The University of Connecticut Rainbow Center’s LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Spring 2019

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by awa

The University of Connecticut Rainbow Center’s LGBTQIA+ Dictionary compiles and maintains LGBTQIA+ community vocabulary intended as a learning tool. It emphasizes that inclusion of a term does not equal endorsement and that language evolves over time. The dictionary frames terminology as complex and context-dependent, acknowledging both helpful and harmful impacts of labels. It invites community suggestions for future updates and presents entries as definitions organized by letter.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Note about the LGBTQIA+ Dictionary

Vocabulary

The University of Connecticut Rainbow Center’s LGBTQIA+ Dictionary Spring 2019 Compiled by Rainbow Center students and professional staff to serve the UConn community. [www.rainbowcenter.uconn.edu](www.rainbowcenter.uconn.edu) Note about the LGBTQIA+ Dictionary The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary is created, maintained, and edited by the staff at the University of Connecticut Rainbow Center. This dictionary is meant to serve as a tool to learn more about language that is commonly used in the LGBTQIA+ community. Inclusion of a term in this dictionary is not an affirmation of that term by the RC – we are compiling terms that may fall in and out of practice and favor over time. The Rainbow Center recognizes that the English language is an evolving and imperfect way to capture complex realities. We recognize that there are a great many terms in this dictionary, and some who approach this tool might consider it to be comprehensive. This dictionary will never capture the totality of language used to refer to members of the LGBTQIA+ community – if for no other reason, because it is published in English and the identities of the LGBTQIA+ community are vast and not sufficiently represented by the English language. Others might approach this tool and consider it to be too unabridged, in that it includes terms that are used less often. At the Rainbow Center, we know that many sub-communities in the LGBTQIA+ community have full and complex lexicons, and we could not capture those fully in this document. Rather, we have chosen a selection of terms. If you have a suggestion of a term or descriptor that you believe should be edited or added, please send your suggestion to [rainbowcenter@uconn.edu](rainbowcenter@uconn.edu). All suggestions will be taken under serious consideration for future updates. The Rainbow Center also recognizes that individuals may have powerful relationships with certain words included in this tool, both positive and negative. This is reflective of Sedgwick’s (2008) statement,“The relations implicit in identifying with are, as psychoanalysis suggests, in themselves quite sufficiently fraught with intensities of incorporation, diminishment, inflation, threat, loss, reparation, and disavowal”(pg. 61) . We recognize that labels can be both harmful and helpful, depending on their use and intention, and we hope to clarify that this dictionary is not meant to serve as a guide for either “good” or “bad” language. This is meant to serve as just one tool that readers can use to educate themselves and learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community. Thank you, The University of Connecticut Rainbow Center Vocabulary A ace: Shortened term for asexual 1. ace-spectrum: Refers to identities that are on the asexual spectrum, but not entirely asexual. Gray-asexuality and demisexuality are grouped under this term2. accomplice: An individual whose actions are meant to directly challenge institutionalized discrimination by blocking or impeding discriminatory people, policies, and structures. In some communities, this concept is favored over behaviors typically associated with ally3. AFAB: Acronym for Assigned Female at Birth. May also be noted as “CAFAB,” or Coercively Assigned Female at Birth. Some feel that this term was created by/for only the intersex community. Others in the trans community use this term to clarify that they were not born as female--rather, society assigned that label4. agender: 1) Person identifies as not having a gender. 2) Person who doesn’t experience gender.5 AIS: Acronym for androgen insensitivity syndrome. AIS is just one example of an intersex condition. AIS affects sexual development before birth and during puberty. People with this condition are genetically male, but their bodies do not respond to male sex hormones called androgens. Typically individuals will have external sex characteristics of females, but have internal testes where a uterus would be in a woman. Depending on the level o

FAQs

What is the purpose of the LGBTQIA+ Dictionary?

It is meant to help readers learn about language commonly used in the LGBTQIA+ community. The dictionary serves as a tool for self-education.

Does including a term mean the Rainbow Center endorses it?

No. The dictionary states that inclusion is not an affirmation of that term by the Rainbow Center.

How can readers suggest terms for future updates?

Readers can send suggestions of terms or descriptors to rainbowcenter@uconn.edu for serious consideration in future updates.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by awa