This post is going to be a living document, updated with terminology I use throughout my posts. If you have something you think I should add to this post, or a correction to an existing definition, please let me know! You also can check out UC Davis’s LGBTQIA Glossary for the most comprehensive glossary of these types of terms I’ve found. All of these definitions are to the best of my understanding. Some have objective definitions, but some are a little more subjective or controversial, so they may not always line up with some other definitions you’ll see floating around. I’ll also link to some other resources with good definitions, and I’ll list the source for definitions I find for things that I don’t feel comfortable providing my own definitions for.

• ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, sometimes just called ADD. It’s the neurodevelopmental disorder and/or neurodivergence I’ve been officially diagnosed with, and is really poorly named.
  
  • ADHD-I or ADHD-PI: ADHD (Primary) Inattentive type. Characterized by lack of focus, “spacing out,” forgetfulness
    
  • ADHD-HI or ADHD-PH: ADHD (Primary) Hyperactive/Impulsive type. Characterized by impulsive decision-making, fidgeting, “excessive” talking
    
  • ADHD-C: ADHD Combined type. Exhibits characteristics of both subtypes.

• Autism: Also sometimes called Autism Spectrum Disorder. A developmental disability and/or neurodivergence that affects sensory processing, movement, communication, and more. (Adapted from ASAN)
  

• Bisexual: Attraction to more than one gender. There is a lot of controversy and misinformation surrounding bisexuality. It’s not transphobic or exclusive of non-binary people. If you’re hung up on the “two,” some people say “attraction to two or more genders,” “attraction to people like me and people not like me,” “both homosexual and heterosexual.” 
  

• Binder: A thing some people wear to flatten their breasts. Not for holding papers. I get mine here (this isn’t an affiliate link or anything, I just really love their products).
  

• Cisgender: Not transgender. Identifying with the gender you were assigned at birth. Doc said, “it’s a girl!” and you’re like “yup, cool, sounds good” and never felt differently. It’s not a slur, and it’s not an acronym (cis, not CIS).
  

• Cishet: Cisgender/heterosexual/heteroromantic, pronounced like sis-het. Someone who isn’t part of the LGBTQ+ community. 
  
  • Some cisgender ace people may still have heteroromantic or heterosexual relationships, so you can still have “cishet” asexuals, so some people are shifting to allocishet. Whichever you hear me use, this blog is fully inclusive of asexual and aromantic people.
    

• Gay: Homosexual, attracted to the same gender, can also be an umbrella term by people in the community. Don’t call the LGBTQ+ community “the gay community,” but you’ll probably hear me call myself “gay” a lot, even though I’m bi.
  

• Gender Dysphoria: An incongruence between someone’s physical characteristics and how others perceive them, and how they perceive themself and wish to be perceived. A diagnosis of gender dysphoria is needed in many places to access transition-related care, pathologizing the experience of transness and making it difficult for people who can’t get a diagnosis to access care. The best treatment for gender dysphoria is transitioning. The Standard of Care guidelines can be found here.
  

• Lesbian: Traditionally used to mean woman attracted to women, lesbian still often centers on womanhood but also can also include attraction to non-binary people, and non-binary lesbians. Lesbians can be attracted to trans women.
  

• Neurodivergent: Someone whose brain functions differently than “normal,” as defined by the socially accepted standard of neurology. Some of the most common example of neurodivergence are autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Cognitive and mental illnesses, like depression, are not the same as neurodivergence; for example, I’d like to cure my persistent depression, and it could even potentially go away, but my ADHD never will, so I have to learn to adapt rather than fight it and try to make it go away.
  

• Neurodiversity: The recognition of different types of cognitive and neurological functioning and experiences. The Neurodiversity Movement aims to depathologize neurodivergences such as autism and ADHD, and to view these as differences rather than disorders. Neurodiversity does not view one type of neurocognitive functioning as “better” or “more desirable” than another. (Adapted from Neurocosmopolitan)
  

• Neurotypical: Someone who fits into the dominant profile of neurocognitive functioning (not autistic, doesn’t have ADHD, not dyslexic, not dyspraxic, etc).
  

• Non-binary: Someone who does not identify with either of the binary recognized genders in the dominant culture, generally man or woman. This can either be used as its own identity (as I use it), or as an umbrella term for other genders besides man or woman, including agender, genderfluid, or bigender.
  

• Pansexual: Sexual attraction that is not limited by sex or gender. While it overlaps with bisexuality, it’s its own distinct identity, and if you’ve got a problem with that and think people should just use bi instead of pansexual, omnisexual (attraction to all) or polysexual (attraction to many), Hannibal Buress has some wisdom for you: 

• Queer: A word with a long and complex history within the LGBTQ+ community that means different things to different people. As a reclaimed slur, the general rule of thumb is an LGBTQ+ person is allowed to call themselves queer, but you shouldn’t call someone queer if you don’t know they’re ok with it. Queer is often also used as a political or anti-assimilationist term.
  

• Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria: A strong emotional response to perceived rejection and criticism commonly found in people with ADHD. RSD can give the perception that people with ADHD can’t handle rejection or criticism due to the strong initial reaction that can be difficult to control. It’s not just being thin-skinned or thinking you’re above criticism, nor is it being dramatic. Read more here.
  

• Transgender: Not identifying with the gender you were assigned at birth. Doctor said “it’s a girl,” and eventually you were like “hm, nope that’s not right,” boom, trans. You don’t “become” trans once you start transitioning. There is no requirement to being trans besides not identifying with the gender you were assigned at birth. Being trans is not a medical or mental disorder. A trans person may have gender dysphoria, which is considered a disorder, best treated by transition (so yes, the person is still trans). 
  

• Transition: The social and/or medical process towards living as your gender. Transition is a very personal process, and no two people will undergo the exact same transition at the exact same time.
  
  • Social transition can include things like changing your name, changing clothes, getting official documents changed, and changing your pronouns.
    
  • Medical transition includes things like taking hormones, taking hormone blockers, getting gender affirmation surgery on one’s genitals and/or chest, hair removal/implantation, and more. Most medical transition requires a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and a long, strict approval process; accessing care is a bit easier in informed consent states, though it’s often still very expensive and not always covered by insurance. There is no “sex change,” no one “surgery,” it’s not something that happens overnight, and it’s not something you should be asking trans people about! Not all trans people want to medically transition, or can even if they want to, for health, safety, and/or financial reasons. Medical transition is not a requirement to be trans.

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