Derogatory gay terms
Glossary
This is a list of carefully researched and thoughtfully discussed definitions for key gender and sexuality terms. It is by no means a comprehensive list, but it is a good place for us to start. Identity terms mean very particular things to other individuals. The definitions provided in this document reflect the current general knowledge of these terms. We understand that language around sexuality and gender is always changing and we will review these terms regularly.
If there is a term that you feel should be included here, please let us know. You can email and/or call the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center at gscc@msu.edu or (517) 353-9520.
- Getting Started
- Birth-Assigned Sex Terms
- Gender Terms
- Sexuality Terms
- Identity Terms
- Trans Community Terms
- Romantic Identity Terms
- Oppressive
- Legal, Academic, and Legislation Terms
- Historical Terms
- Racial Identity and Racial Justice Terms
To understand LGBTQIA2S+ identities and communities we must first distinguish three important concepts (gender, sex, and sexuality) and speak the version of the acronym we are using on this website and in our educational programs and resources.
Joe Jackson’s 1982 hit Real Men was the first time I had heard gays referred to as faggots. I was just out of the closet and in my first gay bond in London. Jackson’s lyrics about how only our friends and other gays could call us faggots was encouraging, coming as it did from a direct man singing a song just before AIDS hit.
Faggot, often-considered a slur, has been reclaimed many times over by queer men, including in a modern play by Declan Greene, The Homosexuals, or “Faggots”, currently representing at the Malthouse in Melbourne. The play looks at homosexual male relationships and their politics, and is apt as middle-class gay men and lesbians fight with acceptance all over again in the face of their call for marriage equality.
My friends and I called ourselves fags because it was a way of turning the abuse on its head and laughing at the straight bullies.
And in merry-old-England there was abuse: one night when leaving gay club Heaven, a bunch of lads called us and our female friends “pooh jabbers”. It was graphic and offensive (“bum bandit” being a similar, anal-fixated designation from about the same time) and it occurred to me how deeply, viscerally they hated us.
Langu
Glossary of Terms: LGBTQ
Definitions were drafted in collaboration with other U.S.-based LGBTQ people organizations and leaders. Observe acknowledgements section.
Additional terms and definitions about gender identity and gender verbalization, transgender people, and nonbinary people are available in the Transgender Glossary.
Are we missing a term or is a definition outdated? Email press@glaad.org
*NOTE: Ask people what terms they employ to describe their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression before assigning them a label. Outside of acronyms, these terms should only be capitalized when used at the beginning of a sentence.
LGBTQ
Acronym for woman loving woman, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. The Q generally stands for queer when LGBTQ organizations, leaders, and media use the acronym. In settings offering back for youth, it can also stand for questioning. LGBT and LGBTQ+ are also used, with the + added in recognition of all non-straight, non-cisgender identities. (See Transgender Glossary ) Both are acceptable, as are other versions of this acronym. The term “gay community” should be avoided, as it does not accuratel
LGBTQIA+ Slurs and Slang
bog queen
Synonyms: Bathsheba (composition between bathroom and Sheba to design a name reminiscent of the Queen of Sheba), Ghost (50s, ghost, because they wander the corridors of the bathroom).