LGBTQIA+ Basics: A Simple Guide to Understanding Diversity

Language shapes how we see, name, and honor the world around us.

When we give something a name, we make it visible, and visibility is a powerful act of respect.

In conversations about sexual and gender diversity, we often hear terms that not everyone understands. 

So, let’s take a moment to explore them: clearly, calmly, and with the intention to connect. 

Sexual Orientation

This refers to who you feel emotionally, romantically, or sexually attracted to.

• Heterosexual: attraction to a different gender.

• Homosexual: attraction to the same gender.

• Bisexual: attraction to more than one gender.

• Pansexual: attraction to people regardless of gender.

• Asexual: little or no experience of sexual attraction.
  
  
  

Gender Identity

This is how you perceive yourself and feel about your own gender on the inside.

• Cisgender: when your gender identity matches the sex you were assigned at birth.

• Transgender: when it doesn’t.

• Non-binary: when you don’t identify exclusively as male or female.

• Gender fluid: when your identity shifts over time.
  
  

Gender identity is deeply personal: it’s not something that can be seen, but rather something felt.

Gender Expression

How you show your gender outwardly: through clothing, style, body language, or voice.
Your expression can be masculine, feminine, androgynous, or somewhere in between.
It’s a form of self-expression, not a definition, and doesn’t necessarily align with orientation or identity.

Intersex

Intersex people are born with biological traits (such as chromosomes, hormones, or anatomy) that don’t fit typical definitions of “male” or “female.”

It’s natural, human, and part of the incredible diversity of our species.
What matters most is the right to choose, define, and exist without medical or social imposition.

Other Words You May Hear

• Queer: once a slur, now proudly reclaimed as a term for anyone whose identity or orientation exists outside the norm.

• Ally: someone who isn’t LGBTQ+ but stands alongside the community with empathy and action.

• Pride: more than a celebration — a declaration of visibility, equality, and love in all its forms.
  
  
  

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Saying “sexual preference” instead of “sexual orientation.”

• Assuming gender identity and sexual orientation are the same— they’re not.

• Invalidating people who don’t fit binary or traditional categories.
  
  
  

At SVAKOM, we believe that pleasure begins with understanding, and that understanding begins with language.

When we learn to speak about identity with empathy, we create space for everyone to be seen, respected, and free to exist authentically.

Because diversity isn’t just something to know.
It’s something to celebrate.