YA LGBT Books discussion
The Question Corner
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What do those letters mean? - Abbreviations and LGBTQ terms explained
LGBTQ - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer,... you can add a lot more letters for Intersex/Pansexual/Asexual etc - or let Q=queer stand for the rest. (This term combines gender identity and sexual attraction minorities together.) LGBTQ+, LGBTQIAP, ... QUILTBAG - an attempt to add the other letters in an acronym that is easy to pronounce - some like it, but it has a mixed appeal
GSM - Gender-Sexual Minorities - another inclusive acronym some people like.
queer - this is sometimes a hot-button for debate. The younger generation of LGBTQ folk and some older people like this as a reclaimed general term for the whole Rainbow community, and identify as "queer". But it has been a very derogatory term in the past, used to verbally abuse people, and some members of the community find it hurtful and hateful. So be cautious if using it as a generalized label.
Gender identities -
for evolving and more complete information, check out the Transgender Language Primer - https://www.translanguageprimer.org/
trans - transgender - adjective for a person who identifies as a different gender from that assigned at birth (used as an adjective, along with a noun - a transgender man, a trans girl; not ever a solo noun "a transgender")
Note that "transsexual" is sometimes used to describe someone physically transitioning via surgery and hormones (as opposed to identifying, with or without physical changes) to other than their gender-assigned-at-birth; but is also an older term for transgender folk and is sometimes considered derogatory, or insulting. (And for a few older trans people it is their preferred term through long use.)
FtM or F2M or F-->M - someone who was considered female at birth, but is male in their identity ( an F2M guy - adjective, not a noun) = a transgender man/ a trans boy - the noun is always a reflection of the trans person's true identity.
MtF or M2F or M-->F - someone who was considered male at birth, but is female in their identity (adjective, not a noun) = a trans woman/ a transgender girl
Dead name - the discarded birth name of someone who has changed it, especially for a trans person who has chosen a new name that fits their identity (sometimes a verb - "he keeps dead-naming me")
genderfluid - someone who identifies as more male at some times and more female at others. Some genderfluid people will have a preferred single pronoun and gender-identification from which they shift to varying degrees, others are very fluid and may prefer to be called "him" at some times and "her" at others. Some may prefer a non-gendered pronoun ("they" or "ey" or "ze" or "ne")
NB or enby - "non-binary" - an alternate and becoming more popular term for genderfluid and agender and bigender people - anyone whose gender identity is not on the strict "male" or "female" binary (sometimes expanded to include trans people who do have a single M or F gender identity, but not the one they were identified at birth.)
bigender - used by some individuals who have both clearly male identification at some times, and at other times clearly female, (some of whom may use different names for each identity), but who do not identify as fluid across the range of the gender spectrum. Bigender folk are likely to want different pronouns ("he" or "she") at different times, but every individual makes that choice.
agender or gender neutral - an individual who does not strongly identify as either female or male, most of the time. They may choose to present an androgenous appearance, or may not, but this refers to their personal self-identification. Some may prefer a non-gendered pronoun ("they" or "ey" or "ze")
intersex - a person born with chromosomal or anatomical features of both sexes (the old term, "hermaphrodite", is now considered discourteous.) Intersex people are often "assigned" a single gender at birth by parents or doctors (either by custom or even medically and surgically before they are old enough to consent), which then affects the way in which they will be raised. As adults, intersex people may choose where they feel comfortable to present on the gender spectrum as part of their intersex identity, including pronoun use.
cis-gender - someone who does identify as the same gender as their chromosomal or birth-identified gender; the majority of the population are cis. Using this as an identifier helps normalize gender identity spectrum. Where indicated, I often identify myself at first introduction as a cis het women.
genderqueer - a debated term for all individuals of non-cis-gendered identification. Some people, particularly older individuals, do not like the term "queer" as an inclusive term (and may find its use offensive), some do like it and find it useful shorthand.
gender-expansive - another inclusive term for people who identify as other than cis-gender
gender-nonconforming - also used at times for people who do not identify or present as cis-gender. Sometimes considered a negative descriptor.
From 2020 - evolving language:
...
Sexual orientation (note that this is orthogonal to gender, so you can be trans and gay, or trans and heterosexual, or agender and pansexual...)
heterosexual - a person attracted to members of the opposite sex
homosexual - a person attracted to individuals of the same sex. ** be aware that the use of this word in derogatory ways has made it feel offensive to many individuals ** so it's usually avoided except in historical context in the English-speaking countries. I'm told that some places (such as Greece) the reverse is actually true and it is considered the polite term (versus "gay")
gay and lesbian are the most accepted terms, with "gay" sometimes being used by women as well as men for their same-sex attraction..
bisexual - a person attracted to two genders (although most common usage, the two attractive genders do not have to be cis male and cis female, but could be cis and trans men, for example.)
polysexual - a person attracted to others of multiple gender-identities especially inclusive of some gender identities other than cis-men and cis-women, but not all.
pansexual - someone potentially attracted to any other adult human without regard or constraints to gender identity
asexual - a person with no strong sexual attraction to others - (there are a wide range of Ace folk with varying attitudes about sex - check out our "Hot Topics" thread on asexuality.)
gray-asexual - someone who considers their level of sexual interest and attraction close to but not entirely Ace. May include demisexual individuals.
demisexual - used, generally, to describe people who only experience sexual attraction after first forming a strong emotional connection to a partner, after which sexual attraction only to that person develops.
polyamorous - someone who has sexual or romantic preference for more than one partner at a time (triads and other multiples/ menage)
cross dressing - someone who prefers, at least at times, to wear clothing strongly identified with their non-birth gender. They may or may not have any same-sex attraction, or trans-gender identification. (ie. it is possible for a cis-gender heterosexual man to simply like cross-dressing in female clothing.)
other terms
Homoromantic, heteroromantic - some people divide romantic orientation and sexual orientation. So you might, for example, be asexual, and heteroromantic, meaning interested in a romantic relationship with a member of the opposite sex, but not attracted to actual sex with them.
less common terms:
MOGAI - another encompassing term - Marginalized Orientations, Gender identities, And Intersex. it’s meant to be an all inclusive umbrella term for asexual/gay/lesbian/poly/demisexual and trans/nonbinary/agender people, and intersex people.
AFAB/FAAB/CAFAB: Assigned Female at Birth, Female Assigned at Birth, coercively assigned female at birth (for trans/intersex situations)
AMAB/MAAB/CAMAB: Same thing, but with male instead of female
There are many other terms used by people within the LGBTQI rainbow, although most don't come into play with YA literature so far; I'll try to post a good link here.
Here's a post from "Have a Gay Day" on LGBTQ identity terms:
http://haveagaydayorg.tumblr.com/Iden...
This is a long list, with terms I was not familiar with, like
Demigirl
A person who identifies slightly or partially as female or with feminine identities.
Elissogender
A gender which vaguely moves around with no gender. Can be a modifier (elissogender demigirl) or standalone (elissogenders feel that their gender identity meanders).
And many terms for sexual identity. Worth a read, even just as acknowledgement that humans are varied and complex creatures in our identities and attractions.
Some of these terms may be in very uncommon usage or debated - I'm not sure where it was compiled from, but the existence means at least a few people out there are using these terms as descriptors for their identity.
Added 2018 - here's a link with clickable definitions for many gender identity terms including some not above - http://www.refinery29.com/lgbtq-defin...#
General - BooksYA Young Adult - we use this to refer to material that is not graphic enough in sex or violence to need an 18+ designation
NA New Adult - a relatively recent term for books with characters 18-24, that do contain explicit (often quite erotic) sex or violence. In this group, if a book is considered NA rather than YA it falls outside our preferences.
M/M or m/m - male/male ie. pertaining to two guys in a romantic pairing together
F/F or f/f - female/female - pertaining to two women in a romantic pairing together
BotM - Book of the Month
AotM - Author of the Month ; the same as Featured Author of the month
NSFW - Not Safe For Work - you shouldn't see this on our group, but it refers to a thread that contains explicit pictures, and is often (although not absolutely always) 18+ explicit
YMMV - Your Milage May Vary (you may have a different opinion of this)
IMO or IMHO - In My (Humble) Opinion
To describe the ending of a book:
HEA - Happy Ever After or Happily Ever After
HFN - Happy For Now
To describe a character:
MC - Main Character
TSTL - Too Stupid To Live
a Mary Sue or a Marty Stu - a character so perfect that they seem like author wish fulfillment
AiTB - Adult in Teen Body (a supposed teen character who talks/narrates like a much older person.)
I love TSTL. I've run across a few teenaged female MC's where I wonder how did they survive with all the idiotic things they did throughout the book?
Penumbra wrote: "I love TSTL. I've run across a few teenaged female MC's where I wonder how did they survive with all the idiotic things they did throughout the book?"One of my pet peeves with stories, especially mysteries.
I'll add NSFW - Not safe for work - which generally means that it is probably unsuitable for under 18's too
K wrote: "I'll add NSFW - Not safe for work - which generally means that it is probably unsuitable for under 18's too"Good thought - I'll put it up there
It could double as "author in a teen body". Which would not only address the adult-sounding teens, but would also be a subset of Mary Sue/Marty Stu, since the author may be attempting to re-create their own teens years...
Jo wrote: "It could double as "author in a teen body". Which would not only address the adult-sounding teens, but would also be a subset of Mary Sue/Marty Stu, since the author may be attempting to re-create ..."I really dislike adult/author in a teen's body. I always wonder why the editor/proofer/beta doesn't catch it? It's not that difficult if a reader can spot it.
The problem is that with a lot of those authors, the editor/proofer/beta is also only familiar with adult romance (and may also have forgotten what it's like to be a teenager), so they're going by the way an adult romance would sound and see nothing wrong with it. I'm somewhat mired in my own teen years (which, I admit, is why I write YA, but when I have teens and just-past-teens telling me my characters sound like a teenager, I figure I'm doing something right), I read a lot of YA, and I have two teenagers who have a bunch of friends. So I recognize AiTB when I read it. The example I gave above is just one of several I've seen lately, and it tells me that first of all the author doesn't know what teenagers think and feel, and second, neither does the publisher. (Assuming there is one; some of the ones I've read were self-published.)
Its late on a public holiday - for us it is THE QUEENS birthday weekend and the BF & I have suitably celebrated.I saw a post somewhere by Jo about the YA "brushed lips" and would have to agree. If I was true to myself at that age it would have been a whole letting go of full on passion and "wanting more" maybe not knowing what more I wanted but there are times in the YA where that whole yes but WTF would be much more realistic. OK so I might now be a jaded 55+ but it is what I want to see in the YA stories, it is real even now and so much more to "hang on to"! Enough time for more bubbbles.....
I must add to the comments about adult in a teen body .I can relate, but at the same time can earnestly (in the Wildean sense) fantasise about what "might have been". My partner is someone who in 197? I remember the girls at high school going goo-gaa over, and I did my best to try not to agree with them! Now we amaze most of my "reunion" buddies in yes they knew then that I was gay (well why didnt you tell me) and with the girls - something like you lucky ?>>
I think we need another one.NSFRiP - Not safe for reading in public
This should belong to all stories, that have the potential of making one weep. I just earned myself some suspious looks on the underground this morning while reading Bear, Otter, and the Kid
Might want to remove the link to that book...although the beginning of Bear, Otter, and the Kid sounds YA-ish, parts of it are definitely not YA-appropriate.And yes, it is a tearjerker and should have a warning about that. LOL
Graeme, probably on my blog here... I ranted about the adult language in YA thing on my blog a few weeks ago. It's become my biggest pet peeve, especially since I have several writer friends who have been writing adult romance for a while and have now decided to "dabble" in YA "because I've heard it's big right now."
Just like when an author decides to write M/M "because it will sell," when an author decides to write YA "because I've heard it's big," it's often poorly written and that's the most common cause of the adult/author in teen body phenomenon. One of my writer friends, whom I respect greatly, wrote a "YA" book I couldn't even finish because the characters sounded like they were at least in their 20s, but were identified as being 15... I might have tolerated it if the characters had been 18, but not 15. There can be a huge difference emotionally/maturity-wise between those two ages, generally speaking.
Graeme wrote: "Its late on a public holiday - for us it is THE QUEENS birthday weekend and the BF & I have suitably celebrated..."Blimey, and we all thought she'd moved it so she could combine it with the Jubilee celebrations last weekend.... rats, we could have managed another monday off work!!
@Torsten - ah, this is where having a Kindle (or other e-reader) helps........ mind you, there is something to be said for deliberately taking some books and their covers into work... just for the shock value if nothing else *smirk*
K & Thorsten, yeah right. The number of times I have eagerly demonstrated the "virtues" of a Kindle, only to find that the page I am currently reading is yummy. Thankfully most of my work crowd expect nothing less, they are usually getting over the shock that a librarian of 40+ years experience even knows what a Kindle is LOL
And to K we get a Queen's birthday holiday because the weather suits. I think most of the Commonwealth countries celebrate it in June, but us Aussies blindly think it is something special we do.So the BF has had to suffer, Land of Hope & Glory, Jerusalem, I vow to thee my country and the full soundtrack of Brassed Off. Check it out!
Oooops sorry I forgot this is the YA LGBT, in which case, think about it. If you, when you are old(er) - say around 30+ - and had to reflect on something of significance.....
Better still - offer the writers amongst us - what would you relate to??
PS so why am I in this discussion group. As a librarian it always fascinates me what works in current LGBT teen reading.
Graeme wrote: "So the BF has had to suffer, Land of Hope & Glory, Jerusalem, I vow to thee my country and the full soundtrack of Brassed Off. Check it out!.."LOL - well I am already over 30 and given where I live I am scarily familiar with Brassed Off and the Grimesthorpe Colliery band :) so I can just imagine... with added alcohol and in an Aussie accent... ok that's quite scary now!
Odd really... but in the UK we don't actually get a holiday for the Queen's birthday at all!!
You ready for scary. Well before the BF & I were even considering ourselves gay, he played euphonium with the Bairnesdale Brass Band - most of what you would know from the Grimesthorpe repertoire.Now I shall bid goodnight and "God Save the Queen"
@K and GraemeIt's not so much the cover of a book or any scenes someone nearby might get a glimpse of (why do they pry on other peoples business anyway) but rather the scenes that will make you weep for sure.
I'm wondering what that old lady opposite of me thought when she saw the tears falling.
What is a tear-jerker for one reader may not be for another, but some kind of MCTU (May Cause Tearing-Up) notation could be useful. There are books that even on a fifth reread I can't read in public (both for the embarrassment, and for the fact that if someone interrupts my reading at that critical juncture I might push them under a bus.) Deadline for example, must be read at home.
hehehe I have a few books that I have read numerous times and even though I'm fully aware of the story I still cry like a new born when I read them.. but IF i'm in public at that point, I don't read. I know where to stop and do it in the comfort of my bed.. hehe I've been caught out with a new book a few times, and I can NOT stop reading if I missed the stopping point with out being aware of what might happen..
Byron wrote: "hehehe I have a few books that I have read numerous times and even though I'm fully aware of the story I still cry like a new born when I read them.. but IF i'm in public at that point, I don't rea..."OK, so we need a warning acronym for that - any good nominations? We have
MCTU (May Cause Tearing Up)
and my fav. NSFRiP - Not safe for reading in public
??
Hannah L wrote: "Do we need to remember these?"No absolutely not - this is a look-up in case you come across a review that says "I think Joe and Tom are AiTB characters but YMMV"
Oh thats okay. Thanks for clearing that up for me :)
Hannah L wrote: "Oh thats okay. Thanks for clearing that up for me :)"No problem - let me know if you hit any you think should be added to the list.
Greg2.0 posted a comment that defined a couple of acronyms for us: LGBTTIQQ2SA
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, 2-Spirited and Allies
LGBTQQIAAP
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Allies and Pansexual.
My favorite umbrella collection of letters is GSM, for Gender-Sexual Minority. I like it because it's automatically inclusive of all identities, and it reminds us of why we're all in this together. Everyone in the community is marginalized for their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. It seems more unified that LGBTQ* because instead of listing all the groups it just describes what those groups have in common. The only issue I have with it is that not very many people recognize it. If you say LGBT... everyone will know you're talking about the queer community.As a side note to possible add:
AFAB/FAAB/CAFAB: Assigned Female at Birth, Female Assigned at Birth, coercively assigned female at birth
AMAB/MAAB/CAMAB: Same thing, but with male instead of female
I'll stick those in the first box - thank-you. I like GSM too, but I'd never heard the term so it obviously has a way to go to be recognized enough to serve well.
Is there a term for someone who is attracted to the opposite sex but at the same time identifies and feels like they can relate to the opposite sex better than their own? Can you be transgender but not gay, or maybe bi but relate more to the opposite sex, and if so what is that called? Just curious thanks.
Transgender people can be gay, lesbian, straight, bi or asexual. Gender identity and sexual orientation are separate things.
Ok thanks, I haven't read any transgender books yet and I wasn't sure about that. I saw the new transgender group is starting and it is the only part of lgbt I haven't explored yet, I think I'm going to join and read a few books with them just to understand the term better and read something that is new to me. Thanks again, I appreciate it.
I hate asking questions like that because I'm afraid I will offend someone, I would never look at a person and assume anything about them I didn't know for a fact and I don't want anyone who is transgender to see a question like that and think I am grouping them all together and assuming they are all gay I just didn't know if the term itself had to do with sexual orientation or if the examples I asked about in my original question would be called something else. so hopefully I didn't offend anyone, I'm just trying to understand all the confusing labels.
Justin wrote: "I hate asking questions like that because I'm afraid I will offend someone, I would never look at a person and assume anything about them I didn't know for a fact and I don't want anyone who is tra..."Asking is always better than assuming. And Rachel is right, gender and attraction are two different things. So I know two siblings, both F2M transgender guys but one attracted to women and one to men.
People do disagree about terms sometimes (Like if an F2M guy is attracted to women, is he called "straight") and I'm also hoping one of the things the new group will discuss is what terms they themselves prefer.
"cis" is a term used for gender, so that you may see cis-gendered, meaning someone like me who identifies as the same gender they were born with (as opposed to transgender, genderfluid, or agender...)
I should probably add to the top box; The new group also has a glossary of terms there, which they are still adding to.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I am never offended by honest respectful questions. I was glad to be a resource.
Kaje wrote: "Justin wrote: "I hate asking questions like that because I'm afraid I will offend someone, I would never look at a person and assume anything about them I didn't know for a fact and I don't want an..."The f2m attracted to woman example isn't really a definition of any term but what term people choose to label themselves as, so yea I imagine that's different for everyone. I have never even heard of genderfluid or agender I will have to look those up.
Justin wrote: I have never even heard of genderfluid or agender I will have to look those up. ..."I put a mini explanation of those in the first post on the thread just now too.
What I don't like about the whole LGBTQQA....is that it includes many sexualities but like only two gender identities. And anyway most people know only LGBT, in which we have 3 sexualities vs 1 gender identity. Gender identities as such Transgender get mistaken for a sexuality, which of course is nonsense. Or worse. When people talk about LGBT+ they either forget Transgender, or hardly know what they are actually talking about. It's just wrong! Gender identities are then far behind in awareness then the rest
I know this is gonna sound kind of bad but I always get a little miffed when people use the A for allies, like I appreciate allies and all but speaking as an asexual person I feel like we get forgotten a lot. I know not everyone is that way towards us, but with both heterosexual and queer folk my community has gotten backlash because of our lack of sexual attraction. Does this make sense? I just want to belong and be accepted. No offense meant toward anyone.
I know what you mean Maddie. I am Asexual myself. It is not easy to live in a sexual society
I personally always think Asexual when I read the A, but I just might be a minority? A lot of my friends do too!I do feel with you though (I've developed a strange asexy solidarity the last couple of months, while working on a paper and researching asexuality, among other things :P )... even though my letter, B, is usually included in the mainstream acronym, it is not usually included in everyday speech (gay and lesbian people, gay marriage, gay and lesbian studies, gay movement - some examples of ordinary discourse). Not to mention other non-monosexual identities that are usually not mentioned (pansexual, polysexual, etc).
Zefi wrote: "I personally always think Asexual when I read the A, but I just might be a minority? A lot of my friends do too!I do feel with you though (I've developed a strange asexy solidarity the last couple..."
I confess I didn't know what Polysexual was. But I let myself educate, and I now I actually identify as Demo-Polyromantic
P can also by Pansexual, Panromantic - the rainbow is big and beautiful and we could write a whole alphabet. Do you guys like GSM (Gender-Sexual Minorities)?
I had always heard the A for Asexual more than allies myself - after all allies are vital but not a minority (we hope).
I wish there was a great term everyone understands, but there isn't.
For every sexuality there is a romantic orientation. Pansexual - Panromantic. Polysexual - Polyromantic.
I like the GSM acronym. I have never heard it before I joined this group, but I would like to see it used more. It is really non-discriminatory and I think everyone in the LGBT community can feel a place in that.
I agree that GSM is short and inclusive. It's hard to get something new launched into public consciousness. Probably some big organizations would have to all agree to use it and promote it.
The only thing that I am unsure about is the "minorities" part in GSM. Not that it is not technically right, but I fear it may carry negative connotation in the discourse.
True. GSD? Gender-Sexual Diversity? (although no 3-letter abbreviation is free of other associations, and I can think of a couple of GSD.)
If you have a question about someone's use of unfamiliar alphabet abbreviations or terms, or if you have one that puzzled you and you want to share the answer, post it here. Just read first and try to avoid repeats.
And note - terminology changes. Sometimes older terms come to be seen as undesirable. (or occasionally vice versa as with the reclaiming of "queer")
So an early change was the rejection of "transsexual" for people who are transgender (because it's about identity, not genitals)
Or more recently FTM (female-to-male) is replaced with "trans man" because F to M implies an actual change in identity, when in fact they were always male, but are now revealing and self-identifying that.
I tried to be fairly complete below, but note that if someone corrects you, listen to the reasons. This is an evolving language as folks gain more safety, more comfort, and more thought about identity.