Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation

The acronym “LGBT” stood for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transexual. It encompassed a narrow understanding of sexual orientation within the parameters of the binary gender female and male.

As our knowledge of gender identity grows, so too does our knowledge of sexual orientation. The acronym continues to grow into variations like LGBTQIA+. The T now stands for transgender and words like queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual have been added. The acronym has become a hodgepodge of both gender identities and sexual orientation.

However, gender identity is not the same as sexual orientation. I like to say queer to encompass all the sexual orientations. I am queer.

I am trans because the gender I was assigned at birth is not my real gender.