Homophobic, biphobic or transphobic hate crimes / incidents are motivated by the offender’s hostility or prejudice towards lesbian, gay, bi or trans people. Anyone can be a victim of a homophobic, biphobic or transphobic incident – it does not matter if the victim is lesbian, gay, bi, trans or straight.

It is a hate crime if someone shouts homophobic, biphobic or transphobic abuse at someone in the street, or physically attacks them because they think they’re gay, lesbian, bi or trans.

Report it

If you feel you have experienced a hate crime or incident, report it. The police can only do something if they know about it. By reporting a crime or an incident you could be protecting someone else from harm.

There are a number of ways to report a homophobic, biphobic or transphobic hate crime or incident:

• In an emergency call 999
• At other times you can contact your local police force by dialling 101
• You can report crime anonymously through the police website True Vision
• You can get more support from Stop Hate UK

Some local LGBTQ+ groups provide hate crime reporting services – find details for a group in your area through our ‘What’s in my area?‘ database

‘Coming out’ means telling someone something about yourself that isn’t immediately obvious. In relation to sexual orientation and gender identity, this means sharing with others that you are lesbian, gay, bi and/or trans, non-binary etc. (LGBTQ+). The process of coming out can be very different for everyone and it can take some time to get to a point where you feel comfortable and confident enough to have those conversations with people.

There are many different ways to come out, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. If you are thinking about coming out then it’s important that you find a way that feels right for you. For information, help, support and resources on coming out visit Stonewall.org.uk

What follows is a by-no-means inclusive list of vocabulary.

Agender
Agender people (also called genderless, genderfree, non-gendered, or ungendered people) are those who identify as having no gender or being without any gender identity. This category includes a very broad range of identities which do not conform to traditional gender norms.

Ally
An ally is a person who considers themselves a friend to the LGBTQ+ community.

Asexual
Asexuality (or nonsexuality) is the lack of sexual attraction to anyone, or low or absent interest in sexual activity. It may be considered the lack of a sexual orientation, or one of the variations thereof, alongside heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality.

Bigender
Bigender is a gender identity where the person moves between feminine and masculine gender identities and behaviours, possibly depending on context. Some bigender individuals express two distinct “female” and “male” personas, feminine and masculine respectively; others find that they identify as two genders simultaneously.

Bisexual
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior toward both males and females, or romantic or sexual attraction to people of any sex or gender identity; this latter aspect is sometimes termed pansexuality.

Gay
Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. Gay is still sometimes used as an umbrella term, but these days, it also refers specifically to men, as in “gay men and lesbians”.

Gender Queer
Gender queer is an umbrella term for gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine—identities which are thus outside of the gender binary and cisnormativity.

Gender Variant
Gender variance, or gender nonconformity, is behaviour or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine and feminine gender norms. People who exhibit gender variance may be called gender variant, gender non-conforming, gender diverse or gender atypical, and may be transgender, or otherwise variant in their gender expression. Some intersex people may also exhibit gender variance.

Intersex
Intersex is a variation in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that do not allow an individual to be distinctly identified as male or female.

Lesbian
A lesbian is a female homosexual; a female who experiences romantic love or sexual attraction to other females.

Pangender
Pangender people are those who feel they identify as all genders. The term has a great deal of overlap with gender queer. Because of its all-encompassing nature, presentation and pronoun usage varies between different people who identify as pangender.

Pansexual
Pansexuality, or omnisexuality, is sexual attraction, romantic love, or emotional attraction toward people of any sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are insignificant or irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others.

Queer

Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities that are not heterosexual or cisgender. Queer was originally used in a derogative way against those with same-sex desires but, beginning in the late-1980s, queer scholars and activists began to reclaim the word.

Questioning
The questioning of one’s gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, or all three is a process of exploration by people who may be unsure, still exploring, and concerned about applying a social label to themselves for various reasons.

Transgender
Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. It is sometimes abbreviated to trans.

Transsexual
Experience a gender identity inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.