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Bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction to more than one gender. It is sometimes wrongly assumed that bisexual means someone is only attracted to men or women, but this is an outdated perception. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity. ​ < Back to Glossary

Accountability The acceptance of responsibility for one's own actions. It implies a willingness to be transparent, allowing others to observe and evaluate one's performance. ​ < Back to Glossary

Platonic A platonic relationship is one with no romantic or sexual features, but it means more than “just friends.” According to the ancient philosopher Plato, for whom the concept is named, this bond is a type of love experienced when we identify positive qualities we feel complete us, within another person. ​ < Back to Glossary

Activist Someone who labels themselves as an ‘activist’ typically adopts a more grassroots approach and can (to an extent) hold anti-establishment mindset. Often, an activist’s lifestyle can be heavily steered by their stance on a specific issue. Furthermore, activists spur on wider political and systemic change through their actions and words. See: Grassroots. < Back to Glossary

Body Shaming The action or practice of humiliating someone by making mocking or critical comments about their body shape or size. Body shaming most-often takes place with one person inflicting shame on another, however, it can also be an internalised thought. ​ < Back to Glossary

Conversion Therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Conversion therapy is still legal in more than half of the world, and campaigners are still fighting everyday to ensure people are free to express themselves any way they wish, and be attracted to anyone they like. No one should try and be forced to be someone they're not. As a community, we should stand up and strongly denounce the legality of this practice that has severe effects on the wellbeing of those who are subjected to it. ​ < Back to Glossary

Pansexual Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as 'gender-blind', asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction to others. ​ < Back to Glossary

Positionality Refers to the location of a person in the organisational structure of an institution. It considers what authority a person has, to whom they report and who reports to them, what power others have in relationship to the person and what power the person has in relationship to others. ​ < Back to Glossary

Genderqueer Denoting or relating to a person who does not identify themselves as having a fixed gender. (syn. Genderfluid) ​ < Back to Glossary

HIV HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body's immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). There is currently no effective cure. Once people get HIV, they have it for life. But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. HIV medicine is called antiretroviral therapy, or ART. If taken as prescribed, HIV medicine reduces the amount of HIV in the body (viral load) to a very low level, which keeps the immune system working and prevents illness. This is called viral suppression. HIV medicine can even make the viral load so low that a test can’t detect it. This is called an undetectable viral load. A person with HIV who takes HIV medicine as prescribed and gets and stays virally suppressed or undetectable can stay healthy and will not transmit HIV to their sex partners. (See AIDS and PrEP) ​ < Back to Glossary

Profiting Refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, or another aspect of their identity. Profiling can also be see as a form of prejudice. See: Prejudice and Discrimination. < Back to Glossary

Homosexual An outdated term to describe a sexual orientation in which a person feels physically and emotionally attracted to people of the same sex or gender. ​ < Back to Glossary

Legal Guardian For a lot of us, our Legal Guardian, when we are under the age of 18, are our parents. However, there are many people out there whose family does not look like a stereotypical one. In some cases, one's legal guardian could be another member of the family, such as an older sibling, or another member of their family. However, there are many children who are brought up in the care system, whose legal guardian will be someone appointed by the local authority. Legal Guardians can also be considered as those who we appoint to look after our children in the event of us passing away before they are 18 years old. ​ < Back to Glossary

Marginalisation The act of placing a person or group in a position of lesser importance, influence, or power. See: Discrimination, Implicit and Intersectionality. < Back to Glossary

POC (See Person of Colour) ​ < Back to Glossary

Refugee Someone who has had to leave their home country due to war or for fear of persecution. ​ < Back to Glossary

Needs A physiological or psychological requirement for the well-being of an organism. In other words, a need is something that you can’t be okay without. This can range from food and water to human contact and socialization. The reason it's important to understand and satisfy our needs is because we feel emotional, and sometimes physical, pain when they're not being met. You may be in pain and not know why or which needs are not being fulfilled. When our needs are met, we feel happy, grateful, safe, loved, playful, alert, and calm. ​ < Back to Glossary

Power Dynamics A "power dynamic" is the way different people or different groups of people interact with each other and where one of these sides is more powerful than the other one. ​ < Back to Glossary

Mental Health Mental health encompasses our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It relates to how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Our environment and how we are treated by others has a significant effect on our mental health, as it can heavily influence the way we see ourselves. See: Minority Stress, Self-Care, Resilience and Addiction. < Back to Glossary

Adoption The adoption of children by same-sex and queer couples is a concept that has recently received more-widespread support in the mainstream and this has been reflected in changes in legislation. This does not mean that same-sex and queer parents do not face opposition to adopting children from those who are more conservative. Adoption is a great way for same-sex/queer couples who are not able to conceive naturally to expand their family, and also provide a loving home to a child who is disadvantaged. It is also common for couples who can conceive to adopt out of a desire to positively impact the life of a child living in care. (See: Family and Fostering) < Back to Glossary