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A definition can explain common usage; it cannot overrule the word a person uses or does not use for themself.
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Umbrellas have fuzzy edges
Terms overlap, vary across cultures and generations, and may mean something more specific to an individual.
Reclaimed words need permission
Some community terms have also been slurs. Do not apply one to another person because it appears here.
53 terms · reviewed 19 October 2026
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AFAB
Assigned female at birth. A description of the sex classification recorded for someone at birth; it is not a gender identity and should not be used to guess someone’s body or current identity.
Agender
A term some people use when they experience no gender, a lack of gender, or a relationship to gender outside familiar categories.
Ally
Someone who actively supports LGBTQ+ people and challenges discrimination. Allyship is ongoing behaviour, not a title a person awards themself once.
AMAB
Assigned male at birth. A description of a birth classification; it does not tell you someone’s gender, body, medical history or eligibility for a community.
Aromantic
A person who experiences little or no romantic attraction, or who relates to romantic attraction in an aromantic-spectrum way. This does not determine their capacity for care, intimacy or partnership.
Asexual
A person who experiences little or no sexual attraction, or who identifies on the asexual spectrum. Ace people can have varied relationships to romance, sex, affection and partnership.
Bigender
A gender identity involving two genders, either at the same time or in a way that shifts. The genders involved are individual.
Bisexual
A person with the capacity for attraction to more than one gender. It does not mean equal attraction, attraction to everyone, indecision or a particular relationship structure.
Block
A product control intended to stop or limit contact and visibility between accounts. Blocking can support a boundary but does not replace emergency help or off-platform account security.
Boundaries
Personal limits around communication, touch, time, privacy, sex, money and other interaction. Boundaries do not require another person’s agreement to be valid.
Butch
A lesbian, queer or community identity and expression often associated with masculinity. It has cultural history and should be self-chosen, not assigned from appearance.
Catfishing
Using a false or substantially misleading online identity, often with stolen images or invented personal details, to deceive another person.
Chosen family
People intentionally held as family through care and commitment rather than only legal or biological ties.
Cisgender
A person whose gender aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Closeted
Not open about some or all of one’s orientation or gender in some contexts. Privacy can be a safety decision; never out someone.
Coming out
Choosing to share one’s orientation or gender with others. It can happen many times and in different ways; nobody owes disclosure.
Compersion
A word some non-monogamous people use for positive feelings about a partner’s joy or other relationships. It is not a mandatory emotion or proof someone is “good at” polyamory.
Consent
A freely given, informed, specific, reversible and ongoing agreement. Consent to one act, conversation or date is not consent to another.
Deadnaming
Using a transgender or non-binary person’s former name without permission. It may expose private information and can be harmful.
Demisexual
An asexual-spectrum term for experiencing sexual attraction only after a meaningful emotional bond, though the kind and depth of bond varies.
Dyke
A slur that some lesbians and queer people reclaim for themselves. Because it can still harm, do not apply it to someone without knowing they welcome it.
Ethical non-monogamy
An umbrella for relationships in which everyone involved knows and agrees that more than one romantic or sexual connection may occur. “Consensual non-monogamy” is also used.
Femme
A queer identity or expression associated with femininity. It can carry cultural meaning beyond appearance and is not the opposite of strength or agency.
FLINTA
A German-origin acronym used in some contexts for women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender people. Meanings and suitability vary by region and event.
Gay
A term for attraction to people of the same gender. Some women and non-binary people use gay; others prefer lesbian, queer or another word.
Gender expression
How someone presents aspects of gender through clothing, voice, movement or style. Expression does not prove gender, pronouns or orientation.
Genderfluid
A gender identity in which a person’s experience of gender changes over time or context. Pronouns or presentation may or may not change with it.
Genderqueer
A gender identity or umbrella term outside conventional binary expectations. Some people use it alongside non-binary; others use it differently.
Greysexual
An asexual-spectrum term for experiencing sexual attraction rarely, weakly or only in particular circumstances. “Grey-asexual” is another form.
Intersex
An umbrella for people born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of female or male bodies. Intersex is not itself a gender or orientation.
Lesbian
A self-chosen orientation and community identity often used by women attracted to women; some non-binary people also use it. Individual definitions and relationships to the word vary.
Masc
A broad, self-chosen term for masculine expression or identity. It does not reveal gender, body, role, pronouns or sexual preferences.
Metamour
A partner’s partner in a polyamorous network, where those two people are not necessarily romantic or sexual partners with each other.
Misgendering
Referring to someone with incorrect gendered language or pronouns. Correct mistakes briefly and respect the language a person gives you.
Monogamy
A relationship agreement in which people choose romantic and/or sexual exclusivity as they define it together. Assumptions should still be discussed.
Nesting partner
A partner with whom someone shares a home or significant domestic life. The term does not automatically describe hierarchy or emotional importance.
Non-binary
An umbrella and identity for genders not exclusively woman or man. Non-binary people have many expressions, bodies, pronouns and relationships to community labels.
Outing
Disclosing another person’s orientation or gender without permission. Outing can create serious social, employment, housing or physical risk.
Pansexual
A person with the capacity for attraction regardless of gender or where gender is not a limiting factor. It does not mean attraction to everyone or disregard for gender.
Polyamory
A relationship practice or identity involving the possibility of multiple loving or intimate relationships with the knowledge and consent of everyone affected.
Pronouns
Words used to refer to someone, such as she, he or they. Pronouns can relate to gender but do not provide a complete definition of it.
Queer
An umbrella or personal identity for some people outside heterosexual and/or cisgender norms. It has been used as a slur, so do not impose it on someone who does not use it.
Queerplatonic relationship
A committed relationship that does not fit conventional categories of romance or friendship. The people involved define its meaning and agreements.
Questioning
Exploring or being unsure about one’s orientation, gender or labels. Questioning is a valid state, not a demand to decide quickly.
Relationship anarchy
An approach that questions default hierarchies and builds each relationship through explicit, individual agreements. It is not a synonym for avoiding commitment.
Report
A way to alert a platform to possible rule-breaking, risk or harmful content. Provide relevant context where safe, but use emergency services for immediate danger.
Romance scam
Manipulation that builds emotional trust to obtain money, assets, financial access, identity information or other benefit. Urgency and secrecy are common warning signs.
Sapphic
An umbrella connected with attraction between women and, for some people, non-binary identities aligned with sapphic community. Not every lesbian, bi or queer person uses it.
Sexual orientation
A pattern or capacity for sexual attraction and an identity someone may use to describe it. Behaviour, attraction and labels do not always line up neatly.
Stud
A masculine identity with roots in Black lesbian communities. It should not be detached from that cultural context or applied to someone from appearance alone.
Trans lesbian
A woman who is transgender and lesbian. “Trans” and “lesbian” describe different aspects of her identity; neither makes the other less real.
Transgender
A person whose gender differs from the sex assigned at birth. Trans people may be women, men, non-binary or use another gender description.
WLW
“Women loving women,” an umbrella shorthand for women attracted to women. It can include lesbian, bisexual, pansexual and queer women, but not everyone prefers the term.
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Use language respectfully
What the glossary cannot decide
This glossary does not diagnose, certify or assign a gender, orientation or relationship style. It cannot tell you whether someone belongs in a community, which label they “really” are, or whether they are compatible with you.
If a term on this page feels incomplete or has changed in your community, email glossary feedback with the term, suggested context and a reputable source. Changes are reviewed rather than published automatically.
Related guides
Put clearer language into practice
Bisexual datingMove beyond indecision and non-monogamy stereotypes.Non-binary datingNames, pronouns, privacy and individual compatibility.Asexual datingSeparate attraction, romance, affection, sex and boundaries.Pansexual datingAttraction across genders without erasure or assumptions.Polyamorous datingConsent, agreements, capacity and relationship language.Community RulesHow respect, privacy and consent apply on Verve.
Clear answers
LGBTQ+ glossary FAQ
Is there one official definition for every LGBTQ+ term?
No. Usage changes across people, cultures, places and generations. The glossary describes common meanings and context, while self-identification and respectful conversation come first.
Why are some reclaimed slurs included?
They appear because some community members use them as identities and may encounter them in profiles or conversation. The usage notes explain that reclamation is personal and the term should not be imposed on someone else.
Does glossary search send my query anywhere?
No. Filtering happens in your browser and the query is not stored or sent to Verve or an advertising service.
Use the language, then meet the person
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