Terms You NEED to Know About Gay Rights

Here are some important terms when talking about gay rights or just talking about the issue of homosexuality in general.

Civil Union - A voluntary union for life (or until divorce) of adult parties of the same sex; "parties to a civil union have all the same benefits, protections, and responsibilities under law as spouses in a marriage." Of course, civil union is illegal in many parts of the world.

Domestic Partnership - A legal status granted to heterosexual and homosexual couples who reside in the same home, usually with less federal and local benefits than that of marriage

GLAAD - Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. A non-profit organization dedicated to the positive portrayal of glbt people in the media.

GLBTQ - which stands for: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning.

Hate Crimes - Crimes involving bodily injury to any person in which the victim is intentionally selected because of the actual or perceived race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability of the victim.
Homophobia: Fear of gay men and the lifestyle and culture.

LGBT - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender. Term often used to describe the gay community.

Transgender - Broadly speaking, transgender people are individuals whose gender expression and/or gender identity differs from conventional expectations based on the physical sex they were born into.

Transvestite: Transvestites are men who adopt the identity of women through dress and behavior. Transvestic individuals exhibit sexual pleasure from assuming the identity of the opposite sex.

Queer: Of or related to being gay.

www.dosomething.org/tipspent/gay_rights_terms