The queer community

Hello Charlie,

I've been thinking about it ever since I spoke up in class to correct Mr. Leah's definition of pansexual on Thursday, so I decided to take the time to write an article about the different labels in the queer community. I am very far from knowing everything about all of them, so feel free to correct me or add definitions. I do not wish to offend anyone by generalizing or forgetting elements in the definitions, so please forgive me if I did.

To start with, what I call the queer community is the community including every person whose gender identity or sexual and romantic orientation is out of the norm. Sexual orientation and romantic orientation are often shortened to only sexual orientation because they are usually the same, but there still are many people whose romantic and sexual attractions differ.

1. Heterosexual/heteromantic

Heterosexual is being sexually attracted to people of another gender, heteromantic is having romantic feelings for people of another gender.

2. Homosexual/homoromantic

This is being sexually or romantically attracted to people of the same gender as you.

3. Bisexual/biromantic

Here, a little controversy starts. Some people say bi is attraction to two genders, and others say it is being both hetero and homo.

4. Pansexual/panromantic

The current definition is possible attraction to any gender, or being gender-blind when it comes to being attracted to someone, so this is a little like the second definition of bi I gave. To try settling the debate, here is a video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yrg5x-hHNM

I don't know much about the older definition, but it is something along the lines of attraction to anything.

5. Asexual

Asexuals feel no sexual desire and are even repelled by sex. However, they usually have romantic attractions.

5 ½. Aromantic

Aromantics can have sexual desire for people but they don't have romantic feelings for them.

This first part about orientations is over, and basically any sexual and romantic attractions can be paired up. Please respect people's identification, and especially for asexuals and aromantics, don't tell them they haven't found the right person yet, it is not true, it is just the way they are. As for bis and pans, please understand that they won't end up picking one side, they are not undecided, they are just attracted by more than one gender.

Now comes an explanation of gender.

Gender is usually seen as binary : there is male and there is female. However, there are people in between those two and outside the two. Gender is what people feel they are, and I can't explain how it works : someone born in a female body can be really tomboyish, dressing like a man and being interested in traditionally male things, but can still identify as female, and someone born in a male body and stereotypically male can identify as female.

On to the definitions :

1. Cisgender

That is when one's gender identity and sex are the same.

2. Transgender

It is an umbrella term, meaning that the person's gender and sex are not the same.

2.1. MtF (male to female)

Someone with a male body but identifying as a female

2.2. FtM (female to male)

Someone with a female body who identifies as male.

2.3. Non-binary

This is another umbrella term, but it can be seen as a simple explanation too, as just someone whose gender is neither male nor female.

2.3.1. Agender

Agender people's gender is neither male nor female. They are neutral, and completely out of the binary.

2.3.2. Gender-fluid

Gender-fluid people have multiple genders. Most often they are male and female, and have one identity at a time which varies randomly. For more detail here is a video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m0z9XsPzWk

And to complete this introduction to gender, two more videos : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkzlxK8UGs and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_alNELGiHI

Finally, please acknowledge that people don't change their orientation or gender, they can change labels but they were born with their out-of-norm identity.

I hope this has helped, I would be happy to answer further questions or enter a debate.

Judith

Edit : I forgot to mention that the people in the community don't necessarily chose a label. They might have multiple ones or none, or simply define themselves as "not straight", "not cis", or "questioning"