LGBTQIA+

A six-band rainbow flag representing the LGBTQIA+ community.

LGBTQIA+ is an initialism which stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual". LGBTQIA+ is intended to emphasize a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures and is sometimes used to refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual orientations.

LGBTQIA+ culture varies widely by geography and the identity of the participants. Elements common to cultures of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people pride movements, including pride parades, events such as the Gay Games and Southern Decadence, and LGBTQIA+ media and works by LGBTQIA+ artists, including the queer art movement. Not all LGBTQIA+ people identify with LGBTQIA+ culture; this may be due to geographic distance, unawareness of the subculture's existence, fear of social stigma or a preference for remaining unidentified with sexuality or gender-based subcultures or communities.

Groupings

The following are groupings of LGBTQIA+:

• Lesbian, a female homosexual; experience attraction to other females.
• Gay, a homosexual person. Often refers to male homosexuals but may also refer to female homosexuals
• Bisexual, a person who experiences attraction to both males and females, or people of any sex or gender (pansexuality)
• Transgender, a person whose gender identity diverges from the one assigned to them at birth
• Queer, an umbrella term for somebody who is not heterosexual or cisgender
• Intersex, a variation in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that do not allow an individual to be distinctly identified as male or female.
• Asexual, somebody who does not experience sexual attraction to anyone, or who has low interest in sexual activity in general