As a Practice we want to actively support our LGBTQ+ Community.
We appreciate that sometimes it can feel tricky navigating the LGBTQ+ terminology and that often people can be very wary of causing offence. We therefore thought it might be helpful to give an overview of some of the more commonly used terms to help.
Sex, Gender and Sexuality
Sex – this refers to a person's genitalia. Sex is usually categorised as male, female or intersex and is assigned at the point of birth. However, this may not match a person's gender identity later in life.
Gender – this refers to how you identify internally and sometimes this doesn't match a person's sex. Gender identities include male, female and non-binary. This may change frequently or over time.
Sexuality – refers to who a person is attracted to. Various sexual identities exist. This may change over time.
Sexuality
Aromantic (Aro) – a person who feels little or no romantic attraction to others. Aromantic people may still have sexual relationships.
Asexual (Ace) – a person who feels little or no sexual attraction to others. Asexual people may still have romantic relationships.
Bisexual (Bi) – sexual attraction to more than one gender (not just male and female).
Gay/Homosexual – sexual preference for people of the same gender. (Gay is usually a term used for males and Lesbian is usually a term used for females).
Lesbian – a female who is attracted to other females.
Heterosexual – someone who is attracted to people of a different gender (usually male/female).
Pansexual (pan) – attraction to people of any gender. This is similar to bisexual but some people prefer the term pansexual as they feel that bisexual sounds more binary (ie. an attraction to just male or female).
Gender
Cisgender (Cis) – identifying as the same gender you were assigned with at birth.
Genderfluid – someone whose identity changes (could be daily or less often). The gender identities are always valid and should be respected. There is no need to have one fixed gender identity.
Intersex – a person who is born with a variation in sex characteristics and chromosomes which does not fit the typical categories of male or female. Babies are assigned a gender at birth which they may or may not continue to identify with as they grow up.
Non-binary (NB / aka 'enbies') – Someone who does not identify as male or female, who may wish to express a combination of masculine and feminine traits, or not. Some non-binary people also identify as transgender and prefer pronouns of 'them, their'.
Transgender (trans) – someone whose true gender is different to the one they were assigned at birth. This may include female to male, male to female, non-binary genders, intersex and others. Transgender is often shortened to 'trans'. Transgender people may have surgery to change their gender, others may use make up or garments to change their appearance.
Queer – someone who identifies outside the norms of gender and sexuality. Queer is an umbrella term for all these genders and sexualities. In the past 'queer' was used as an insult and some LGBTQ+ people still do not lie the term but others have reclaimed the word and strongly identify as queer.
If you are ever in doubt about how someone would like to be addressed, use their name and don't be afraid to ask them how they would like to be addressed (eg, him or they').
Please notes that the clinical system we use in the Practice only allows us to record a patient as 'male' or 'female' and this has an impact upon screening services. Please therefore don't be offended by the sex recorded on your clinical record, we have to ensure you are invited to all appropriate health screening.
Information in this article has been produced using supportive materials from York LGBT Forum (www.yorklgbtforum.org.uk – please visit for more information and support).
