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6.20: Glossary

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    167841
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    1. Allosexual This term describes anyone who experiences any sort of sexual attraction. People who identify as Allosexual can be gay, pansexual, lesbian or any other sexual orientation because allosexuality is not connected to gender. Allosexuality opposes asexuality.
    2. Androsexual Androsexual is a term that describes people who are attracted to people who present themselves as masculine. This type of orientation has little to do with biology and more to do with the presentation of gender.
    3. Asexual Asexual is a term that describes people who do not experience sexual attraction toward other people. People who identify as asexual are often able to feel romantic attraction towards people.
    4. Autosexual Autosexual is a term that describes an individual’s sexual attraction to oneself.
    5. Bi-Curious Bi-curious is a term that refers to people who are looking to explore bisexuality. 
    6. Bisexual Bisexuality can often overlap with pansexuality, however; the term describes a person who may be romantically, sexually, or emotionally attracted to more than one gender.
    7. Closeted or “in the closet” refers to anyone who exists within the LGBTQIA+ community but does not publicly disclose the truth. Many people who identify as closeted seek to avoid persecution or discrimination based on their sexual identity.
    8. Demisexual Similar to asexuality, those who identify as demisexual often feel sexual attraction to people they’ve established a romantic or emotional relationship with.
    9. Fluid A person who identifies as fluid experiences a shift in sexual identity over time rather than someone how experiences a singular sexual orientation.
    10. Gay The word gay is used to describe someone who is sexually or romantically attracted to a member of the same gender.
    11. Greysexual People who identify as greysexual experience limited sexual attraction, meaning that sexual attraction is rare.
    12. Gynesexual This term refers to people who are attracted to individuals with more feminine gender presentations rather than androsexual identifying people who are attracted to more masculine presenting people.
    13. Heteronormativity, the ways in which heterosexuality is normalized through myriad practices, so that it becomes naturalized as the only legitimate form of sexuality.
    14. Heterosexual or Straight These two terms refer to people who are only romantically, sexually, or emotionally attracted to people of the opposite sex (ie men who are attracted to exclusively women and women who are exclusively attracted to men).
    15. Heteroflexible or homoflexible A heteroflexible person is mostly heterosexual (someone who is attracted to the same gender) but can occasionally be attracted to the same gender or other genders. Alternatively, a  Homoflexible person is mostly attracted to people of the same gender, but is sometimes attracted to other genders.
    16. Homosexual The term homosexual is a slightly outdated term, however; it refers to to anyone who is attracted to people of the same (or similar) gender.
    17. Lesbian A lesbian is a term that describes a female identifying person who is attracted to other women.
    18. Pansexual This term refers to people who are attracted to someone regardless of their gender identity.
    19. Queer Queer is an umbrella term that describes anyone within the LGBTQIA+ community. The dictionary defines the word as something that is “strange”, however; the term has been redefined and reclaimed.
    20. Questioning This term refers to someone who is questioning their sexual preference or to describe someone who is curious about exploring their sexuality.
    21. Sapiosexual Someone who identifies as sapiosexual is attracted to someone based on their intellect rather than the gender or sex of the other person.
    22. Sexual fluidity  one or more changes in a person’s sexuality or sexual identity.

    This page titled 6.20: Glossary is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Susan Rahman with Nathan Bowman, Dahmitra Jackson, Anna Lushtak, Remi Newman, & Prateek Sunder.