Glossary
Anti-discrimination
addresses the causes and/or consequences of discrimination. In order to prevent them, anti-discrimination takes the form of legal, civil society or political measures.
Assigned gender
describes the gender assigned to the child at birth based on their genitalia. But it can also refer to the gender to which an intersex person has been forcibly assigned with genital surgery.
Asterisk *
also referred to as the gender star (*), can be used to symbolise all gender identities. In this way, transsexual, transgender and intersex people are no longer made invisible from the outset and thus discriminated against.
Biological sex
refers to sets of chromosomes (XX, XY, XXY and others), hormones and sex organs (clitoris, penis, phalloclit and other hybrid forms) and gonads (ovaries, testes, ovotestes). When a human being is born, they are assigned a sex on the basis of selected biological characteristics.
Bisexuality
is a sexual orientation in which love, romance, erotic and sexual attractions are expressed towards people of the same and opposite gender.
Boy
is a child or young person who identifies as a male. This includes trans, cis and intersex boys.
Coming out
is a lifelong process in which a person becomes aware of their sexual orientation and/or gender and chooses to talk about it with others.
Discrimination
refers to an individual or social devaluation or disadvantage of individuals or groups who are discriminated against, for example, because of prejudices or individual values.
Gender
is a term that unites social and individual notions of identity, inequality, discrimination, self-positioning and diversity. The three terms "identity", "expression" and "body" are particularly meaningful in this context.
Gender diversity
is a term that refers to the diversity of psychological, social and biological genders and to multiple sexual orientations.
Gender expression
as a term, it combines the various forms of expression with which people express their gender identity or may have nothing to do with their gender at all, but it is associated with it. Possible forms of expression include, for example, body and hair styling, tastes, hobbies, emotions, clothing, sexuality, interests, literature and social behaviour.
Gender identity
stands for the self-perception of one's own gender. A person is aware of which gender or genders they belong to. Gender identities include, for example, cisidentity (congruence of biological sex and gender identity, cisgender or cissexuality), transidentity (incongruence of biological sex and gender identity, transgender or transsexuality) or interidentity (self-determined identities of intersex people).
Heterosexuality
is the sexual orientation in which persons feel attracted exclusively to persons of the opposite gender. Heterosexuality is often taught without reflection as the sole norm in upbringing and education.
Homophobia
is often understood as an irrational fear of and aversion to homosexuality, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and their lifestyles, based on prejudice. Homophobia is not a phobia in the psychological sense, but a socially rooted aversion or hostility directed against lesbians and gay men. Homophobia is expressed on a personal level and in public life, e.g. in the form of hatred, discrimination, ridicule, verbal, psychological and physical violence, persecution and murder.
Homosexuality
is the sexual orientation in which persons are attracted exclusively to persons of the same gender.
Identity
is the term for the individuality of a person. This includes personal characteristics and social relationships, which for many people can include, for example, their worldview, regional origin, gender or political views. Therefore, it is especially true in the queer community that identities may not remain the same.
Interphobia
includes the devaluation, discrimination and violence (often medical) towards intersex people.
Intersex
is a term for people who have both physically male and female characteristics. Their gender does not correspond to the "normal" physically female or male characteristics prescribed by society or previously by science.
Lesbian
is a term used for women or non-binary people identifying with femininity who are romantically and/or sexually attracted to other women or non-binary people identifying with femininity.
LGBTQIA+
This combination of letters (which also has other variations) represents the idea of representing as many genders and sexual orientations as possible on the queer spectrum. LGBTQIA+ is the English abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual/aromantic.
Pansexual / Pansexuality
is the sexual or romantic orientation towards people of all genders. Or rather, characteristics other than the gender of the other person are the decisive factor for attraction.
Queer
The term was a swear word for a long time, especially towards gay men. However, from the 1990s onwards, lesbians, gays and bisexuals began self-identifying with the word and using it positively. Today, queer is mainly used by people who see their identity, romantic, sexual and/or gender orientation as 'outside the social norm'.
Queer community
is the totality of all people who feel they belong to the LGBTQIA+ scene. This can also include organisations and institutions that are committed to queer issues. The focus is on common social and political goals. However, the term is not unproblematic - it is usually assumed that there are various, independent communities, e.g. cisgender queer spaces and transgender queer spaces.
Queer family
is a family form with different combinations in which at least one family member is on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum and also includes same-sex parent couples. This means that they do not conform to the social norm of mother, father, child. Increasingly, however, queer people are consciously choosing to live with children. "The terms gestational mother and gestational father may also be used".
Sexism
this is the term used to describe the structural belittling, insulting, and/or exclusion on the basis of gender. Discrimination can take the form of verbal, psychological, physical and/or sexualised violence. In addition, gender-specific characteristics and behaviour patterns are attributed to persons, which in turn can reinforce gender role models. A structure of social inequality is thus created. Most often, sexism refers to the privileging of men/boys over women/girls.
Sexual/physical orientation
of a person describes with which gender or genders one can imagine having sex. To whom am I physically/sexually attracted? This question, however, is independent of sexual practice or preference (heterosexual, homosexual, pansexual, bisexual, etc.). In addition, there is the question of presence/absence of sexual or romantic attraction (asexual, aromantic, allosexual/romantic, z-sexual/romantic, demisexual/romantic, gray asexual/aromantic).
Sexuality
consists of three main elements: Pleasure, communication and reproduction. It is shaped by biological and physical, individual and psychological, and social and environmental factors.
Social gender
refers to the social, cultural and societal gender roles of men and women and emphasises the notions of "typically male" and "typically female" tasks and roles as defined by society.
Trans man/boy
is a term for some people with a trans masculine identity. In specific contexts, the term AFAB may be used. It stands for "assigned female at birth" and means that the female gender was assigned at birth based on their genitalia.
Trans woman/girl
is a term for some people with a trans feminine identity. In specific contexts, the term AMAB may be used. It stands for "assigned male at birth" and means that the male gender was assigned at birth based on their genitalia.
Transgender
is a collective term for all people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. In this context, self-determined gender is not limited to the binary categories of 'male' and 'female', but is seen as an infinite spectrum.
Transphobia
refers to the dislike, insult, exclusion and/or violence against trans people. This is expressed, for example, by misgendering, using their old name (deadname) or forcing trans people to use toilets/changing rooms etc. that do not correspond to their gender identity. Transphobia is based on the heteronormative assumption that there are only two genders and that they are natural. It often leads to the pathologisation of trans people, which denies the self-determination of trans people.
Transsexuality
is a term used by people who do not identify with their biological sex. In this context, self-determined gender usually refers only to the binary 'male' and 'female' categories. The term comes from a medical context and is generally now rejected by most trans people.
Woman
is an adult person who identifies as a female. There are many different forms of femininity.
