Community & Slang

100-Footer

A "100-footer" is community slang for someone whose LGBTQ+ identity reads as obvious from a great distance, roughly a hundred feet away.

Ability

Ability refers to the capacity to do things, understood in disability justice as something shaped by environments and social structures rather than a fixed measure of a person's worth.

Ableism

Ableism is discrimination and prejudice against disabled people, rooted in the belief that non-disabled bodies and minds are the norm and are superior.

Advocate

An advocate is someone who actively supports and works to advance the rights, dignity, and well-being of LGBTQ+ people.

Ageism

Ageism is prejudice or discrimination against people based on their age.

Allistic

Allistic describes a person who is not autistic.

Allosexism

Allosexism is the system of bias and discrimination that treats experiencing sexual attraction as universal and normal, marginalizing asexual people.

Ally

An ally is a person, often cisgender and heterosexual, who actively supports and advocates for LGBTQ+ people and their equal rights.

Allyship

Allyship is the ongoing practice of actively supporting and advocating for a marginalized community you are not part of, such as LGBTQ+ people.

Alpha Lesbian

Alpha lesbian is informal slang for a lesbian seen as especially confident, assertive, or dominant, often used playfully rather than as a formal identity.

Alternative Lesbian

Alternative lesbian is an informal term for a lesbian who identifies with alternative subcultures such as punk, goth, emo, or indie scenes.

Amatonormativity

Amatonormativity is the cultural assumption that a central, exclusive romantic relationship is a universal goal everyone should pursue.

Anon

Anon, short for anonymous, describes someone in a gay or queer social or dating setting who chooses not to share their face, name, or identity.

Asexy

Asexy is a playful, self-affirming term that asexual people use to celebrate their identity with pride.

Auntie

In gay slang, "auntie" is an affectionate term for an older gay man known for wit, wisdom, and looking after younger members of the community.

Baby Dyke

Baby dyke is an affectionate slang term for a young or newly out lesbian who is just beginning to explore her identity and community.

Baiting

Baiting is the practice of deliberately luring or provoking LGBTQ+ people, often to expose, humiliate, rob, or assault them.

Basic

"Basic" is a slang term used to describe someone or something seen as predictably mainstream, unoriginal, or trend-following.

BDE

BDE, or Big Dick Energy, is a slang term for an unbothered, quietly self-assured confidence that has nothing to do with anatomy.

Bean Queen

Bean queen is a gay slang term, often derogatory, for a man (usually white) who is primarily attracted to Hispanic and Latino men.

Bear

A bear is a gay or bisexual man, usually larger-bodied and hairy, who identifies with a subculture that celebrates rugged, natural masculinity.

Bear Chaser

A bear chaser is someone who is primarily attracted to bears, meaning larger, hairier, and typically more masculine gay and bisexual men.

Bear Community

The bear community is a subculture of gay and bisexual men that celebrates larger, hairier, and often more rugged bodies along with the men who are drawn to them.

Bender

Bender is British and Irish slang for a gay man, historically used as an insult and only sometimes reclaimed.

BIPOC

BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, a term that centers the distinct experiences of Black and Indigenous communities within the broader group of people of color.

Bitchy Gay

Bitchy gay is a cultural archetype of the sharp-tongued, quick-witted gay man whose humor lands between cutting shade and comedy.

Blaq / Blaqueer

BlaQ or BlaQueer is a self-affirming term for people of Black or African descent who are queer, naming the specific experience of living at the intersection of Blackness and LGBTQ+ identity.

Blouse

Blouse is playful gay slang for a feminine or camp gay man who prefers to top during sex, cheekily pushing back on the assumption that femininity means being a bottom.

Blue Jeans Lesbian

A blue jeans lesbian is a woman who identifies as femme but prefers casual, comfortable clothing like jeans and t-shirts over dresses and skirts.

Body Image

Body image is how a person perceives, feels about, and relates to their own physical appearance.

Body Policing

Body policing is the practice of judging, criticizing, or trying to control other people's bodies against narrow standards of size, appearance, or gender expression.

Boi Lesbian

A boi is a lesbian or queer person, often younger, whose gender expression is a masculine or androgynous style that reads as more youthful or playful than traditional butch.

Boy / Boi

Boi is queer slang for a masculine or boyish gender expression and identity, most associated with butch, lesbian, and gender-nonconforming communities.

Boyfriend Twins

Boyfriend twins is a playful term for a same-sex couple, typically two men, who closely resemble each other in looks and style.

Breeder

Breeder is a colloquial, often mocking slang term some LGBTQ+ people use for heterosexual people, especially those who have children.

Brownie Queen

Brownie queen is older gay slang for the receptive or passive partner in anal sex, paired with brownie king for the active partner.

Bubblebutt

Bubblebutt is informal slang for a round, full, protruding backside, usually meant as a compliment.

Bugger

Bugger is a word for anal sex with a long history as a legal charge, a homophobic slur, and, in British English, a mild general-purpose expletive.

Bull

Bull is an older slang term for a masculine or dominant lesbian, closely tied to the words bulldyke and bulldagger.

Bull Dyke

Bull dyke is a term for a strongly masculine lesbian, historically a slur and now often reclaimed with pride.

Butch

Butch describes a masculine gender expression and identity, most associated with lesbians but not limited to them.

Butchy Femme

Butchy femme describes a queer person who reads as feminine overall but carries a noticeable butch or masculine edge.

Cake

Cake is playful slang for a shapely, full backside, used as a compliment.

Camp / Campy

Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that finds beauty and pleasure in exaggeration, artifice, theatricality, and irony.

Celesbian

Celesbian is a portmanteau of celebrity and lesbian, meaning a famous woman known or reputed to be a lesbian and popular within LGBTQ+ communities.

Chapstick Lesbian

A chapstick lesbian is a lesbian whose gender expression sits between femme and butch, marked by a casual, low-maintenance style.

Chaser

Chaser is a term for someone whose attraction to a person centers on a single trait, most often being transgender, in a way that reduces the person to a fetish.

Chicken

Chicken is dated gay slang for a young, often youthful-looking or inexperienced gay or bisexual man.

Chicken Queen

Chicken queen is dated gay slang for an older gay man drawn specifically to much younger partners.

Chubby Chaser

A chubby chaser is someone, often in gay and queer communities, who is primarily attracted to larger-bodied or fat partners.

Clock

To clock someone is to recognize something about them they were not openly showing, most often that a person is transgender or in drag.

Clone

The Clone was a hyper-masculine gay male look of the 1970s and early 1980s built around mustaches, cropped hair, flannel or plain tees, tight Levi's, and work boots.

Closet / Closeted

Being in the closet means keeping one's LGBTQ+ identity hidden from some or all people in one's life.

Code-Switching

Code-switching is the practice of adjusting your language, tone, or self-presentation to fit different social settings, something many LGBTQ+ people do to feel safe or accepted.

Coming Out

Coming out is the ongoing, personal process by which an LGBTQ+ person accepts and shares their sexual orientation or gender identity with others.

Commando

Going commando means wearing no underwear beneath your clothes.

Crash Landing

Crash landing is informal slang for a sudden, dramatic, or spectacular failure, sometimes used humorously in drag and queer nightlife.

Cubs

A cub is a younger or younger-looking gay or bisexual man within the Bear community, typically with some body hair and a stockier build.

Cultural Humility

Cultural humility is a lifelong practice of self-reflection and openness that treats each person as the expert on their own identity and experience.

Culture

LGBTQ+ culture is the shared art, language, history, humor, and social traditions created by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.

Cunt

Cunt is anatomical slang for the vulva or vagina that in drag and ballroom culture has been reclaimed to mean fierce, confident femininity.

Daddy

"Daddy" is affectionate gay and queer slang for an older or dominant man who is desired for a mix of confidence, authority, maturity, and a protective or mentoring presence.

Daddy Issues

"Daddy issues" is a casual, non-clinical phrase for emotional patterns, often an attraction to older or dominant figures, that a person links to a difficult or absent relationship with their father.

Dance Major

"Dance major" is playful queer slang used as a coded, knowing way to hint that a man is gay without saying so outright.

Diesel Dyke

Diesel dyke is a slang term for a strongly masculine or butch lesbian, often tied to a tough, working-class aesthetic.

Disability / (Dis)ability / Dis/ability

Disability is a broad term for physical, cognitive, sensory, and psychiatric conditions, and the alternate spellings (Dis)ability and Dis/ability signal the view that disability comes from social barriers, not from a person's body or mind.

Discreet

"Discreet" is a term used in gay and queer male dating culture to describe someone who keeps their identity or encounters private, often because they are not publicly out.

Disney Gay

"Disney Gay" is affectionate community slang for a gay man whose tastes and sensibilities are shaped heavily by Disney films, songs, and parks.

DIY

DIY (Do It Yourself) describes the long queer tradition of building community, culture, art, health resources, and organizing outside of mainstream institutions.

Dopplebanger

Dopplebanger is slang, blending "doppelganger" and "bang," for sleeping with someone who looks strikingly like yourself.

Down-Low / DL

"Down-low" (DL) describes a man who has sex with men while publicly presenting as straight and keeping that behavior private.

Eggplant

The eggplant emoji (🍆) is widely used online as a visual euphemism for a penis, especially in flirtatious and sexual messaging.

Emo Lesbian

Emo lesbian is a lighthearted community label for a lesbian whose personal style and taste lean into emo, alternative, and indie aesthetics.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity is a shared cultural identity based on things like ancestry, language, history, and traditions.

Everyone Else

"Everyone else" is an informal phrase some LGBTQ+ people use for the straight and cisgender majority, the world outside their own community.

Extra

"Extra" is slang for someone or something that is over-the-top, dramatic, or excessive, often used as a playful compliment.

Fag Hag

Fag hag is gay slang, now somewhat dated, for a heterosexual woman who socializes mostly or exclusively with gay and bisexual men.

Fag Stag

Fag stag is gay slang for a heterosexual man who socializes mostly with gay and bisexual men, the male counterpart to a fag hag.

Fairy

Fairy is a historically derogatory term for an effeminate gay man that has also served as an early self-identification and, later, a positive label for some radical gay communities.

Femboy

Femboy describes a person, usually a young man or someone male-aligned, who presents in a deliberately feminine way while still identifying as male.

Femme

Femme is a queer identity, most rooted in lesbian culture, for someone who deliberately embraces a feminine gender expression within a queer context.

Femme4Femme

Femme4femme (or femme-for-femme) describes a feminine-presenting queer person, usually a lesbian or bisexual woman, who is attracted to and seeks other feminine-presenting people.

Flamboyant

Flamboyant describes an extravagant, colorful, theatrical style or personality, a word long associated with gay men and often reclaimed as a form of proud self-expression.

Flamer

Flamer is slang for a gay man who is conspicuously and often theatrically flamboyant, a term that can be affectionate within the community or insulting from outside it.

Flaming

Flaming is an adjective describing a gay man whose queerness is highly visible through flamboyant or effeminate mannerisms, dress, or personality.

Flit

Flit is dated, largely historical slang for a gay man, most often used as a contemptuous insult and rarely heard today.

Flower

Flower is affectionate LGBTQ+ slang for a young, pretty, or gently androgynous gay man.

Folsom Street (Organization)

Folsom Street is the San Francisco nonprofit that produces the Folsom Street Fair, Up Your Alley, and related events, channeling proceeds to LGBTQ+ charities.

Folx

Folx is a respelling of "folks" used to explicitly signal inclusion of LGBTQ+ and other marginalized people.

Friend Of Dorothy

"Friend of Dorothy" is a historical code phrase gay men used to identify one another discreetly, referencing Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz and Judy Garland's status as a gay icon.

Fruit

Fruit is dated slang for a gay man, historically an insult and now sometimes reclaimed in playful forms like "fruity."

Fudge Packer

Fudge packer is a crude homophobic slur aimed at gay men, referencing anal sex.

Futch

Futch is a lesbian identity and style term blending "femme" and "butch," describing a gender expression that sits somewhere in the middle of the two.

Gay Agenda

The "gay agenda" is a pejorative phrase used by anti-LGBTQ groups to suggest that acceptance of queer people is part of a coordinated, threatening plan rather than a movement for equal rights.

Gay Card

Gay card is a joking, imaginary membership card that friends pretend to hand out or take away when someone does or does not live up to gay cultural stereotypes.

Gay Days

Gay Days is an annual tradition, most famous at Walt Disney World in Orlando, where LGBTQ+ people and allies visit theme parks together wearing red shirts to be visible.

Gay Mafia

"Gay mafia," also called the Velvet Mafia, is an imprecise term for the supposed influence of a network of powerful gay men in fields like entertainment, fashion, and tech, used both as a joke and as a slur.

Gay Men's Chorus

A gay men's chorus is a choral group founded by and for gay men that uses public singing to build community and change how audiences see gay people.

Gay Panic

“Gay panic” refers to two different things: the widely rejected legal defense that blames a violent crime on the victim’s LGBTQ+ identity, and the lighthearted queer-slang feeling of being flustered by an attractive person of the same gender.

Gay Pride

Gay pride is the public affirmation of dignity and self-acceptance among LGBTQ people, celebrated most visibly through Pride Month and Pride marches each June.

Gay4Pay / Gay For Pay

Gay for pay describes performers who identify as heterosexual but are paid to act or perform in gay pornography or entertainment.

Gaydar

Gaydar is a portmanteau of "gay" and "radar" for the intuitive ability to sense whether someone is gay from social cues, style, and behavior.

Gaygency, The

The Gaygency is an LGBTQ+-owned and -operated marketing and advertising agency focused on authentic outreach to queer audiences.

Gaymer

Gaymer is a portmanteau of "gay" and "gamer" for LGBTQ+ people who play video games and the community they have built around that shared identity.

Gaysian

Gaysian is a blend of "gay" and "Asian" used to describe LGBTQ+ people, especially gay men, of Asian heritage.

Geek / Nerd

Geek and nerd are reclaimed labels of pride within LGBTQ+ communities for people who love gaming, sci-fi, fantasy, comics, and tech culture.

Gold Star Gay

Gold star gay is a slang term for a gay man who has never had sex with a woman.

Gold Star Lesbian

Gold star lesbian is a slang term for a lesbian who has never had sex with a man.

Golden Gays

Golden Gays is a warm term for LGBTQ+ elders, the older generations of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Good Judy

Good Judy is queer slang for a close, trusted friend, the kind who feels like chosen family.

Grey Queen

Grey queen is an affectionate slang term for an older, silver-haired gay man.

Grindr

Grindr is a location-based social and dating app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people, launched in 2009.

Grindr Tribes

Grindr Tribes are optional self-labels on the Grindr app that let users identify with gay subcultures like Bear, Twink, Otter, Jock, and Leather.

Growlr

Growlr was a location-based dating and social app built for the gay Bear community, launched in 2010.

Gym Bunnies

Gym bunny is informal slang, common in gay male communities, for someone who spends a lot of time working out mainly to build and show off their physique.

Her

HER is a dating and community app built for lesbian, queer, bisexual, and nonbinary people.

High Femme

High femme describes an intense, deliberately maximalist expression of femininity within queer culture, embraced as identity and statement rather than conformity.

Himbo

A himbo is an attractive, muscular man who is seen as not especially bright but is kind, good-natured, and respectful, treated as an affectionate and endearing archetype.

Hornet

Hornet is a location-based social networking and dating app for gay, bisexual, and queer men that pairs dating features with community content.

Hung

Hung is a slang term describing a person, typically a man, as having a large penis.

Hunty

Hunty is a sassy, affectionate term of address in drag and queer culture, blending "honey" and "cunt."

Incel

Incel, short for "involuntary celibate," is a term now associated with an online subculture of mostly heterosexual men who feel unable to find sexual or romantic partners and often blame women for it.

Jack’D

Jack'd is a location-based dating and chat app for gay and bisexual men, widely used by queer and bisexual men of color.

Jock

In gay male culture, a jock is someone with an athletic, muscular, and typically masculine look and vibe, often tied to sports culture.

Kiki

A kiki is a lighthearted social gathering for talking, laughing, and gossiping, with roots in Black queer ballroom culture.

Kitty Girl

Kitty Girl is a term of endearment for drag queens popularized by RuPaul on Drag Race, used to address contestants and fellow performers with playful affection.

Light In The Fedora

A rare, playful variant of the older euphemism "light in the loafers," hinting that a man is gay by invoking a stereotype of effeminacy.

Light In The Loafers

A dated, often derogatory American euphemism implying that a man is gay, built on a stereotype linking effeminate manner or gait to homosexuality.

Light In The Pants

A variant of the coded American euphemism "light in the loafers," suggesting a man is gay through the same imagery of lightness or lack of conventional masculine weight.

Limp-wristed

A derogatory stereotype that mocks gay or effeminate men by linking a loosely bent wrist to homosexuality.

Lipstick Lesbian

A lesbian who presents in a conventionally feminine or glamorous way, wearing makeup and feminine fashion.

Lone Star Lesbian

Playful slang for a lesbian who has had sex with exactly one man in her life.

Lug Lesbian

LUG stands for 'Lesbian Until Graduation,' a slang label for a woman who identifies as lesbian or dates women during college before later identifying as straight.

Mary

A camp, affectionate term of address used among gay men, often to add irony or playful emphasis.

Masc (Men)

Short for "masculine," describing gay, bisexual, or queer men who present in conventionally masculine ways.

Masc (Women)

Masc (women) describes women, non-binary people, or people assigned female at birth who present or carry themselves in masculine ways.

Masc For Masc / Masc4Masc

A phrase on gay dating profiles signaling that a masculine-presenting man is seeking other masculine-presenting men.

Masc Lesbian

A lesbian who presents in a masculine or androgynous way.

Metrosexual

Metrosexual is a term for a straight, usually urban man who pays close attention to his grooming, fashion, and appearance.

Microaggressions

Microaggressions are subtle, often unintentional comments or behaviors that communicate bias or hostility toward members of marginalized groups.

Mother (as a verb)

To mother, in queer slang, means to lead, mentor, or set such a stunning example that you inspire others, an extension of the ballroom role of a house mother.

Mouth Breather

Mouth breather is general English slang, not specific to queer communities, for a person seen as stupid, oblivious, or slow-witted.

Muscle

Muscle refers to a highly developed, muscular physique that functions as a body type and aesthetic ideal, especially prominent in gay male culture.

Muscle Bear

A muscle bear is a gay or bisexual man who pairs the body hair, size, and masculine presentation of bear culture with a more muscular, gym-built physique.

Muscle Mary

Muscle Mary is British and Australian slang for a gay man who works hard to maintain a very muscular, bodybuilt physique.

Mussy

A slang blend of 'man' and 'pussy' used in some gay male communities to refer to the anus in a sexual context.

Nancy

Nancy is a historically derogatory term for an effeminate or gay man, taken from the female name as a marker of perceived femininity.

Nasty Pig

Nasty Pig is a New York City gay apparel brand, founded in 1994 by David Lauterstein and Fred Kearney, known for its sex-positive streetwear and fetish gear.

Neurodivergent

Neurodivergent describes a person whose brain works in ways that differ from what a society treats as standard, such as autistic people or people with ADHD or dyslexia.

Neurodiversity

Neurodiversity is the idea that differences in how brains work are a natural part of human variation rather than disorders that need to be cured.

Neurotypical

Neurotypical describes a person whose brain develops and works in the way a society treats as standard, meaning they are not autistic, ADHD, or otherwise neurodivergent.

Otter

In gay slang, an otter is a lean or slim man who is noticeably hairy, sitting between a twink and a bear.

Outsider

A term describing the experience of standing apart from mainstream or heteronormative society, which many LGBTQ+ people have reclaimed as a source of insight and solidarity.

Pansy

Pansy is a slur historically used to mock gay or effeminate men, later reclaimed by some, that also names the 'pansy craze' era of queer performance.

Peach

The peach emoji and slang term used across queer and online culture to refer to the buttocks.

Periodt

Periodt is an emphatic version of "period," added to the end of a statement to mark it as final and beyond debate.

Pink Mafia

A tongue-in-cheek term for supposed gay influence in an industry or institution, used both as camp humor and as anti-gay conspiracy rhetoric.

Platinum Star Gay

A camp, informal label for a gay man who has never had sexual contact with a woman and was also born by C-section rather than vaginal birth.

POC (People Of Color)

A collective term for people who are not white, used to name shared experiences of racism across many communities.

Poof

Poof is British slang for a gay man, usually an effeminate one, historically used as an insult and sometimes reclaimed within queer circles.

Poofter

Poofter is a British and Australian slang term for a gay man, used as a homophobic slur and considered stronger than 'poof.'

Potato Queen

"Potato queen" is gay slang, sometimes self-applied, for an Asian gay man who is primarily attracted to white men.

Power Lesbian

A colloquial term for a highly successful, influential, and visibly out lesbian who holds real power in her field or community.

Pressed

Slang, rooted in Black and queer culture, for being bothered, upset, or worked up over something the speaker sees as not worth it.

Pride Parade

A Pride parade is a public march celebrating LGBTQ+ identity, community, and history, often held during Pride Month.

Privilege

Privilege refers to unearned social advantages that members of dominant groups receive, often without noticing them.

Queen

Queen is a versatile gay-slang term that can mean a drag performer, an effeminate or flamboyant gay man, or serve as an affectionate term of address.

Queer Youth Resource Center (Q Center)

A community center, often called a Q Center, that provides safe space, resources, and programming for LGBTQ+ young people.

Rainbow Capitalism

Rainbow capitalism is the commercialization of LGBTQ+ identity and Pride by companies seeking profit and goodwill, often without backing the community in substance.

RentBoy

Rent boy is older British slang for a young male sex worker, and Rentboy.com was a major online advertising platform for male escorts until U.S. authorities shut it down in 2015.

Repressor

An informal, descriptive term for someone who suppresses or denies their own same-sex attraction or gender identity, usually out of shame, fear, or outside pressure.

Rice Queen

A slang and often controversial term for a gay man, usually non-Asian, who is primarily or exclusively attracted to Asian men.

Rugged

Rugged is an informal descriptor for a masculine, rough-hewn physical look often prized in parts of gay male culture.

Safe Space

A safe space is a physical or social environment where LGBTQ+ people and others can be themselves without fear of discrimination, harassment, or judgment.

Scruff

SCRUFF is a dating and social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer men, and the word also describes a rugged, stubbly look in gay male culture.

Self-Hating Gay

"Self-hating gay" is a colloquial term for an LGB person who carries deep shame or internalized homophobia toward their own sexual orientation.

Sex-Shame

Sex-shame is the feeling of guilt, embarrassment, or unworthiness attached to one's sexual desires, behaviors, or body.

Silver Daddy

Silver daddy is an affectionate term in gay male culture for an older man with grey or silver hair seen as attractive, confident, and often nurturing.

Silver Fox

Silver fox is a term for an older man whose grey or silver hair is seen as making him more attractive and distinguished.

Sissy

Sissy is historically a slur for effeminate or gay men that some have reclaimed as a proud marker of femininity, and it also names a feminization kink.

Sizeism

Sizeism is prejudice or discrimination directed at people because of their body size, especially their weight or height.

Slut

Slut is an old insult for sexual promiscuity that many LGBTQ+ and sex-positive people have reclaimed as a proud, self-chosen label.

Slut-Shame

Slut-shaming is criticizing or stigmatizing someone for real or assumed sexual behavior that others judge as excessive or improper.

Smooth

Smooth describes a hairless or minimally hairy body, often used in gay male culture as a look or preference in contrast to hairy or bear aesthetics.

Socialization

Socialization is the lifelong process by which people learn and internalize the norms, values, and behaviors their society expects of them, including those tied to gender and sexuality.

Soft Butch

Soft butch describes a lesbian or queer woman whose gender expression blends masculine traits with softer or more androgynous elements.

Spill The Tea

Spill the tea is a phrase meaning to share gossip, news, or the truth, rooted in Black LGBTQ+ and drag culture.

Sport Dyke

Sport dyke is a lesbian slang term for a lesbian whose identity and style center strongly on athletics and sports culture.

Sporty Lesbian

Sporty lesbian is an affectionate term for a lesbian whose style, interests, and community center on athletics and sports culture.

Spunk Monkey

Spunk monkey is crude, informal British-inflected slang with no settled or widely recognized meaning in LGBTQ+ communities.

Stem Lesbian

A stem is a Black or Latina sapphic person whose gender expression blends both stud (masculine) and femme (feminine) elements.

Stereotype

A stereotype is an oversimplified, generalized belief about a group that gets applied to every member regardless of who they actually are.

Stigma

Stigma is the negative labeling of an identity, condition, or behavior as shameful, which leads to discrimination and exclusion.

Stone Butch Lesbian

A stone butch is a lesbian or queer masculine person who prefers to be the one giving sexual and physical touch rather than receiving it.

Straight-Acting

Straight-acting describes a gay or bisexual man who presents in a conventionally masculine way that does not signal his sexuality to others.

Stud

Stud is a racially specific term for a masculine-identifying Black lesbian or queer woman.

Stud Dyke

Stud dyke combines "stud" and "dyke" to describe a masculine-presenting Black lesbian or queer woman.

Superchub

Superchub is gay slang for a very large or heavily built big-bodied man within chub and chaser culture, sitting at the larger end of the size spectrum.

Swish / Swishy

Swish or swishy is a colloquial term for a visibly effeminate or camp manner in gay men, historically used as an insult and now often reclaimed with pride.

Tangy

Tangy is casual slang, similar to "zesty," describing a man read as showing flamboyant or effeminate, stereotypically gay-coded traits.

The Girls

"The girls" is an affectionate, playful slang phrase used in queer spaces to refer to a group of friends, most often gay men or trans women, regardless of anyone's literal gender.

The Women's Building

The Women's Building is a feminist community center in San Francisco's Mission District, home to the Maestrapeace mural.

Theatre Gay / Queen

Theatre gay or theatre queen is an affectionate term for an LGBTQ+ person, often a gay man, whose love of musical theater is central to their identity.

Theatre Major

Theatre major is a humorous slang label, common in queer online culture, for someone whose behavior is over-the-top dramatic or performative.

Thick / Thicc / Thique

Thick, thicc, or thique are slang terms that celebrate a curvy, full-figured body with fuller hips, buttocks, and thighs.

THOT

THOT is slang standing for 'that ho over there,' generally a disparaging label for a woman seen as promiscuous, though sometimes reclaimed playfully.

Trade

Trade is gay slang for a masculine, often straight-identifying man who has sex with gay men, and in ballroom and drag culture, a compliment for someone strikingly attractive and masculine.

Trans-Fan

Trans-fan (or transfan) is an older slang term for a person, usually a cisgender man, who is specifically attracted to trans women.

Travel

In an LGBTQ+ context, travel refers to the added planning around safety, laws, and acceptance that queer people navigate when visiting or moving to new places.

Twink

Twink is gay slang for a young or youthful-looking man, usually in his late teens to twenties, with a slim build and little body hair.

Twunk

Twunk is a blend of 'twink' and 'hunk' describing a man who pairs a twink's youthful, smooth look with a more muscular or athletic build.

U-Haul Lesbians

U-Haul lesbians is a playful term for the stereotype that lesbian couples move in together very quickly after starting to date.

UC (Uncut)

UC, short for uncut, is a neutral term meaning a person is uncircumcised and still has the foreskin of the penis.

Ursula

Ursula is informal community slang for a larger or heavyset butch lesbian, borrowed affectionately from the Disney villain in The Little Mermaid.

Vegan / Hippie Lesbian

Vegan or hippie lesbian is a lighthearted archetype for a lesbian tied to plant-based eating, environmentalism, and countercultural, communal values.

Wolf

Wolf is gay male slang for a man who is hairy like a bear but has a leaner, muscular, athletic build, often paired with a more assertive sexual energy.

World Pride

WorldPride is an international LGBTQ+ Pride event, licensed by InterPride, hosted by a different city every few years to combine Pride celebrations with global human rights advocacy.

Wymen's Festival

A womyn's festival is a women-only music and arts gathering rooted in the lesbian feminist movement, the most famous being the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival held from 1976 to 2015.

Yaas

Yaas is an exuberant, drawn-out way of saying yes, used to cheer someone on or show excitement and approval, and rooted in Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ ballroom culture.

Yas

Yas is an enthusiastic exclamation meaning an emphatic yes, rooted in Black and Latino ballroom and drag culture.

Zaddy

Zaddy is a term of praise for an attractive, stylish, and confident man whose appeal is tied to his fashion sense and presence.