LGBT is an initialism that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender".[1][2][3][4] It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual, non-heteroromantic, or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.[5][6][7] A variant, LGBTQ, adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer (which can be synonymous with LGBT)[8] or are questioning their sexual or gender identity.[9] Another variation, LGBTQ+, adds a plus sign "represents those who are part of the community, but for whom LGBTQ does not accurately capture or reflect their identity".[10][11] Many further variations of the acronym exist, such as LGBT+ (simplified to encompass the Q concept within the plus sign),[12]LGBTQIA+ (adding intersex, asexual, aromantic and agender),[13] and 2SLGBTQ+ (adding two-spirit for a term specific to Indigenous North Americans). The LGBT label is not universally agreed to by everyone that it is generally intended to include.[14] The variations GLBT and GLBTQ rearrange the letters in the acronym.[15][16] In use since the late 1980s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for marginalized sexualities and gender identities.[17]
LGBT is an adaptation of LGB, which in the mid-to-late 1980s began to replace the term gay (or gay and lesbian) in reference to the broader LGBT community.[18] When not inclusive of transgender people, the shorter LGB is still used.[19][20]
^Cite error: The named reference The Handbook of Lesb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Miller, Sam J.; Szpara, K. M.; Kalaw, R. K.; Sjunneson-Henry, Elsa; Rustad, A. Merc; Bolander, Brooke; Hvide, Brit E. B.; Bledsoe, Alex; Kowal, Mary Robinette (3 July 2018). Uncanny Magazine Issue 23: July/August 2018. Uncanny Magazine.
^Parent, Mike C.; DeBlaere, Cirleen; Moradi, Bonnie (June 2013). "Approaches to Research on Intersectionality: Perspectives on Gender, LGBT, and Racial/Ethnic Identities". Sex Roles. 68 (11–12): 639–645. doi:10.1007/s11199-013-0283-2. S2CID144285021.