LGBTQ+ Glossary and Statistics

 

 

LGBTQ+ is an acronym that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer, and is used to designate a community of people whose sexual or gender identities can create shared political and social concerns (this includes people who do not fall into the LGBTQ acronym such as intersex people and asexuals).

Lesbian: A woman who is attracted to other women.

Gay: A man who is attracted to other men.

Bisexual: An individual who is attracted to more than one gender.

Trans: An umbrella term that seeks to incorporate individuals whose gender identities do not match their biological sex.

A distinction is posed between sex (male/female) which is a biological given at birth, and gender (man/woman) which is a sociological and psychological construction concerned with characteristics that are not biological.

There are many identities including but not limited to: transgender, transsexual, trans man, trans woman, genderfluid, non-binary, genderqueer, bigender, nongender.

Queer: Individuals who experience fluidity in their experience of sexuality or gender and therefore do not identify strictly as LGB or T. The term ‘Queer’ can also include those who do not identify as either gender.

 

Experiences of being LGBTQ:

LGBTQ people are still discriminated against both institutionally and in day to day lives:

 Gay men in the UK remain unable to donate blood if they are sexually active.

 65% of young LGB school pupils experience homophobic bullying. 3 in 5 never report the abuse and when they do nothing is done about it 62% of the time.

 Many individuals continue to experience homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in the workplace from both their colleagues and their employers.

 The austerity measures outlined by the current government will hit specialist services that LGBTQ people disproportionately rely upon for health and welfare provisions.

 Surveys have shown that as many as 1 in 5 LGBT people have experienced abuse ranging from verbal insults to physical assaults over the last three years.

 The number of physical assaults rises significantly in the case of LGBT people who are also from minority ethnic backgrounds.

 1 in 8 LGB victims of physical assault in the last three years were sexually assaulted during the incident.

 Every year thousands of LGBT people across the world are imprisoned, tortured and executed by their own governments.

 1 in 3 LGBT people will attempt suicide at some point in their lives. This is significantly higher than our heterosexual and cisgendered peers.

 

LGBTQ+ organisations

Hidayah LGBT+ is an organisation for LGBT+ Muslims to meet, share resources, and campaign together to increase visibility and acceptance. They offer community and educational workshops as well as safe spaces to meet and socialise with other LGBT+ Muslims. They meet on the first Thursday of every month, 6pm, at the LGBT Foundation building on Richmond Street.

Website: https://www.hidayahlgbt.co.uk/

 

 

 Rainbow Noir is an organisation for QTIPOC (Queer, Trans and Intersex People Of Colour) to meet, socialise and organise in a safe space. The group meets on the second Thursday of each month, 7pm, at the LGBT Centre in Sidney Street Cafe.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rainbownoirmcr/  

 

 

The National Union of Students' (NUS) LGBT+ Campaign connects LGBT+ activists from Universities and Colleges across the country. It's an opportunity to share resources, ideas, and shape the agenda of national student politics. They have two full-time officers and a committee of volunteers that you can chat to, and a lot of guides, workshops, talks and skills training.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nuslgbt/

 

 

The LGBT Foundation is a community organisation that provides a wide range of services, supporting LGBT+ people to increase their skills, knowledge and self-confidence to improve and maintain their health and wellbeing. They offer specific services for groups such as women, bi+ people, trans people, and more.

Website: https://lgbt.foundation/

 

 

The Proud Trust is based in the LGBT Centre on Sidney Street (in Sidney Street Cafe). They focus on empowering young LGBT+ people through youth groups, peer support, delivering training and events, campaigns, undertaking research and creating resources.

Website: https://www.theproudtrust.org/

 

 

Action for Trans Health is a nationwide campaign for democratic trans healthcare. They have a solidarity fund which redistributes money to trans people who need it, and do various other forms of advocacy work, including engaging with medical professionals about trans health through workshops, compiling lists of doctors known to be good with trans patients, assisting people to complain about malpractice, and more.

Website: https://actionfortranshealth.org.uk/