I'm gay and don't want to patronize bigots. Thanks, Supreme Court - Los Angel Tim

Even if you intify as a member of the LGBTQIA+ muny, n be difficult to fully unrstand all seven characters of this acronym. And for those who aren't LGBTQIA+, n be that much more nfoundg. What exactly do each letter stand for? And how n a few letters fe an entire muny? Consirg a recent survey by the Gay&Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn (GLAAD) found that 12 percent of the populatn intifi as LGBTQIA+, 's more ccial than ever to unrstand the termology around this growg somewhat recently, variatns of the term "gay muny" were ed to enpass the entirety of the group that we now refer to as LGBTQIA+. Acrdg to Ms. Magaze, the first acronym to take shape the 1990s was "GLBT," ed to scribe those who intified as eher gay, lbian, bisexual, or transgenr. "LGBT" eventually replaced "GLBT" the mid-2000s, as lbian activists fought for more visibily.Activists and members of the queer muny have sce e together to form the current acronym, "LGBTQIA+." This notatn clus space for those intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer (and some s, "qutng"), tersex, asexual (and sometim "ally"), and the "+" is for a plethora of other orientatns and this fairly new acronym, the LGBTQIA+ muny has been able to more fully enpass a group of people that, jt s ago, were outsts of society. But wh this clivens, there's also been some nfn. So if you've been scratchg your head over this flux of plited and lite termology, we've broken down the simplt of terms. L: LbianToday, the term "lbian" is ed to scribe "female-intified people attracted romantilly, erotilly, and/or emotnally to other female-intified people," explas the Universy of Illois, Sprgfield's Genr and Sexualy word "lbian" emerged durg the 1960s and '70s femist movements. Before then, the term "gay" was ed to refer to both men and women, although was more closely associated wh men."Lbian" is rived om the name of the Greek island Lbos, acrdg to the Oxford Dictnary. Lbos was the home of the famo 6th century BC poet Sappho, who exprsed affectn for women her poetry (hence the term "sapphic") is important to note that not all women who f the aforementned scriptn intify as lbians. As always, 's bt to ask a member of the LGBTQIA+ muny how they intify before makg assumptns. G: GayBefore the latter half of the 19th century, the word "gay" simply referred to someone who was "reee," "cheerful," or "bright and showy," acrdg to The Oxford Dictnary of Difficult Words. In the '40s and '50s, the word began to be ed as unrground slang referrg to both mal and femal who were attracted to the same sex. Sce then, the word "gay" has fully replaced the term "homosexual," which many found to be too clil and was riddled wh stigma.Acrdg to the Universy of Illois, "gay" is still ed to scribe a number of thgs, cludg the LGBTQIA+ muny as a whole, a sgle dividual who do not intify as straight, and men who are attracted to other men a "romantic, erotic and/or emotnal sense." B: BisexualA bisexual person is typilly fed as someone who is attracted to people of their genr and other genrs—although even experts wh the LGBTQIA+ muny offer a range of Bisexual Rource Center, for example, is hant to fe bisexualy as beg attracted to eher mal or femal, sce this perpetuat the genr bary. A more expansive fn of bisexualy is someone who is attracted to all genrs, though some more than others at tim. (And, while this should go whout sayg, the ia that intifyg as bisexual is a "way statn" om straight to gay is an accurate and hurtful stereotype.) T: TransgenrThe word "transgenr" is an umbrella term ed for "people whose genr inty and/or genr exprsn differs om what is typilly associated wh the sex they were assigned at birth," acrdg to GLAAD. The term was first ed by psychiatrist John F. Oliven of Columbia Universy his 1965 work Sexual Hygiene and Pathology. He noted that the word "transsexual," which had been ed up until then, was outdated and , you probably often hear the shortened versn of "transgenr," which is "trans." A mon misnceptn is that cross-drsers (i.e., drag queens) are trans. But people who cross-drs are often not transgenr—meang that they do not intify wh a sex other than the one that they were born wh. Q: Queer or QutngThe "Q" the LGBTQIA+ acronym has two meangs: "queer" and "qutng." But the former is the most the 1980s, when activists reclaimed this word, "queer" was a slur ed agast members of the LGBTQIA+ muny. As a rult, some LGBTQIA+ people still hate to e the word to reprent themselv. Often, "queer" is ed as a blanket term to fe the "sexual preferenc, orientatns, and habs of the not-exclively-heterosexual-and-monogamo majory," acrdg to the Universy of Illois. You'll hear a person e the word to scribe themselv and also to scribe the muny at for the "qutng" subset of the LGBTQIA+ muny, that term refers to non-heterosexual people who are still “qutng” their place wh the queer muny—whether that means that they are still unsure of their sexual orientatn or genr inty, acrdg to the Rabow Wele Iniative. I: IntersexThe term "tersex" is ed to scribe people who are born wh reproductive or sexual anatomy that don't f the typil fns of male and female, acrdg to the Intersex Society of North Ameri. And, jt as there are a range of sexual orientatns and genr inti wh the LGBTQIA+ muny, there are also an array of blogil characteristics that exist among those who are example, someone may be born wh a noticeably large cloris, but whout a vagal openg; or wh a scrotum that is divid so that appears more like labia. Bee of the featur, tersex people's bodi (and, many s, their genr inty) straddle the two sex. (Also, is important to note that tersex is pletely different om transgenr.) A: Asexual or AllyHere's another letter that has more than one meang: "asexual" or "ally."Acrdg to LGBTQIA+ experts at Williams College, asexual people are simply fed as those who do not feel a sexual attractn to others. This term is not to be nfed wh "aromantic," which refers to dividuals who feel ltle or no romantic attractn to others. Asexual people n often be romantilly attracted to someone, but sexual attractn don't play a role the relatnship.Asexuals are not to be nfed wh celibate people (who choose to not engage sex), those who posss mental disorrs or hormone imbalanc that lim their sex drive, or those who are aaid of physil "A" LGBTQIA+ n also refer to the term "ally," which is ed to fe someone who "nonts heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, heterosexual, and genrstraight privilege themselv and others," acrdg to the Universy of Illois. You n learn more on beg an active ally here. +: Other Non-Heterosexual PeopleThe "+" the LGBTQIA+ acronym is ed to symbolize and expla a number of different genr inti and sexual orientatns that are not already prent the lettered acronym.Pansexualy falls unr the "+," and is likely a term that you'll hear more equently the g years. Acrdg to , pansexuals are people who n feel a sexual, romantic, and emotnal attractn toward a person, regardls of their genr inty or orientatn. This means that pansexual people n be attracted to cisgenr, transgenr, tersex, and androgyno people, as typil genr bari do not matter to them. It's different om bisexualy that pansexuals have no preference for a certa sex—they're more nnected to people for who they are.Genrqueer is another popular term that exists unr the "+." This term is ed to fe those whose genr inty is outsi of the strict male and female bary. Genrqueer people will eher exhib quali of both sex or will choose not to intify as eher sex. Along the same l, "nonbary" is ed to scribe people who do not intify as male or female, and see themselv as existg outsi of the genr urse, the "+" n also refer to anythg and everythg a person wants to—and leav room for the LGBTQIA+ muny to expand. And if you want to learn more about what not to say about the LGBTQIA+ muny, check out our gui to 11 Stereotyp People Should Stop Believg About the LGBTQ disver more amazg secrets about livg your bt life, click here to follow on Instagram! * letters in gay community *

LGBTQIA+ is an abbreviatn for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer or qutng, tersex, asexual, and more. The terms are ed to scribe a person’s sexual orientatn or genr inty. * letters in gay community *

* letters in gay community *