In the acronym LGBTQIA (or “lgbtgia”), the “I” and “A” most commonly stand for:

  • I = Intersex – people whose physical sex characteristics (chromosomes, hormones, gonads, or genitals) don’t fit typical medical definitions of strictly male or female.
  • A = Asexual / Aromantic / Agender – depending on context, “A” is often used as an umbrella for:
    • asexual (little or no sexual attraction),
    • aromantic (little or no romantic attraction),
    • agender (no or very little sense of gender).

So when you see LGBTQIA or lgbtgia , the “IA” part is there to explicitly include intersex and asexual/aromantic/agender identities within the broader community.