term
reclaimed by some
LGBTQ people.
Only these people
can use it as to
many it is offensive.
Attraction to your
own gender

4. Romantic v Sexual Orientation
• Some people do not feel sexual attraction and so they
often distinguish between sexual and romantic attraction.
• Generally a romantic attraction is the desire to be in
some sort of non-sexual relationship with a person.
• Romantic labels use the same prefixes as sexual ones,
e.g aromantic, homo-romantic.
• Romantic and sexual identities do not have to match.

5. Umbrella terms
Grey-asexual
Little sexual
attreaction/rare
occurence
Demisexual
Sexual attraction
only once a strong
emotional bond is
formed
Polysexual
Attraction to
many (but
not all)
genders
Homo/
Heteroflexible
Usually attracted
to one gender
but occasionally
not
Both asexual and bisexual are identities in
their own right, they are also umbrella
terms. This means they cover a range of
different identities too, including:

6. Gender
• Gender and sex are different things. Sex refers to
anatomy while gender is a social category and refers to
behavior and feelings.
• Your gender identity is your own perception of your
gender and what label you choose to use. Gender
expression is how you convey this, e.g. through clothing.
• Sometimes your gender and sex don’t match up.
• Male and female are common genders and together they
are called the gender binary.

7. Gender terms
Genderqueer
Gender neutral
Agender Non-binary
Gender fluid
Transgender
Cisgender
Gender
Gender
identity
changes or
fluctuates
Gender outside the
male/female binary
Identities not
easily
categorized as
masculine or
feminine. Often
a blend of the
two.
Gender identity, gender expression and sex match up
Do not identify with
a gender
Umbrella term to
describe non-
normative genders
like agender/gender
fluid etc
Umbrella term-where
sex, gender
expression and
gender identity do not
match up

8. Pronouns
• As someone’s gender identity might not be immediate obvious, you
might use the wrong pronouns when addressing them.
• If you are unsure you can ask politely, what pronouns they prefer.
Always respect their answer.
• They, Ze and Hir are common gender neutral pronouns but if
someone prefers something different you should use the pronoun
they tell you.
• Examples: That is hirs. They are over there.

9. Terms to Avoid
• transgendered – instead transgender should be used as
an adjective e.g. he is a transgender man.
• Biologically male/female – These terms over-simplify a
complex subject of what makes up someone’s sex.
‘Assigned male/female at birth’ (AMAB/AFAB) is
preferred.
• Tranny, she-male, it – these words dehumanise
transgender people and are offensive.

10. Agender
Pride Flag Match-Up
6. White and black indicate absence of gender.
Grey = semi-genderless
Green represents non-binary genders as it is the
inverse of the binary associated colour, purple.
(blue for male + red for female = purple)
Pride flags are common symbols used to identify a particular group in the LGBTQ
community. They can also give people an important sense of identity and
community. On your worksheet try and match up the flag to the label. Think about
the significance of the colours to help you.
Aromantic
3. This is one of the proposed aromantic flags.
Green is used as it is the opposite red, a colour
traditionally representing love/romance.
Grey represents grey-aromantic people who are between
romantic and aromantic.
Black indicates the absence of romantic attraction.

11. Asexual
7. The black stripe represents the absence of sexual
attraction
Grey represents grey-asexuality, demisexuality and people
on the asexual spectrum
White is for non-asexual partners and allies
The purple stands for community
Bisexual
8. Pink represents attraction to the same gender
Blue represents attraction to a different gender
Purple represents the overlap, where bisexual people are
attracted to both
Gay/
LGBTQ
1. This is the six striped version of the pride flag. There are also
less commonly used 7 and 8 striped ones.
Originally each colour has its own meaning (life, healing,
sunlight, nature, serenity and spirit) but now the rainbow is said
to reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ community.

12. Gender-
queer
5. Here, purple represents androgyny and people who define
as a mix of male and female. It is a mix of blue and pink which
are traditionally associated with male and female
White represents agender people
Green is the opposite colour to purple and so stands for
people who define outside of or without reference to the
gender binary.
Non-
binary
2. Yellow – no reference to the binary as yellow is its own
primary colour.
White - those who have many genders as it is all the colours
of the light spectrum mixed
Purple represents those who are a mix of male and female
Black represents the absence of gender as it is the absence
of light.

13. Transgender
9. The blue stripes represent male and the pink, female.
The white in the middle represents those who are
transitioning or those who have a neutral gender, no
gender, or intersex people.
According to the creator, Monica Helms, “the pattern is
such that no matter which way you fly it, it is always correct,
signifying us finding correctness in our lives.”
Pansexual
4. Used to distinguish between the pansexual and bisexual
community.
Pink represents those who identify as female
Blue represents those who identify as male
The yellow stripe is how it differentiated from the bisexual
pride flag. Yellow represents non-binary people as it a
primary colour and not a mix of anything else.

14. Stigmas and Discrimination
• Now we know the basics of what these
words mean, we can think about what
defining yourself as LGBTQ+ means in
practical terms.
• In groups, brainstorm some ideas about
what might affect different LGBTQ+
people.

15. • Some people think asexual people are broken or weird.
• Bisexual people get stigmatized as greedy or liars and are
extensively under-represented in the media.
• Gay is still used as a derogatory term.
• Transgender and non-binary people live in a strictly male/female
world, e.g. the issue of male/female toilets or job applications which
ask for your gender but only have two options.
• Sometimes these people are refused access to benefits reserved for
people of their gender identity but not their assigned sex.
• People with identities that are not widely represented in the media
are often told they don’t exist or they are simply using a label for
attention.
• These issues can lead to very serious consequences. It is now
widely documented that LGBTQ+ people have a higher prevalence
of mental health problems, as well as being more likely to self harm
or attempt suicide.
Stigmas and Discrimination - Examples

16. Discrimination leads to:
• A quarter of the UK’s homeless youth are LGBT.
About 70% of these were forced out by their
families.1
• 96% of gay pupils hear homophobic language in
school.2
• Bisexual people are around six times more likely
to report having been suicidal than heterosexual
people.3
• A survey by PACE (LGBT mental health charity)
concluded that 48% of trans people under 26
had attempted suicide, compared with 6% of all
16-24 year olds.4

17. What we can do
• Learn: be a good ally and listen to LGBTQ+
people when they say something is wrong.
Learn from your mistakes.
• Respect: don’t judge someone, whatever label
they use. Don’t use offensive language, even if
you think it’s a joke.
• Educate: talk to parents, teachers and friends. If
someone says something offensive, call them
out!