LGBTQ+

A variety of patterns concerning **gender and sexuality** exist across the world of Etherea.

Gender is a range of characteristics pertaining to masculinity and femininity, with some identifying with both or neither. Some people do not identify with some, or all aspects of the gender they were assigned at birth, and some of those people identify as transgender or non-binary.

Sexual orientation is a pattern of interest in the opposite or same sex, generally considered to be heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and asexuality. Many non-heterosexual and non-cisgender people identify as queer, or with more specific terms such as gay, lesbian, and bisexual.

## Sexual Orientations

### Homosexuality

**Homosexuality** is an attraction to those of the same gender as oneself. Non-women who are attracted to other non-women exclusively are referred to as gay. Gay is often used by people of all non-heterosexual identities as an adjective or even label. Meanwhile, non-men who are attracted exclusively to other non-men are referred to as lesbians. Unlike gay, lesbian is an exclusive term, and cannot be used by those who do not fit its definition.

### Bisexuality

**Bisexuality** is an attraction to two or more genders. It may also be defined as attraction to genders similar to or unlike one's own. This attraction can be divided evenly between two genders or being more inclined to one over the other. Some who identify as bisexual may have a preference to one or more genders they experience attraction to, rather than an even split.

### Pansexuality

**Pansexuality** is an attraction to all genders specifically without preference. Some who fit the definition of pansexual will prefer to identify with another label, most commonly bisexual, with some seeing this as a subset of bisexuality.

### Asexuality

**Asexuality** is a lack of sexual attraction to others, but some do have a romantic attraction to others (alloromantic). Those who do not experience romantic attraction are considered to be on the aromantic spectrum. Some asexuals do feel sexual attraction under certain conditions, who may also use a label under the asexual umbrella such as demisexual to describe under what conditions they feel sexual attraction. Asexual identities can be classified as sex-averse, sex-favorable, or sex-indifferent.

## Gender Identities

### Transgender

**Transgender** is an identity that refers to anyone who does not identify with their assigned gender at birth. This includes those who only partially identify with it, don't identify with it solely or don't permanently identify with it. Trans people may transition socially or medically, though not all do. A social transition encompasses things such as changing their gender presentation (e.g. what clothing they wear, hairstyle etc), name and pronouns. Medical transition encompasses hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and various surgeries. Trans people may choose to undergo some or all of these.

### Non-binary

**Non-binary** is an umbrella term used to refer to gender identities that are not exclusively male or female 100% of the time. While pronouns do not define identity, many non-binary people prefer to use pronouns such as they/them or neopronouns, such as xe/xim. Many also use multiple sets of pronouns (eg. he/him and they/them.) The label is also used as a gender identity by some.

### Genderfluid

**Genderfluid** is an identity where one's gender identity changes over time, it could be between the two binary genders but may also include non-binary identities as well as, such as xenogenders and neogenders. The change between genders can occur at any time, sometimes occurring as frequently as twice in the same day, as rare as once a year, or anywhere in between.

### Bigender

**Bigender** is an identity where someone identifies as two genders at once, with or without fluctuation between them. In some cases of individuals fluctuate between two genders, they may manifest a differing persona depending on the gender they identify as at the moment, such as a masculine identity if male or a feminine identity if female.