Women's Studies in Credo Reference: Queer Studies

From The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality
The recognition that asexuality is a variant form of sexual attraction is a recent development. It has been defined variously as little or no sexual attraction, a sexual preference, and self‐identification.

From The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality
Bisexuality challenges the cultural belief that sexual orientation consists of heterosexuality or homosexuality. Research shows that some individuals behave bisexually, identify as bisexual, and experience bisexual attractions. However, both popular and scientific attitudes have often disavowed the existence of bisexuality.

The term homosexuality emerged in 19th-century expert discourse to refer primarily to men’s same-sex desire; during the 20th century, the term increasingly came to refer to female same-sex desire.

From The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality
Intersex is a congenital condition that affects the development of the gonads, the appearance of the secondary sexual characteristics, and physical appearance in general.

From Historical Dictionary of the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Movements
Lesbian-feminism is both a philosophy and political movement that links women's oppression to the institutions of patriarchy and heterosexuality.

Contemporary terms for lesbians begin with derivatives of the name of a 16th century B.C.E. poet, Sappho, from Lesbos.

The phrase lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) refers to members of a community of people marginalized by sexuality and gender. The acronym LGBT itself owes its existence to decades of identity politics and organizing.

Sexual orientation is the expression of sexuality enveloped by one’s self-identification, including romantic, emotional, and/or sexual attraction. Sexual orientation can be problematic for those not conforming to mainstream societal norms.

A person's sexual orientation, and whether or not he or she discloses it to others, is generally understood to be a private matter. The decision of the Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), recognized that the constitutional right of privacy encompasses adult consensual relationships and that homosexuals' “right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government.” One major exception exists with respect to employment in the United States military.

Homophobia is defined as the irrational fear and hatred of gay men and lesbians. It combines the words homosexual and phobia, hence the definition related to panic or fear of people who are sexually attracted to a person of the same sex.

Organized efforts to end the criminalization of homosexuality and protect the civil rights of homosexuals.

There are two strands of meaning associated with the term transgender. The first describes a person interested in acquiring some or many of the physical characters of the opposite sex without necessarily questioning his/her biological genitals. These people desire to express in behaviors and in interpersonal relations their feelings apart from their anatomical structure and without planning the physical alteration of their body.

From Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
The umbrella term “transgender” refers to people who express their gender differently from the cultural norm.

Drag, most simply defined, is the act of performing a gender identity other than one's own. At its core, doing drag involves the manipulation of bodies and identities through performance.

From The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality
Drag kings are people (mostly queer women and transmen) who perform masculinity (and sometimes femininity) on stage. In addition to performing masculinity on stage, many kings also embody masculinity in their everyday lives, and some identify as transmen.

Gender identity is commonly defined as an individual’s sense of being a male or a female. For many, gender identities are aligned with physical sex characteristics including hormones, chromosomes, genitalia, and secondary sex characteristics, as well as with sex assignment and gender roles. For others, gender identities do not match one or more sex or gender traits.