US Trends

lgbtq means what

LGBTQ is an acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (or questioning).

Quick Scoop: What “LGBTQ” Means

  • Lesbian : Women who are romantically or sexually attracted to women.
  • Gay : People (often men, but sometimes used more broadly) who are attracted to people of the same gender.
  • Bisexual : People attracted to more than one gender.
  • Transgender : People whose gender identity is different from the sex they were assigned at birth.
  • Queer / Questioning :
    • “Queer” is an umbrella term some people use for non‑heterosexual or non‑cisgender identities.
* “Questioning” refers to people still exploring or unsure about their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Many people also write LGBTQ+ to include other identities such as intersex, asexual, non‑binary and more; the “+” is a way of acknowledging that the community is broader than just these five letters.

In simple terms: LGBTQ is a short way to refer to a diverse community of people whose sexual orientation or gender identity is not straight and/or not cisgender.

TL;DR : “LGBTQ” means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (or questioning), and it’s often written as LGBTQ+ to include an even wider range of identities.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.