Glossary of Sexual and Gender Diversity

The acronym LGBTIQ* stands for: lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, inter*, non-binary, and queer people.
The asterisk* here represents all the sexual orientations and gender identities that are not directly included in the acronym; its purpose is to highlight the full diversity of queer identities.
Instead of LSBTIQ*, you’ll often see the abbreviation LGBTQI*. This is the English version (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, inter*). Other variations are also common, sometimes with additional letters such as A for asexual, aromantic, and agender, or a plus sign (+) instead of the asterisk* at the end.

The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), also known as the Anti-Discrimination Act, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race or ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, a disability, age, or sexual identity by private actors or in the workplace.

The prefix "allo-" (Greek for "other") is used as the counterpart to the prefix "a-" in "aromantic" and "asexual," and describes people who generally feel sexual (allosexual) or romantic (alloromantic) attraction toward other people.

An ally is someone who is not part of a marginalized group but actively advocates for that group’s rights and concerns. Allies use their position (and privilege) to support the interests of marginalized groups and advocate for equality and acceptance. This means, for example, that they intervene when they witness discrimination against members of these groups.

The prefix "a-" (Greek for "not") is used in the context of both sexual and romantic orientations as well as gender identity.
For example, the terms “asexual” and “aromantic” describe people who feel little or no sexual (asexual) or romantic (aromantic) attraction toward others.
"Agender," on the other hand, is a gender identity that describes people who do not identify with any gender or who reject the concept of gender.

“The Western binary gender model—or the two-gender model—is based on the assumption that there are only two genders, ‘man’ and ‘woman,’ and that only men and women constitute the gender norm. All other gender identities are not taken into account.
Based on this assumption, there are “men’s” and “women’s” restrooms, “women’s” and “men’s” fashion, “men’s” and “women’s” sports teams, which also play in separate “men’s” and “women’s” leagues. The binary gender model thus affects all areas of society. People who fall outside this classification—such as inter* and/or non-binary individuals—do not have access to these clearly gender-segregated offerings; they are ignored and thus completely excluded or forced to misidentify themselves.”

Source: Network for Gender Diversity Trans* NRW – Glossary (see sidebar)

People who identify as bi (from the Latin for "two") are attracted to people of different genders (at least two).

Cis (from the Latin "this side") or cisgender is the opposite of trans* and refers to people who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.

"Coming out" refers to the process in which a person becomes aware of their sexual orientation or gender identity and begins to share this with others. Coming out is usually a lifelong process that often has to be repeated in new environments. In contrast to coming out as a self-determined process is “outing,” which is imposed by others.

A deadname is a former, no longer used first name. In most cases, it is the birth name of trans* people who now have a new name. Using a deadname is very hurtful to the person concerned and should therefore always be avoided.

Discrimination refers to the unfair treatment of people based on certain characteristics such as ethnic or social origin, age, disability, religion, or even sexual orientation and gender identity.

There are often specific terms for certain types of discrimination; for example, transphobia refers to discrimination against trans* people, and homophobia refers to discrimination against lesbians and gay men. The term “hostility” is preferable to “phobia” in this context, since phobias are medical diagnoses involving involuntary behavior, whereas transphobia and similar forms of discrimination involve consciously exclusionary behavior.

In addition to the gender options “female” and “male,” Germany has also offered the option “diverse” since the end of 2018. This is not a third gender, but rather a collective category intended to represent gender variations beyond the binary and is primarily aimed at inter* people. However, trans* and non-binary people also have the option, under certain conditions, to have their gender designation changed. Furthermore, since 2013, it has been possible, under certain conditions, to leave the gender designation open.

The term “diversity” comes from English and means variety or diversity.
Diversity generally encompasses characteristics such as ethnicity, social background, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, and religion, although the scope can be expanded to include many other (individual) characteristics.

Diversity management is the deliberate shaping of social and workforce diversity to reduce discrimination and promote equal opportunity. It also involves recognizing, valuing, and actively leveraging the diversity of an organization’s members as a source of potential.

"Endo" refers to people who are not inter*, meaning whose bodies can be classified as clearly male or female according to medical standards.

The acronyms FINTA (women, inter*, non-binary, trans*, and agender people) and FLINT (women, lesbians, inter*, non-binary, and trans* people) are used to indicate who is welcome in (activist) spaces or at specific events.

Although the English term “gender” literally translates to “sex,” it more specifically refers to the social dimension of sex. In English, a distinction is therefore made between “gender”—that is, social gender—and “sex,” the biological sex assigned to individuals based on physical characteristics.

Social gender encompasses both a person’s gender identity and the sociocultural structures, notions, and expectations surrounding gender, such as gender roles and stereotypes.

A person’s gender identity refers to the gender or genders with which they identify. Gender identity does not necessarily correspond to the gender assigned to the person at birth. Examples of gender identities include cis, trans*, inter*, and non-binary.

People who identify as heterosexual (from the Greek for “unequal”) are attracted to people of the opposite sex.

In Western society, heterosexuality is considered the norm—see also heteronormativity. Therefore, the term heterosexuality is typically used to refer to men who are attracted to women and women who are attracted to men.

Heteronormativity is a perspective that views heterosexuality and binary cisgender identity as the norm and is a common cause of discrimination against LGBTIQ* people.

People who identify as homosexual (from the Greek word meaning “same”) are attracted to people of the same or a similar sex. Homosexual men often refer to themselves as gay, and homosexual women as lesbian.

Inter* (from the Latin for “between”) is a term used to describe people whose biological sex characteristics (e.g., chromosomes or genitals) do not conform to the medical norms of being clearly female or clearly male. Intersex is a spectrum, and the asterisk* after the adjective “inter*” accordingly represents the diversity of inter* identities and the various terms that can describe them.

“Intersectionality (from the English word ‘intersection’ = ‘point of intersection, intersection set’) means that various social categories—such as gender, sexuality, skin color, ethnicity, religion, age, and social background—are intertwined and therefore cannot be considered in isolation from one another. This means that different forms of discrimination—such as racism, homophobia, and transphobia—are also interconnected and must be considered within these contexts. An intersectional analysis examines how different forms of discrimination interact and what effects they have on one another. After all, every person belongs to multiple groups (see multiple identities/multiple discrimination), which can lead to exclusion or inclusion. A term that expresses these different levels/dimensions is “multidimensional discrimination.”

Source: Brochure “Sexual and Gender Diversity in a Migration Society” (see sidebar)

Women and non-binary people who are attracted to women often identify as lesbian.

Non-binary people are individuals whose gender identity deviates from the binary gender system because they do not identify as a man or a woman, or do so only partially or at certain times. “Non-binary” is therefore also an umbrella term for various gender identities, such as agender (not belonging to any gender) or genderfluid (a changing gender identity, e.g., sometimes female, sometimes non-binary, etc.).

Unlike coming out, outing is not a self-determined process. To out someone means to reveal that person’s gender identity or sexual orientation to others, usually without the person’s consent.

People who identify as pan (Greek for "all") are attracted to people of all genders, or a person's gender plays no role in their attraction.

Privileges are advantages and opportunities enjoyed by members of a majority group, often to the detriment of marginalized individuals. Privileges are, therefore, the opposite of discrimination.
Privileged people encounter fewer barriers when accessing certain resources. Often, privileged people take their status for granted and are unaware of their privileges or of the fact that other people do not automatically have the same advantages and opportunities.
One example of a privilege is marriage, as for heterosexual people it is usually a given option, whereas for many members of the LGBTIQ* community, it has only been an option in Germany since 2017, and in many countries, same-sex marriage is still not possible.

When we talk about pronouns in the context of diversity, we’re referring to the little words used to refer to third parties. Traditionally, in German, these are the two binary pronouns sie/ihr and er/ihm. In addition, there is the neutral or inanimate pronoun “es/ihm,” which some non-binary people also use to refer to themselves; however, in general language use, it primarily refers to objects and should not be used to refer to people. For this reason, many non-binary people use so-called neopronoms (neo = Latin for “new”), which represent gender identities beyond the binary options of sie/ihr and er/ihm.

Among the more widely used German neopronoms are “sier/siem” and “xier/xiem,” the Swedish-derived “hen,” or “they/them, or the Germanized form “dey/dem,” which comes from English and has been used there for centuries as a pronoun for people whose gender is unknown. Some people also prefer to have their name used instead of a pronoun and may, for example, add the note “no pronoun” after their name.

Examples:
Xier/xiem: Xier is new here. This is xier’s office.
Hen: Hen is new here. That’s hen’s office.
Dey/dem: Dey is new here. That’s deren office.
First name: Sam is new here. That’s Sam’s office.

Pronouns are often listed in the nominative/dative format, as in this text, and placed after the name in email signatures or profile names, for example: Sam Müller (xier/xiem).

Today, “queer” is often used as a self-identification term by people whose sexual orientation or gender identity deviates from the heteronormative norm. It is sometimes used, like the acronym LGBTIQ*, as an umbrella term for the community, but also as a specific description, such as “genderqueer.” It is also used in an academic context to refer to theories and fields of study that—often through interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches—seek to challenge heteronormative stereotyping.

However, since “queer” originated as a slur in English, some members of the LGBTIQ* community reject the term, particularly when used by others to label them.

A rainbow family is a family in which at least one parent is gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans*, inter*, non-binary, or queer.

The rainbow flag was designed in 1978 in San Francisco by the American artist Gilbert Baker to give gay activists a positive symbol for their cause. With its six colors today (it used to have eight), it is considered a symbol of diversity and pride for the international LGBTIQ* community. Accordingly, it is also known in English as the “pride flag.”

A variation of the rainbow flag is the Progress Flag. It was designed in its original form in 2017 by the non-binary graphic designer Daniel Quasar. In addition to the familiar stripes of the rainbow flag, it also includes the colors of the Trans Pride flag (light blue, pink, and white) as well as a brown and a black stripe. The latter stand for BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color); however, the black stripe is also intended to represent all those who have died from the effects of AIDS or who live with the stigma of an HIV infection. In its updated version, the flag also includes the symbol of the Inter-Pride flag—a purple ring on a yellow background.

Furthermore, there is a separate Pride flag for nearly every sexual orientation and gender identity.

Romantic orientation describes the gender or genders to which a person is emotionally or romantically attracted. A person’s romantic orientation may or may not coincide with their sexual orientation.

In common parlance, terms such as heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual are often used to describe both romantic and sexual orientation. However, when romantic and sexual orientation do not coincide, terms such as heteroromantic, homoromantic, and biromantic—that is, the same prefixes with different suffixes—are also used to distinguish the former.

Men and non-binary people who are attracted to men often identify as gay.

Sexual orientation describes the gender or genders to which a person is physically or sexually attracted. A person’s sexual orientation may or may not coincide with their romantic orientation.

In everyday language, terms such as heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual are often used to refer to both romantic and sexual orientation.

The acronym TERF comes from English and stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminists,” meaning radical feminists who exclude trans* people. They believe that there are only two genders and that these are distinguished from one another by physical characteristics, in accordance with the binary gender system. TERFs are primarily trans-misogynistic; they refuse to recognize trans* women as women and actively attempt to exclude them from spaces and organizations intended for women.

Trans*, transgender, or the English term “transgender” are umbrella terms for all people who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. Trans* (from the Latin for “beyond”) is thus the counterpart to cis. Trans* people may identify as male or female, or as non-binary. Accordingly, the asterisk* after the adjective “trans*” also represents the diversity of trans* identities and the various terms that can describe them, such as “transgender.”

Due to their origins in a medical context, the terms “transsexuality” and “transsexual” are now rejected by many trans* people.

The underscore_ (also known as the gender gap) is used, like the asterisk* or the colon:, as a placeholder to include all genders and identities beyond the binary gender model. This ensures that more than just two genders are included when reading. The gender gap is pronounced by inserting a short pause between the separate parts of the word.