Good to know
A little queer lexicon
afab/amab
These are the abbreviations for “assigned female at birth” (afab) and “assigned male at birth” (amab).
agender
People can describe themselves as agender if they have no gender, do not feel they belong to any gender or cannot relate to the concept of gender. It is a gender identity from the non-binary or trans* spectrum.
Allyship/ Allies
Allyship describes the support of a marginalised group by people who do not belong to this group. Allyship is an ongoing process of self-reflection, questioning privilege and educating others about the concerns of marginalised groups. Allies use their privileges outside the marginalised group to actively advocate for equality.
androgyny
The term “androgyne”, derived from the Greek, refers to the interweaving of both male and female characteristics. The word usually describes the gender expression of a person.
Aromanticism
Aromanticism describes a romantic orientation. Aromantic people feel little or no interest in romantic relationships – but are not necessarily asexual. There are many different micro-labels within the aromantic spectrum.
Asexuality
Asexuality describes a sexual orientation. Asexual people feel little or no sexual attraction to other people – but are not necessarily aromantic. There are many different micro-labels within the asexual spectrum.
Bi+sexuality
Bi+sexuality is used in activist and scientific contexts as an umbrella term for all sexual orientations in which a person can find people of two, several or all genders sexually attractive. Bi+sexuality therefore includes, for example, bisexuality, pansexuality and omnisexuality.
Binary gender system
A Western-influenced idea in which people think exclusively in terms of a two-gender classification of male and female. This applies to every area of society, e.g. the social roles, gender identities and physical genders of people associated with gender.
Biological sex/ medically determined sex
Defines medical categories and is made up of primary, secondary and tertiary sexual characteristics as well as chromosomal sex, gonadal, gonoductal, genital and morphological sex. It cannot be determined solely on the basis of externally visible characteristics. This makes the attribution of a gender directly after birth – which is usually based on external characteristics – problematic.
Bisexuality
Bisexuality describes the sexual orientation of people who are attracted to people of two or more genders. However, this does not automatically mean that a person is (only) attracted to the two available genders in the binary gender system. Bisexuality does not exclude non-binary people!
Alternatively, bisexuality can mean that the attraction to people is independent of their gender identity.
Change of civil status
Civil status is another word for a person’s gender entry, which is recorded at the registry office and thus in identity documents. With the introduction of the Self-Determination Act, non-binary, trans* and inter* people can have this changed at the registry office.
cis/ cisgender
“Cis” is used when a person identifies with their sex ascribed at birth.
Coming Out
Coming out describes the process in which a person becomes aware of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity and, if necessary, begins to confide in other people. The latter is usually a lifelong process that has to be repeated in new social circles. A distinction can be made here between internal and external coming out in order to separate one’s own realisation and the initiation of others.
divers
Refers to a legal civil status that has existed in Germany since 2018. It allows inter* people to change their civil status to a non-female or non-male gender entry. For a change and registration as “diverse” from birth, however, medical reports are required to confirm that a variant of gender development exists.
Drag Queen/ Drag King/ Drag Quing
A person who performs femininity/masculinity. Drag is independent of a person’s gender identity and should not be equated with trans* people. In this context, people who perform non-binary genders are sometimes referred to as drag quing (a hybrid of queen and king).
FLINTA*
The abbreviation stands for women, lesbians*, inter* people, non-binary people, trans* people and agender people. FLINTA* as an abbreviation is used, for example, to express which people are welcome at certain events in order to create safer spaces in a patriarchal world.
gay
Men or non-binary people who identify with masculinity who feel romantically and/or sexually attracted to men or male presenting persons can describe themselves as gay.
gender
Gender describes the socially constructed sex and, on a personal and/or activist level, a person’s gender identity. Within society, gender is the concept according to which we categorise various ideas such as social status, gender expression, role in society, life planning and sexuality into the categories of masculinity and femininity.
gender expression
Gender presentation describes the external representation of one’s own gender identity through clothing, gestures or behaviour, for example. This can be female, male or androgynous, among other things.
gender identity
A person’s gender identity describes the gender or genders with which they identify themselves. A person’s gender identity does not have to correspond to the (biological) sex that the person was assigned at birth.
gender role
A gender role is a collection of expectations of people of a certain gender. This includes, for example, expectations regarding behaviour, clothing style, professions, characteristics or hobbies.
Genderfluid
Self-designation for people whose gender identity remains in flux. Genderfluid people sometimes see themselves as more female, sometimes more male, sometimes both, in between or completely different.
Genderqueer
Genderqueer is an umbrella term for people who do not fit into the binary norm. However, it can also describe the gender identity of people who identify as both a woman and a man (simultaneously or alternately) or as neither a woman nor a man (similar to non-binary or genderfluid).
Gender_Gap/ Gender*Star
The gender₋gap or underscore used in words creates a space in the language to visualise all gender identities beyond woman and man. The gender* asterisk is taken from programming languages and stands for a variety of possible endings that can follow a word stem. The gender asterisk can be used as an adjective (e.g. trans* person, trans* woman, trans* man, …) or as a nominative (e.g. trans*community).
heteronormativity
Heteronormativity describes a cultural view and norm in our society. It assumes that only cisgender and heterosexuality exist or are considered “normal”. Queer people are thus rendered invisible. Heteronormativity is often seen as the cause of disadvantage and discrimination.
heterosexuality
A sexual orientation in which sexual desire is directed towards persons of the opposite sex. Heterosexuality usually refers to the attraction between men and women.
homosexuality
People who feel attracted to their own or a similar gender can describe themselves as homosexual. Homosexual men often describe themselves as gay, homosexual women as lesbian.
Hormone replacement therapy (HET/HRT)
HRT refers to the intake of hormones such as testosterone or oestrogen. Taking hormones (e.g. as part of a medical transition) leads to various (physical) changes such as hair growth, changes in body fat distribution or the voice.
inter*
Emancipatory and identity-based term for the diversity of intersex realities. It serves as a term for people with biological characteristics (chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, anatomical) whose bodies do not, or only partially, correspond to the common notions of “male” or “female” bodies. Intersex is a self-designation and an umbrella term for people with different healthy variations in physical sexual characteristics. These may become apparent before or at birth, in childhood, during puberty or at a later point in life, or may remain undetected.
Intersectionality
Intersectionality means that different social structures are interrelated, e.g. gender, sexuality, origin, culture, religion and social status. This means that different forms of discrimination, such as racism, queer hostility and hostility towards disabled people, are also interrelated and must be considered in these contexts. The specific experience of these interwoven levels is referred to as intersectional discrimination, and the parallel occurrence of discrimination in different dimensions of diversity as multiple discrimination.
lesbian
A sexual or romantic orientation that generally describes the queer attraction to women and femininity. Women, but also non-binary people, who feel attracted to women or femininity in all forms can describe themselves as lesbians.
LGBTQIA+
International abbreviation for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans*, Queers, Inter*, A_romantics/A_sexuals. The “+” stands for all other sexual and gender identities. However, the acronym can constantly evolve.
misgendering
Not addressing a person with the pronouns and the gender that corresponds to that person’s identity means misgendering that person. Discrimination through misgendering is based on the fact that people think that they can recognise a person’s gender identity and can draw conclusions from this about the use of pronouns. It is important to ask people about their pronouns in everyday (working) life in order to avoid discrimination, especially against trans*, inter* and non-binary people.
non-binary
Non-binary is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity lies alongside, outside or completely detached from the binary gender categories of “woman” and “man”. Some non-binary people do not use pronouns or neo-pronouns such as “he_she”, “per” or “nin”. In English, “they” is often used. Some non-binary people identify as trans*: trans* stands not only for the transition from female to male gender (or vice versa), but also for a transition from the ascribed gender to any other gender (similar to genderqueer).
Omnisexuality
Omnisexuality refers to a sexual orientation. People who feel sexual attraction towards people of all genders can describe themselves as omnisexual. Gender usually plays a role in the attraction, whether through a preference or simply by recognising the gender.
othering
Othering describes the demarcation of a person or group by categorising them as peculiar, alien and deviating from supposed norms, i.e. as “different”.
pansexuality
Pansexuality refers to a sexual orientation. People who feel sexual attraction towards people of all genders or whose sexual attraction is not dependent on the gender of the other person(s) can describe themselves as pansexual. Omnisexuality and pansexuality are closely related or, depending on the definition, mean the same thing.
passing
We speak of passing when a person is read in the way they would like to be perceived in relation to their gender identity. Passing can, for example, lead to a trans* person being addressed directly with the correct pronouns or being read as a cis person.
pronouns
Personal pronouns (e.g. he, she, we) are used to replace a noun – often referring to a person – without using the name. They exist in the singular and in the plural. Each person can decide for themselves which pronouns should be used for he_she and this decision must be accepted by others. The pronouns that a person uses for themselves are partly, but not necessarily, indicative of the person’s gender identity. There are also so-called neopronouns, which are mostly used by non-binary people as they cannot identify with “he” or “she”. Examples of this are “they/them” or in german “dey”, “sier” or “xier”, but there are many more. To find out which pronouns a person uses for themselves, it is best to ask directly, as you cannot tell which pronouns a person uses by looking at them.
queer
Queer can be used both as a label in its own right and as an umbrella term for all other labels (LGBTQIA+). People can describe themselves as queer in order to avoid being labelled with a more specific label. For example, people who do not find labels important, reject categories, whose gender and attraction is very complex and multi-layered or changes frequently, or who do not want to communicate their specific identity to the outside world. ‘Queer’ can also be a suitable description for people who are not (yet) completely sure what their gender identity or sexual orientation is. Queer can also be used as an umbrella term for people who move outside of society’s romantic, sexual and/or gender norms.
Queer hostility
Describes discrimination against queer people. Queer hostility manifests itself, for example, in the form of rejection, anger, intolerance, prejudice and physical or psychological violence against queer people.
The terms “homophobia” or “trans*-phobia” are sometimes used to describe the rejection of and discrimination against queer people. However, this is widely criticised, as the rejection of certain groups or minorities has nothing to do with the medical diagnosis of a phobia. Phobias are anxiety disorders and should not be equated with discriminatory attitudes.
Romantic orientation
Expresses with which gender or genders a person can fall in love or with which gender or genders a person enters into a romantic relationship. The romantic and sexual orientation of people can overlap, but this does not have to be the case.
Sex
Sex is often defined by a person’s physical characteristics, particularly their genitalia. However, gender, including physical gender, is a complex social category. It has different levels that need to be distinguished from one another, including gender identity, gender presentation, gender roles and legal status. At all levels, gender is not binary or a spectrum.
sexual orientation
A person’s sexual attraction to other people.
terf
Term for “trans* excluding radical feminists” – i.e. people who describe themselves as feminists but deliberately exclude and discriminate against trans* people – especially trans* women.
trans*
Prefix used to describe people who do not feel or only partially feel that they belong to the gender they were assigned at birth. The prefix is used adjectivally and is therefore written in lower case. The term trans* is often used as an umbrella term for various self-designations such as transident, transgender or transsexual. The “*” makes room for different word endings. When trans* is used as a noun (for example in “being trans*”), it is capitalised.
trans* hostility
Discrimination against and hatred of trans* people. See also Queer hostility.
trans* man
A trans* person who was assigned a non-male gender identity at birth but whose gender identity is male.
trans* woman
A trans* person who was not assigned a female gender identity at birth but whose gender identity is female.
transition
Term for the process that trans* people can go through (e.g. around their coming out) when they decide to align the gender they were assigned at birth with their actual gender identity. A transition can take place on a social, physical or legal level. Transition can be understood quite literally as a kind of change process.