LGBTQ people

LGBTQ people are people whose sexual orientation or gender identity falls within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or related identities. These identities describe distinct, sometimes overlapping aspects of human experience.

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Sexual orientation: A person's enduring patterns of romantic, emotional, or sexual attraction to others, or lack of such attraction. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities describe patterns of attraction.
LGBTQ community: A broad, diverse network of people and organizations connected by LGBTQ identities, experiences, or advocacy. Shared spaces and organizing can build connection across distinct identities.
LGBTQ rights: Legal and political protections concerning equality, privacy, family, safety, and participation for LGBTQ people. Rights determine protections against discrimination and access to legal recognition.
Heteronormativity: The assumption that heterosexuality and conventional gender roles are normal or preferred. It helps explain social pressures that LGBTQ people may encounter.
Gender identity: A person's internal sense of their gender, which may or may not align with sex assigned at birth. Transgender identity concerns a relationship between gender identity and sex assigned at birth.
Pride: A movement and set of events affirming LGBTQ identities and opposing stigma and discrimination. Pride publicly celebrates identities often marginalized in social life.
Conversion therapy: Interventions that seek to change or suppress a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. It targets LGBTQ identities despite professional opposition and evidence of harm.
Cisgender: Describes people whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. It contrasts with transgender without implying a person's sexual orientation.
Sex characteristics: Physical traits related to sex, including chromosomes, hormones, reproductive anatomy, and secondary characteristics. These traits are distinct from gender identity and sexual orientation.
LGBTQ symbols: Flags, colors, and other signs used to express LGBTQ identities, histories, and solidarity. Symbols make community affiliation and political visibility publicly legible.