Glossary

2SLGBTQ+

An acronym that stands for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and other identities. It refers to people who are sexually and/or gender diverse.

Ableism

Refers to attitudes and systems in society that devalue and limit the potential of persons with disabilities. Ableism sees persons with disabilities and people with mental health and/or addiction issues as being less worthy of respect and consideration, less able to contribute and participate, or of less inherent value than nondisabled persons (Ontario Human Rights Commission).

Accommodation

An adjustment made to policies, programs and/or practices to enable individuals to benefit from and participate in the provision of services equally and perform to the best of their ability. Accommodations are provided so that individuals are not disadvantaged on the basis of the prohibited grounds of discrimination identified in the Ontario Human Rights Code or other similar codes. The goal of accommodation is to provide equitable access while respecting individual dignity.

Adverse Health Outcomes

A negative impact on the health of a person or population due to specific variables.

AFAB / AMAB

Acronyms for assigned female at birth (AFAB) and assigned male at birth (AMAB). These terms refer to the sex assigned to a person at the time of birth.

Ageism

A type of prejudice or discrimination based on age. While it can be applied to both youth and elders, it often refers to age-based discrimination against older people.

Agender

A person who does not identify with any gender or does not experience a gender identity. Agender individuals can have any type of gender expression and use any set of pronouns.

Ally

A person who actively supports and advocates for marginalized people and communities, while working to end oppression from which they may personally benefit. Allies listen to, and are guided by, communities and individuals affected by oppression. Being an ally involves ongoing action and education.

Anti-Oppression

Practices and approaches aimed at ending or combatting oppression and promoting equality and social justice. It involves critically examining power imbalances and working to create inclusive environments free from discrimination and inequality.

Anti-Racism

The active process of identifying, challenging and dismantling white supremacy and systemic racism, as well as the ideologies, policies and practices that perpetuate racial inequity.

Asexual

A sexual orientation where a person experiences little or no sexual attraction. Asexuality is a spectrum, and asexual people may still experience romantic attraction.

Barrier

Any overt or covert obstacle that prevents a person from fully taking part in all aspects of society. For example, a belief, policy, practice, object or environment that prevents or limits a person's access to opportunities, benefits, or advantages that are available to other members of society.

Bias

A subjective opinion, predisposition, preference, prejudice, generalization or inclination, formed based on personal characteristics or stereotypes; often operates in implicit or unconscious ways where a person may or may not be aware of their biases.

Bigender

A person who has or experiences two genders, which can be any combination across a spectrum. These genders may be binary (e.g., man/woman) or non-binary, experienced simultaneously or alternately, and may not be experienced equally.

Biphobia

Negative attitudes, feelings, or irrational aversion to, fear or hatred of bisexual people and their communities, or of behaviours stereotyped as bisexual, leading to discrimination, harassment or violence against bisexual people.

Bisexual

A person who is emotionally, physically, spiritually and/or sexually attracted to people of more than one gender, though not necessarily at the same time.

Bullying

The use of threat, coercion, or force to cause fear, distress or harm to a person.

Cisgender

A term for a person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Cisnormativity

The assumption that being cisgender is the default or normative standard for human experience, which marginalizes people who are trans, non-binary or otherwise gender diverse.

Cissexism

A system of oppression that considers cis people to be superior to trans people. It is the systemic privileging of cisgender identities and the othering or pathologizing of trans identities.

Classism

The belief that people in higher socio-economic classes are more valuable than others. People with lower income or less access to resources are assumed to be less worthy of respect and consideration, less able to contribute and take part, and of less value than other people. Classism can be conscious or unconscious (BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner). These beliefs are woven into our systems and institutions of power in ways that further disenfranchise, dispossess, and displace working class and poor people.

Colonization

A tool of supremacy used to dispossess, subjugate and extract resources from Indigenous peoples and their lands. It is the process or practice of "extending and maintaining a nation’s political and economic control over another people or area" (Co-operative Housing Federation of B.C.).

Coming Out

The ongoing and lifelong process of a person recognizing, accepting and potentially sharing their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression with others.

Compulsory Heterosexuality

Popularized by Adrienne Rich’s essay “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” (and commonly abbreviated to “comphet”), this is a social construct that perpetuates the idea, along with forced expectations and assumptions, that heterosexuality is the expected norm. It promotes the idea that anyone who is not heterosexual is abnormal.

Conversion Therapy

In Canada, conversion therapy is defined as any practice, treatment or service aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual, altering their gender identity to cisgender, or repressing non-heterosexual attraction or gender expression. It has been deemed harmful and is illegal under Canadian law (Department of Justice Canada). Also referred to as SOGICE (Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Change Efforts).

Cross-dresser

A term for a person who wears clothing not traditionally associated with their assigned sex or gender, typically used for people assigned male at birth who wear clothing traditionally considered “women’s” clothing. This term has been used pejoratively toward transfeminine people and other AMAB people with feminine expression; in defiance, some transfeminine people and male drag queens may choose to reclaim and self-identify with it (Serano, "Cross-dresser"). Cross-dressing is not inherently sexual, nor is it tied to sexual orientation or gender identity, and many cross-dressers identify as cisgender.

Cultural Competence

A person's ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures. Cultural competence has four components: (a) Awareness of one's own cultural worldview; (b) Attitude towards cultural differences; (c) Knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews; and (d) Cross- cultural skills. Developing cultural competence results in an ability to better understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures.

Culture

The sum of many things an individual learns (and may modify or pass on) from being immersed in a particular context – the shared (or perceived to be shared) ideas, beliefs, values, behavioural norms, knowledge, customs and traditions of a group of people who share some historical, geographic, religious, racial, linguistic, ethnic or social context.

Deadnaming

The act of referring to a trans or non-binary person by the name they used before transitioning. A “dead name” is often the name assigned to a person at birth or their former legal name.

Decolonization

The process of challenging colonial influence and dismantling and replacing structures that perpetuate the status quo using Indigenous perspectives. It is a long-term process involving divesting of colonial power and simultaneously promoting Indigeneity and Indigenous sovereignty, which includes acknowledging settler privilege and one’s proximity to it (Community Health Fund of BC).

Disability

Under the medical model, this term refers to a limitation or loss of  physiological abilities, whether apparent or not. These can be physical, cognitive, learning, and visual disabilities. Under the social model, disability is identified as a disadvantage or a restriction of activity caused by systemic barriers, negative attitudes and exclusion by society.

Discrimination

Any form of unequal treatment based on a ground protected by human rights legislation, that results in disadvantage, whether imposing extra burdens or denying benefits. Discrimination can be intentional or unintentional; and it may occur at an individual or systemic level. It may include direct actions or more subtle aspects of rules, practices and procedures that limit or prevent access to opportunities, benefits, or advantages that are available to others.

Dominant Group

A group that is considered more powerful and privileged in a particular society or context.

Drag Performer/King/Queen

Performers who use clothing, makeup and persona to present and often exaggerate gendered expression for entertainment. Drag is a performance art and is separate from a performer's day-to-day gender identity or sexual orientation.

Duty to Accommodate

The legal obligation that employers, organizations, service providers and public institutions have under human rights legislation to ensure fair and equal access to services in a way that respects the dignity of every person, if to do so does not create undue hardship. The principle of dignity strives to maximize integration and promote full participation in society, in consideration of the importance of privacy, confidentiality, comfort, autonomy, individuality and self-esteem.

Equality

The practice of ensuring equal treatment to all people, without consideration of individual and group diversities.

Equity

The practice of ensuring fair, inclusive and respectful treatment of all people, with consideration of individual and group diversities. Access to services, supports and opportunities and attaining economic, political and social fairness cannot be achieved by treating individuals in exactly the same way. Equity honours and accommodates the specific needs of individuals/ groups.

Ethnicity

A socially defined category or membership of people who may share a nationality, heritage, language, culture and/or religion.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to look at the world from the perspective of one’s own ethnic culture and the belief that one’s own ethnic group or culture is superior to others

Gay

A person who experiences physical, romantic, spiritual, emotional or sexual attraction to people of their own or a similar gender. The word can refer to men or women, although many women prefer the term "lesbian." While "gay" is sometimes used as an umbrella term, "queer" or "2SLGBTQ+" are often considered more inclusive.

Gender

A social construct related to the norms, behaviours, roles and identities associated with being a man, woman or another gender. It is distinct from sex assigned at birth and exists on a spectrum.

Gender Affirming

An umbrella term for a range of actions involved in living as one’s authentic gender, rooted in the principle that trans and gender-diverse people’s experiences and identities are authentic. It includes approaches to trans health and advocacy that affirm these perspectives (Julia Serano, Trans Glossary).

Gender-Based Violence

Any harm or threat of harm directed at a person belonging to a gender minority because of their gender. It disproportionately affects women and girls and can take various forms, including physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse.

Gender Binary

A social system whereby people are thought to have either one of two gen­ders: “man” or “woman.” These genders are expected to correspond to birth sex: male or female. In the gender binary system, there is no room for living between genders or for transcending the gender binary. The gender binary system is rigid and restrictive for many people whose sex assigned at birth does not match up with their gender, or whose gender is fluid and not fixed.

Gender Expression

How a person outwardly expresses or presents their gender. This can include behaviour, outward appearance such as dress, hair, make-up, body language and voice. A person's chosen name and pronouns are also common ways of expressing gender, and others perceive a person's gender through these attributes.

All people, regardless of their gender identity, have a gender expression and they may express it in any number of ways. For trans people, their chosen name, pronouns and apparel are common ways they express their gender. People who are trans may also take medically supportive steps to align their body with their gender identity.

Gender Identity

A person's internal and individual experience of gender. It is a person's sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither or anywhere along the gender spectrum. A person's gender identity may be the same as or different from their sex assigned at birth. A person's gender identity is fundamentally different from and not related to their sexual orientation.

Gender Norms

The gender binary influences what society considers “normal” or acceptable behaviour, dress, appearance and roles for women and men. Gender norms are a prevailing force in our everyday lives. Strength, action, and dominance are stereotyp­ically seen as “masculine” traits, while vulnerability, passivity, and receptiveness are stereotypically seen as “feminine” traits. A woman expressing masculine traits may be chastised as “overly aggressive,” while a man expressing “feminine” traits may be labelled as “weak.” Gender norms can contribute to power imbalances and gender in equality in the home, at work, and in communities.

Gender Role

The oppressive culturally and historically specific expectations and restrictions that are placed on a person based on whether they are assigned at birth as male or female.

Gender Spectrum

The representation of gender as a continuum, as opposed to a binary concept.

Gender Non-Conforming (GNC)

A term for people whose gender expression differs from the societal norms associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender variant is a similar, broader and sometimes clinical umbrella term.

GNC encompasses a wide range of identities, such as non-binary, agender, genderqueer and genderfluid. People who are gender non-conforming may or may not identify as trans.

Gender Affirming Surgery (GAS)

Surgical procedures some trans people undergo as part of their medical transition. These may include chest surgery ("top surgery") and genital reconstruction surgery ("bottom surgery"). Not all trans people seek or have access to surgery.

Harassment

A course of comments or actions, such as unwelcome attention, jokes, threats, remarks, name-calling, touching or other behaviours that are known, or ought reasonably to be known, to be unwelcome, offensive, embarrassing, humiliating, or demeaning. Harassment under human rights legislation is based on the prohibited/protected grounds.

Hate crime

Criminal acts which promote hatred against identifiable groups of people, motivated by bias, prejudice or hate. Although individuals and groups that promote this destructive form of human rights-based discrimination often defend their right to “free speech,” it is a criminal offense to disseminate hate propaganda and/or to commit hate crimes.

Health Inequities

Systematic and unjust differences in health-related exposures and outcomes among different population groups. These differences are unnecessary, avoidable and unfair, and can be addressed through policy intervention.

Heteronormativity

Refers to the commonplace assumption that all people are heterosexual and that everyone accepts this as “the norm”. The term heteronormativity is used to describe prejudice against people that are not heterosexual, and is less overt or direct and more widespread or systemic in society, organizations, and institutions. This form of systemic prejudice may even be unintentional and unrecognized by the people or orga­nizations responsible.

Heterosexism

The assumption that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is superior and preferable. The result is discrimination against bisexual, lesbian and gay people that is less overt, and which may be unintentional and unrecognized by the person or organization responsible for the discrimination.

Homophobia

Negative attitudes, feelings or irrational aversion to, fear or hatred of gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer people and communities, or of behaviours stereotyped as “homosexual.” It is used to signify a hostile psychological state leading to discrimination, harassment or violence against such individuals.

Human rights

The universal entitlement that all people should have access to freedom, justice and protection from discrimination and harassment, and that people should have equal access to a climate that preserves the dignity and worth of individuals and groups.

Ism

A suffix denoting harmful beliefs, behaviours or institutional practices by a group or person with power directed against specific groups, rationalized by an underlying belief that certain people are superior to others. Examples include: ageism, anti-semitism, audism, cissexism, classism, ethnocentrism, heterosexism, racism, sexism, shadism, sizeism.

Inclusion

An approach that aims to reach out to and include all people, honouring the diversity and uniqueness, talents, beliefs, backgrounds, capabilities and ways of living of individuals and groups.

Indigenous Peoples

An umbrella term for self-identified descendants of pre-colonial/pre-settler societies. In Canada these include the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples as separate peoples with unique heritages, economic and political systems, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. While the collective term has offered a sense of solidarity among some indigenous communities, the term should not serve to erase the distinct histories, languages, cultural practices, and sovereignty of the more than fifty nations that lived in Canada prior to European colonization.

Internalized Oppression

When members of a marginalized group accept negative aspects of stereotypes assigned to them by the dominant group, and begin to believe that they are inferior. The incorporation by individuals within an oppressed group of the prejudices against them within the dominant society can result in self-hatred, self-concealment, fear of violence, feelings of inferiority, resignation, isolation, and powerlessness. It is a mechanism within an oppressive system for perpetuating power imbalance.

Intersectionality

A term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a prominent American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory, in 1989. It describes how two or more forms of oppression (such as racism, sexism and classism) overlap in the experiences of an individual or group, creating interconnected barriers and complex forms of discrimination that can be insidious, covert and compounded.

Intersex

An umbrella term for people born with variations in sex characteristics, such as reproductive systems, chromosomes and/or hormones, that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. Intersex is about bodily diversity, not gender identity, though some intersex people may also identify as transgender or non-binary.

Lesbian

A woman who is emotionally, physically, spiritually and/or sexually attracted to women.

Marginalization

To relegate individuals or groups to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group by excluding them from meaningful participation and/or confining them to the outer edges of society.

Minority Stress

A framework explaining how unique social stressors faced by sexual and gender minorities, such as prejudice, stigma, concealment and internalized homophobia, negatively impact mental health. The model was coined by researcher Ilan H. Meyer in 2003 and adapted for trans populations by Hendricks and Testa in 2012.

Misogyny

The hatred and denigration of women and characteristics deemed feminine.

MSM (Men who have Sex with Men)

A term used primarily in public health, medicine and epidemiology to categorize a man based on sexual behaviour with other men, regardless of his sexual or gender identity. It describes behaviour, not identity, and should not be used as a synonym for gay or bisexual men. While crucial for research and health interventions, it is generally not used as a personal or community identity label.

Non-binary

An umbrella term for gender identities that exist outside of the man/woman binary. A non-binary person may experience their gender as a blend of both, somewhere in between, entirely different, or as having no gender at all. Other related terms include genderqueer, agender, bigender and genderfluid. People who are non-binary may or may not identify as trans.

Neopronouns

A category of pronouns created and used as alternatives to he/him, she/her or they/them. Examples include ze/zir and xe/xem. These pronouns are often adopted by individuals who feel that traditional pronouns do not accurately reflect their gender identity or sense of self. As with all pronouns, the correct usage is determined solely by the individual who claims them.

Oppression

The obvious and subtle ways dominant groups unjustly maintain status, privilege and power over others, using physical, psychological, social or economic threats or force. Frequently an explicit ideology is used to sanction the unfair subjugation of an individual or group by a more powerful individual or group, which causes injustices in everyday interactions between marginalized groups and the dominant group.

Pansexual

A person who has the potential for romantic and sexual attraction to people, regardless of their gender or sex. Pansexual is often described as attraction to people based on factors other than gender.

Passing

A complex and often contentious term referring to when a trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming person is perceived as cisgender.

Phobia

A suffix forming nouns that denote a learned dislike, aversion or an extreme, irrational fear and/or hatred directed against a particular group of people. Beliefs and actions stemming from this hostility function to devalue, demean and terrorize. Examples include: biphobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, transphobia and xenophobia.

Polyamory

The practice, state or ability of having more than one intimate, sexual and/or romantic relationship at the same time.

Power

Access to privileges such as information/knowledge, connections, experience and expertise, resources and decision making that enhance a person's chances of getting what they need to live a comfortable, safe, productive and profitable life. Each person has different levels of power in different contexts depending on a personal combination of privileges and oppression.

Poz

An abbreviation referring to a person living with HIV. This reclaimed shorthand is used primarily within the community as a neutral or affirmative identity label (e.g., "poz community") to counter stigma. In formal, medical, and person-first contexts, the phrases "HIV-positive person" or "person living with HIV" are generally preferred. Crucially, it should only be used for self-identification.

Prejudice

A negative prejudgment or preconceived feelings or notions about another person or group of persons based on perceived characteristics, rather than empirical evidence.

Privilege

Unearned power, benefits, advantages, access and/or opportunities that provide unfair advantage for members of the dominant group(s) in society. People are not always aware of the privileges they have. Examples include: cissexual privilege, straight privilege, male privilege, white privilege.

Pronouns

A part of speech used to refer to a person, noun or noun phrase. When talking about an individual, we often use “third-person pronouns” as a substitution for a person’s name.

Pronouns can be an important part of self-identification. Using a person’s pronouns and chosen name are essential ways of affirming another’s identity. Besides she/her and he/him, another common set of pronouns is they/them. Individuals may choose to use mixed pronouns, meaning they use more than one set of pronouns to identify themselves.

While pronouns can be indicative of gender identity, this is not always the case.

Queer

An umbrella term used by some people within the 2SLGBTQ+ community to describe their sexual orientation or gender identity. Historically a slur, it has been reclaimed by many as a positive identity and political term. It should only be used as a self-identifier unless in an explicitly inclusive context where its use is clearly accepted.

Questioning

A period where a person explores their own sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression.

Race

Culturally or socially constructed divisions of humankind, based on distinct characteristics that can be based on: physicality, culture, history, beliefs and practices, language, origin, etc. Racial discrimination is prohibited within Canada as part of the Canadian Human Rights Act, and the United Nations has a committee devoted to the elimination of racial discrimination.

Sex

A classification typically assigned at birth based on a combination of anatomical, chromosomal and hormonal characteristics, often categorized as male, female or intersex. It is distinct from gender identity.

Sex-Positive

An attitude that views consensual sexual activity as fundamentally healthy and pleasurable, promotes comprehensive sex education, and respects sexual diversity, autonomy and consent.

Sexual Orientation

The direction of one's sexual interest or attraction. It is a personal characteristic that forms part of who you are. It covers the range of human sexuality from lesbian and gay, to bisexual and straight.

Social Determinants of Health

Things that are needed for people to avoid illness and to be physically, mentally and socially healthy (e.g. income, employment, housing, access to services).

Social Justice

A concept based on a vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and individuals and groups are given equal opportunity, fairness, civil liberties, and participation in the rights, freedoms and responsibilities valued by society.

Stealth

A term (now mostly considered outdated) describing when a trans person does not disclose their trans identity in their social circles. There are many levels of not being "out," but in some cases it may involve significant life changes, such as ending contact with people who knew them before transition, moving, or changing jobs. These changes are often motivated by personal reasons or concerns for physical, cognitive and emotional safety.

Stereotype

Overly simplistic, or unfounded assumptions or judgments about a group of people that disregard individual differences among group members and emphasize negative preconceptions that characterize all members of a group as being the same.

Stigma

Severe social disapproval or discontentment with a person or group on the grounds of their particular circumstance, usually based on differences from social or cultural norms.

Straight

A person who has romantic or sexual attractions to people of another gender.

Tokenism

The practice of making a minimal or symbolic effort towards including members of underrepresented groups to create an appearance of diversity without addressing systemic inequities or ceding meaningful power.

Trans Man

A person whose sex assigned at birth is “female” and identifies as a man.

Transgender (trans)

Umbrella terms for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. This includes, but is not limited to, trans men, trans women and non-binary people.

Trans Woman

A person whose sex assigned at birth is “male” and identifies as a woman.

Transition

Refers to a host of personal, social, legal and/or medical processes that some trans people may pursue to affirm their gender identity. This may include changes to their name, sex designation, dress, pronouns, hormone therapy, surgeries or other medical procedures.

Transmisogyny

Negative attitudes, expressed through cultural hate, individual and state violence, and discrimination directed toward trans women and trans and gender non-conforming people on the feminine end of the gender spectrum.

Transphobia

Negative attitudes and feelings and the aversion to, fear or hatred or intolerance of trans people and communities. Like other prejudices, it is based on stereotypes and misconceptions that are used to justify discrimination, harassment and violence toward trans people, or those perceived to be trans.

Transsexual

A historical term (now largely outdated) used most commonly in the latter half of the 20th century to describe a person who identified with a sex different from the one they were assigned at birth. The term has largely fallen out of general use in favour of the broader and more inclusive term "transgender" or "trans." While some individuals still use this term for themselves, “transgender” or “trans” is now the generally accepted umbrella term, and “transsexual” should not be used unless the person has indicated they identify with the word.

Two-Spirit

A term used by some Indigenous people in North America to describe a person who embodies both a masculine and feminine spirit, or whose identity, sexuality or spirituality exists outside of colonial, binary understandings of gender and sexuality. It is a cultural, spiritual and gender identity specific to Indigenous contexts, not a synonym for LGBTQ+ identities. Use only in reference to individuals or communities who self-identify as Two-Spirit.

To learn more, please visit: https://2spirits.org/history/

WSW (Women who have Sex with Women)

A term used primarily in public health and epidemiology to categorize a woman based on sexual behaviour with other women, regardless of her sexual or gender identity. It describes behaviour, not identity, and should not be used as a synonym for lesbian or bisexual women. While crucial for research and health interventions, it is generally not used as a personal or community identity label.