LGBTQIA+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning), intersex, and asexual. The + represents further sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions not captured by the eight letters.
This post breaks down each letter, what the + covers, and why getting the language right matters.
Why does the language keep changing?
The way we talk about sexuality, attraction, and gender identity is constantly evolving. New terms and definitions spread from individuals to communities to wider use over time. As the discourse shifts, we can only understand each other when we share the vocabulary.
The acronym isn’t a fixed thing. It grows as our shared understanding does.
Why are so many identities grouped together?
LGBTQIA+ is an umbrella term covering a diverse group: people whose sexuality and/or gender doesn’t fit the heterosexual, cisgender default. Why are two different axes grouped together?
There are a few schools of thought; here are the two most prominent.
Shared experience of discrimination. People who aren’t heterosexual have historically been (and still are) discriminated against on the basis that their attraction is seen as deviant, wrong, or a mental illness, in much the same way that gender non-conforming and trans people are discriminated against for their gender.
A shared rejection of the gender binary. If gender is a spectrum, there’s no need to label specific sexual alignments as deviant. Wherever your gender sits on that spectrum is okay; whichever direction your attraction runs is okay too. The two concerns end up linked because they share the same target: rigid categories that don’t fit how people actually live.
Each letter below has its own context, and each of these identities deserves a deeper post in its own right. Use this as a first map.
What does the L stand for?
Lesbian. A woman or non-binary person whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women or non-binary people. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay or as gay women.
What does the G stand for?
Gay. An adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same or similar gender. Like queer, gay is sometimes used as a catch-all term by members of the LGBTQIA+ community to self-refer.
It’s generally not appropriate to refer to someone else as gay unless they self-describe that way. Calling someone gay makes assumptions about both their gender and the gender of the person they’re attracted to.
What does the B stand for?
Bisexual (often shortened to bi). A person who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of another gender. People may experience this attraction in different ways and degrees over their lifetime.
Bisexual people don’t need any specific sexual experience to identify as bisexual. In fact, they don’t need any sexual experience at all.
What does the T stand for?
Transgender (often shortened to trans) is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. People under the transgender umbrella may describe themselves using a wide variety of terms.
Transsexual is an older term that originated in the medical and psychological communities. It’s still preferred by some people who have permanently changed, or seek to change, their bodies through medical interventions including hormones and surgeries. Unlike transgender, transsexual is not an umbrella term.
What does the Q stand for?
Queer is an umbrella term used by people who want to reject specific labels of romantic orientation, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity. It can also be a way of rejecting the perceived norms of the LGBTQIA+ community itself. The term is divisive: some people embrace it, others prefer not to use it. We explore it more in this post.
Questioning is a broad term for someone who’s unsure about their sexuality or gender identity. The Q can stand for either.
What does the I stand for?
Intersex. A term used to describe a person who may have the biological attributes of both sexes, or whose biological attributes do not fit societal assumptions about what constitutes male or female. While some intersex people also identify as transgender, the two are separate and shouldn’t be conflated.
What does the A stand for?
Asexual (often shortened to ace). People who do not experience sexual desire, or experience it at a low level. A person can also be aromantic, meaning they don’t experience romantic attraction.
The A can also stand for ally: people who align themselves with the community and provide support, but who aren’t themselves lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, or asexual.
What does the + cover?
The + sign holds space for sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions not named in the acronym’s letters. It’s not exhaustive, but some of the most common:
- Pansexual: attracted to people regardless of their gender identity or expression.
- Non-binary (sometimes shortened to NB or enby) and genderqueer (GQ): terms used by people whose gender identity and/or expression falls outside the categories of man and woman. They may experience their gender as somewhere in between, or as wholly different from those terms.
- Gender non-conforming (GNC): people whose gender expression is different from conventional expectations of masculinity and femininity.
- Demisexual: people who may only feel sexually or romantically attracted to people with whom they’ve formed an emotional bond.
- Undefined: an individual who doesn’t label an aspect of their sexual or romantic orientation, or their gender identity. This might be because they resist labels, or because they cannot find one that adequately represents them.
Why does Kalda use the LGBTQIA+ acronym?
The acronym covers a wide variety of people. There are even broader terms in some contexts, such as GSRM (Gender, Sexuality, and Romantic Minority), which includes polyamory and non-monogamy. We use LGBTQIA+ as a show of solidarity with everyone the term covers.
These groups are stigmatised for simply being who they are, and we believe that’s why mental health support specifically for LGBTQIA+ people matters. We use the term because it names the audience we serve, while leaving the + as a deliberate signal that the work of naming is never finished.
There’s an ongoing conversation about whether LGBTQIA+ is the right umbrella, and we’re open to that conversation. The most important thing is to keep an open mind and to respect how people describe themselves.
The best way to know how to describe someone else is to ask them.
Where to next
- Read more on sexuality for explainers and stories on bisexuality, pansexuality, asexuality, and exploring labels.
- Read more on gender for content on trans, non-binary, and gender exploration.
- Stonewall’s LGBTQ+ glossary is a useful additional reference on UK-specific terminology and broader definitions.
Originally published 1 May 2023; revised for the new Kalda site, May 2026.