Youth Hub Team
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Transgender
Transgender is a broad term that can be used to describe someone whose gender identity is different from the gender they were assigned at birth. “Trans” is often used as shorthand for transgender. To treat a transgender person with respect, you treat them according to their gender identity, not their sex at birth. So, someone
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Bi (sexual and romantic)
Bisexuality is a sexual orientation, and bisexual (commonly abbreviated to “bi”) people are those who have the capacity to form attraction and/or relationships to more than one gender. Biromantic is a romantic orientation in which you can romantically like two or more genders. The sexual counterpart to biromantic is bisexual. The two differ in that
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Asexual (Ace)
Asexual people — also known as “Ace” or “Aces” — may experience little or no sexual attraction and/or experience sexual attraction in a non-normative way. Ace people may want to and can form many types of intimate relationships, whether those relationships are romantic, platonic, or other forms of attraction and connection. Within the ace community,
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Aromantic (Aro)
Often shortened to Aro – this describes people who do not experience romantic attraction, or experience little-to-no romantic attraction. Aromanticism is a romantic orientation and may involve forms of attraction that are not necessarily romantic, or interests in relationships that are intimate in other ways. There is no singular experience of Aromanticism. Other definitions: The
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Transphobia
Transphobia is a rejection of trans identity and a refusal to acknowledge that it could possibly be real or valid. The consequence of transphobia is that trans people struggle to live openly and comfortably in society. Transphobia includes, but is not limited to: Other definitions/things to note: Transphobia has no single, simple manifestation. It is
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Homosexual
A term to describe someone who is attracted to someone of the same sex or gender. The term ‘gay’ is now more generally used. Other definitions/things to note: Homosexuality can be more widely defined as a sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction or activity between members of the same sex. Societal attitudes toward homosexuality have changed
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Hyperfixation
Hyperfixation, with reference to neurodivergence (i.e., Autism/ADHD, AuDHD, etc), can be characterised as a heightened state of focus or attention on a particular activity, subject, or interest. People often think of experiencing hyperfixation as being completely absorbed in something. Hyperfixations can happen to anyone; however, to people who are neurodivergent, instances of hyperfixation may be
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Infodumping
Infodumping is a term used to describe, often in regards to a neurodivergent person, the act of suddenly sharing information about things that they love or have a keen interest in. This may be done in great detail and for a long time. For autistic/ADHD/AuDHD people, info dumping can be a common way to communicate.
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Pan (sexual and romantic)
Pansexuality, also abbreviated as pan, is a sexual orientation encompassing attraction to multiple genders, with the attraction being physical, romantic, and/or emotional. Someone who is pansexual may feel that gender does not matter or instead feel it is a factor in the way that they feel attraction. Some pansexuals are attracted to different genders in
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Agender
Someone who identifies as genderless. This individual may identify as non-binary , genderqueer, transgender or anonbinary (though some choose to avoid these terms, as they can imply that they identify as a gender, when they in fact do not). As this is a lack of gender, some feel that it should not be labeled with