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Transmisogynoir Discrimination that falls at the intersection of transphobia, misogyny and anti-black racism, as experienced by Black trans women and trans feminine people. ​ < Back to Glossary

Inter-able When a non-disabled person / people and disabled people mix. This could term could be applied to things like sports teams, but is most-commonly seen in connection with intimate relationships. ​ < Back to Glossary

Internalised Homophobia Internalised homophobia occurs when a person is subject to society’s negative perceptions, intolerance, and stigma toward people with same-sex attraction. Consciously or unconsciously, they then turn those ideas and homophobic biases inward, believing that they are true, and experience self-hatred because of being a socially stigmatised person. ​ < Back to Glossary

Privacy It relates to an individual's ability to determine for themselves when, how, and for what purpose their personal information is handled by others. Protecting privacy is key to ensuring human dignity, safety and self-determination. It allows individuals freely develop their own personality and explore their own identities. ​ < Back to Glossary

Body Image Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. In the Queer Community, people can especially have trouble with their body image, due to mainstream beauty standards being determined by heteronormative society. There are also very prevalent archetypes that exist within the Queer Community, which can determine what is attractive, meaning we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. See: Archetypes, Body Dysmorphia & Body Shaming. < Back to Glossary

South East Asian South East Asian culture and heritage is typically associated with the region made up of Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ​ < Back to Glossary

Grassroots A Grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organisations use collective action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national or international level. Often, the biggest changes as far as the fight for equality for the LGBTQIA+ Community comes from Grassroots movement. See: Activist and Equality. < Back to Glossary

Community Care If self-care is about what you do for yourself, then community care is what you put into and what you are able to receive from the community you have built around yourself, as well as the community you live in. Practicing community care can look like cleaning for a friend who is going through a tough time, volunteering, donating to mutual aid efforts or getting to know (and helping out) your neighbours. It's essentially how we show up and create space for each other. ​ < Back to Glossary

Empathetic Witness Empathetic witnesses are people who value transformational relationships. It's not necessarily somebody who can change the other person's situation, but somebody that can mirror, validate, and accept that person's feelings and emotions. Through presence and understanding, they ensure the other person feels seen and heard. Having empathetic witnesses in our life can help us process our experiences and encourage us to continue moving forward through our low and high moments. ​ < Back to Glossary

Visibility (See Representation) ​ < Back to Glossary

Sexuality 1. How a person experiences and expresses their sexual identity. 2. Referring to someone's sexual orientation i.e. the gender(s) they are attracted to. ​ < Back to Glossary

Femme Femme originated as a term used to describe lesbians with a feminine gender expression, in contrast with "butches". It is also used within the transgender community (trans femme) as an umbrella term for trans women and transfeminine non-binary people. ​ < Back to Glossary

Humanistic A person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity. ​ < Back to Glossary

Feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritises the male point of view and that women are treated unjustly in these societies. It is everyone's duty, including in the Queer Community, to promote gender equality in our society. See: Misogyny. < Back to Glossary

Grey Also known as grey-A, this is an umbrella term which describes people who experience attraction occasionally, rarely, or only under certain conditions. People may also use terms such as gay, bi, lesbian, straight and queer in conjunction with grey to explain the direction of romantic or sexual attraction as they experience it. ​ < Back to Glossary

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

Introspection A reflective looking inward: an examination or observation of one's own thoughts and feelings. ​ < Back to Glossary

Gaslighting A deliberate attempt to undermine a victim’s sense of reality or sanity. In a work context, it usually means behaviours that undermine the success, self-confidence, self-esteem or wellbeing of the target. For people in underrepresented groups, it is more likely to occur, with more severe and harmful cumulative effects. Tactics can include withholding (critical information, meeting invitations, silent treatment), isolation (exclusion, causing conflict with coworkers), and discrediting (consistently shooting down the target’s ideas, ignoring or taking credit for them). ​ < Back to Glossary

Accessibility The "ability to access" the functionality of a system or entity, and gain the related benefits. The degree to which a product, service, or environment is accessible by as many people as possible. Accessible design ensures both direct (unassisted) access and indirect access through assistive technology (e.g., computer screen readers). In this sense, thinking about digital accessibility makes us consider the way in which we share information. Universal design ensures that an environment can be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people. See: Ableism. < Back to Glossary

Black Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin colour-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in socially based systems of racial classification in the Western world, the term "Black" is used to describe persons who are perceived as dark-skinned compared to other populations. It is most commonly used for people of sub-Saharan African ancestry and the indigenous peoples of Oceania, though it has been applied in many contexts to other groups, and is no indicator of any close ancestral relationship whatsoever. It has been a generally accepted move to capitalise the B in black - "The change conveys “an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa,” said John Daniszewski, AP’s vice-president of standards. “The lowercase black is a color, not a person.” ​ < Back to Glossary