What does LGBTQ+ means?

The past month of June was the, every time more visualized, Pride Month.

The Pride Month is an important date for thousands of people, who are learning to accept themselves in an heteronormative world; learning about their differences and growing through them; being proud of who they are.

But there is a lot of confussion over what does LGBTQ+ means, and let's be honest, there is a quite large amount of terminology, so here's a quick guide over some of the terms of the community, to make it easier for you to undersand.

Have on mind that some terms has its own divisions, so we're going through the surface on those.

L

The letter L refers to lesbians. Lesbians are people who identify as women or non-binary, and that are attracted to women.

G

The G means Gay. Can be gay people who identify as men or non-binary, and are strictly attracted to men.

People constantly believe the rainbow flag is the gay flag, but that is not true. The rainbow represents the whole community, and the community is more than our gay friends.

B

Bisexuality is constantly misunderstood, but the definition is quite simple, actually: People who are attracted to more than one gender or identity.

The Three Ts

There are three Ts on "LGBTQ+". But don't worry! It's not that diffult to understand.

Transvestite. People who enjoy using clothes and/or makeup to look like their opposite gender, but can or cannot identify with their biological sex. Usually is just for fun and as a hobby.

Transgener. People who identify with something other than their birth sex and genitals.

Transgender includes Non-Binary (NB) identities. Identities who are neither male or female.

Transexual. People who go through a surgery or hormonal treatment to look like the gender or identity they identify as.

To make it simple: Every transexual is transgender, but not every transgener is transexual.

I

I is for Intersexual. People whose genitals are both male and female on a certain amount, so are neither men or women, or can be whatever they select to be.

Q

Queer, which basically includes all the comminity, because it refers to any sexual orientation or identity other than heterosexuality and cisgender.

A

Asexual people are people who have no sexual attraction towards men or women or others. They can also be in a relationship, but feel no sexual attraction or feel it under certain circumstances.

P

Pansexuality is often confused with bisexuality. Bisexual people are attracted to more than one gender, while pansexual people are attracted to people despite their gender or identity.

This is controversial to some amount of people, but something you must have on mind is, that no matter which sexual orientation you identify with, you can use the tag that you feel that describes you better, and you owe no explanation to anyone about it.

Some people may found difficult to memorize the terms or the ways that people wish to be treated nowadays. It is understandable, because, these are things that had too little or none visibility on the past, and now they are starting to show and be named and tagged by what they are.

Of course, not every person will be comprehensive, never the less, every person has the possibility to change and to change the world and their people’s. To change the stereotypes; to change the way the LGBTQ+ community is seen; but more importantly, to recognize we are all human beings who deserve respect for what we are.

And also, something you must have on your mind is, that however you identify or even if you don't feel like you need to tag yourself, that's equally right.

You are valid. No matter if you feel comfortable expressing yourself or if you are still on your way of acceptance. Love is love, including the love for yourself.