Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Bias
| Author | Elizabeth F. Schwartz |
| Pages | 17-20 |
WINTER 2022 17
LGBTQ+ is an ever-evolving acronym meaning Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning. e
plus sign is meant to embrace those not otherwise included.
Sexual orientation is to whom you’re attracted.
Gender identity is the feeling inside which may or may not
be dierent from sex assigned at birth.
Trans men are assigned female at birth (AFAB) and identify
and live as males.
Trans women are assigned male at birth (AMAB) and
identify and live as females.
Cisgender or “cis” for short refers to someone who is not
trans, someone for whom their birth sex and gender identity
are congruent.
Gender Nonconforming (GNC) people’s dress or behavior
diers from that which would typically correspond with
male or female stereotypes.
Gender Nonbinary (GNB, NB, or Enby) people do not
identify as strictly a male or female but rather reject the
strict gender binary and may prefer “they/them” as a
singular pronoun.
Too often, when people talk about bias, they
neglect to address the homophobia and transpho-
bia that continue to exist in every corner of our
society. LGBTQ+ individuals and families may
have gained some ground legally, politically, and
culturally in America, but it is often said that no civil rights
movement has ever ended—and the movement for full
LGBTQ+ liberation is still far from its goals.
Starti ng Out
e rst step in eliminating bias toward a community is
gaining real understanding of that community. One piece of
that is learning and honoring the terms members of that
community use to arm themselves. It’s understandable that
the many terms members of the LBGTQ+ community
identify with can be confusing, and some may be tempted to
dismiss the “alphabet soup” of identities. But feeling repre-
sented in language is deeply important, especially to those
most marginalized by mainstream gender norms. Being an
ally involves getting informed, including about the idea of
the uidity of gender and sexual orientation and the idea that
both exist on a spectrum that is neither binary nor xed.
It can take a bit of practice to get used to new acronyms
and concepts, and when a mistake is made, such as misgen-
dering someone (using the wrong pronoun) or making an
incorrect assumption about the relationship they are in, it’s
best to briey acknowledge the mistake, apologize, move on,
and make every eort not to repeat it. Know that language is
always evolving. is article will likely be out of date by the
time it’s printed. In this article, I use LGBTQ+, and I also
refer to transgender and gender nonbinary people as TGNB.
In addition to learning preferred language, note a few
common terms to avoid. e word homosexual puts our lives
in purely sexual terms and is an out-of-favor pejorative.
ere’s no LGBTQ+ lifestyle any more than there’s a
heterosexual lifestyle. e concept of pre-operative and
post-operative is often inaccurate and oensive to TGNB
people as many are non-op, meaning they either do not seek
surgical interventions to arm their gender identity or they
do not have access to such treatments. Lastly, “transgendered”
is not a word. Most terms that refer to sexual orientation and
gender identity are adjectives describing a person, such as a
transgender person or a gay person.
From Progress . . .
Reading headlines over the past six years, one might think
that the LGBTQ+ community has won all the necessary
battles leading to real equality. Nationwide marriage equality
became the law of the land in 2015 (giving family lawyers a
new niche to market to). A “Rainbow Wave” of openly
LGBTQ+ politicians has been elected to public service.
Adoption and surrogacy are more widely available to allow
Image used with permission.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Bias
BY ELIZABETH F. SCHWARTZ
Published in Family Advocate, Volume 44, Number 3, Winter 2022. © 2022 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof
may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
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