9/8: LGBTQ 101!

This week, we did a basic rundown of terms. The terms fall into four categories: sexuality, slurs, gender and “other.” Below we’ve taken all the terms we talked about and defined each of them!

Sexuality
- gay: identifies a person who experiences same-gender attraction
- lesbian: identifies a female-identified person who experiences same-gender attraction
- bisexual: identifies a person who experiences attraction to two genders (NOT necessarily male and female)
- pansexual: identifies a person who experiences attraction to others regardless of gender
- asexual (ace): a person who experiences little to no attraction to others

Slurs
- faggot: a slur describing feminine or gay men
- dyke: a slur (sometimes also used as a self-identifier) to describe a lesbian or a masculine woman
- whore/slut: slurs referring to a sexually promiscuous person, primarily those who are female-identified
- tranny: a slur referring primarily to trans women; occasionally used as a self-identifier by trans*-identified people
- breeder: an obscure slur used in reference to straight people

Gender
- gender binary: the concept of gender as only two genders, male and female
- transgender: identifies those not comfortable living with their assigned gender
- trans man/trans woman: a man or woman who is trans; trans men were female-identified at birth but self-identify as men, while trans women were identified as male at birth but self-identify as women
- non-binary/genderqueer: refers to those who identify outside the binary or as a mix of both male and female
- cisgender: refers to those comfortable living as their gender assigned at birth

Other
- intersex: refers to a person whose genetic/chromosomal/physical makeup does not clearly fit societal standards of male or female
- queer: an umbrella term to describe non-straight or non-cisgender people; can be used as a slur by non-queer-identified people
- crossdressing/drag queen/drag king: crossdressing is the wearing of clothes associated with a gender that is seen as different than the one ususally presented by the dresser; drag is recognized as performance-based crossdressing
- passing: the ability to present oneself, and be accepted as, a member of a different social group
- ally: ALL OF YOU!

Hopefully that was helpful! All of these terms are very important to know and we will be building on them, so make sure you have them down. If you have any questions, feel free to email us a question at gsa.wra@gmail.com.

REMINDERS
- Officer applications are due Saturday (TOMORROW) at noon!

- TIE-DYEING is THIS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th, at the TENNIS COURTS, from 1-3 pm. Remember to bring $1. Boarders, if you need a t-shirt, email us using the GSA email account ASAP-- before noon tomorrow!

Thanks to all those who came to the meeting! Another special shout-out goes to Lindsey Johnson who brought rainbow cupcakes to Club Expo--they were a hit!