List of LGBT-related slurs
The following is a list of LGBT-related slurs that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender and non-binary people, or to refer to them in a derogatory (that is, critical), pejorative (disapproving or contemptuous), or otherwise insulting manner.
General
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bender | English | Someone who twists something | [1] | |
Deviant | English | Wrong and different | [2] |
Against men
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sissy | English | Effeminate man | [3] | |
Girlie men | English | Effeminate man | [4] | |
Pansy | English | Effeminate man | [5] | |
Janus | English | Effeminate man | [5] | |
Sodomite | English | Man who has anal sex | [6] | |
Nancy | English | Homosexual or effeminate man | [7][8] | |
Poof/Poofter | English | Effeminate man | [1] | |
Fairy | English | Effeminate man | [9] | |
Brownie | English | Man who enjoys being anally penetrated | [10] | |
Pillow-biter | English | Man who enjoys being anally penetrated | [11] | |
Bugger | English | Man who has anal sex | [12] | |
Cola | Chilean Spanish | "Tail", man who enjoys being anally penetrated | [13] | |
Fudgepacker | English | Man who enjoys to penetrate anally | [14] | |
Nelly | English | A feminine man | [15] |
Against women
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fag hag | English | Woman who likes to associate with androphilic men | [16] | |
Fish | English | "Fish" as in something smelling badly | Used by some gay men to refer to women | [17] |
Rug muncher | English | A woman who performs cunnilingus | [18] | |
Marimacho | Spanish | Masculine woman | [19] |
Against homosexuals
Prejudice against homosexual people is called homophobia
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Homo | English | Homosexual | [20] | |
Homintern | English | Homosexual advocate, member of the so-called "Gay Mafia" | Used during the McCarthyist scare | [21][22] |
Invert | English | [23] | ||
Bent | English | Crooked or wrong | Used in the United Kingdom[24][25][26] | [27][28] |
Пидорас (Pidoras) | Russian | Homosexual | [29] | |
Gay men
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Faggot/Fag | English | Homosexual man | Used in North America.[lower-alpha 1] | [32] |
Fjolla | Swedish | Effeminate homosexual man | [33] | |
Machobög | Swedish | Masculine homosexual man | [34] | |
Viado | Portuguese | Feminine homosexual man | [35] | |
Shirtlifter | English | A gay man who is sexually aggressive towards young boys | [36] | |
Bardash | English | Man who is submissive during homosexual acts | Derives from an Italian world for male prostitute | [37][38] |
Bakla | Several | Used in the Philippines | [39] | |
Batiman | Belizean Creole | "Butt man": a gay man | Used in Belize. | [40][41] |
Flamer | English | Obvious homosexual | [5] | |
Fruit | English | Homosexual man | [36] | |
Moffie | English, Afrikaans | Homosexual man who bottoms | Used in South Africa | [36][42] |
Ponce | English | Homosexual man who is unmasculine | [36] | |
Tapette | French | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36][43] | |
Steamer | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36] | |
Nola | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36] | |
Flit | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36] | |
Daffodil | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36] | |
Jocker | English | Masculine homosexual man | [36] | |
Quean | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36] | |
Greek | English | Homosexual man who is masculine | [36] | |
Tonk | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36] | |
Lizzie | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36] | |
Wonk | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | [36] | |
Dorian | English | Homosexual man, masculine and feminine | [36] | |
Poove | English | Homosexual man who is not very masculine | Often used in prisons in the past | [36] |
Sod | English | Homosexual man | [44] | |
Fairy | English | Homosexual man | [45] | |
Ogay | English | A play on the brand Olay | [46] | |
Batty boy/batty man | English | Homosexual man | Used in the AnglophoneCaribbean | [47][48] |
Nancy/nancy boy | English | Homosexual or effeminate man | [8] | |
Woofter | English | Homosexual or effeminate man | Alteration of poofter | [49] |
Twinkie/twink | English | Homosexual or effeminate man | [50] | |
Swish | English | Effeminate homosexual man | [51] | |
Nelly/nellie | English | Effeminate homosexual man | [52] | |
Lesbians
Prejudice against lesbians is called lesbophobia
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dyke | English | Lesbian, homosexual woman | Has been partly reclaimed by some women. | [53] |
Bollera | Spanish | Lesbian, homosexual woman | [54] | |
Lesbo | English | Lesbian, homosexual woman | [55] | |
Flata | Swedish | Lesbian, homosexual woman | Outdated and rarely used as a pejorative in the 21st century | [56] |
Bofe | Portuguese | Masculine lesbian | Used in Brazil | [57] |
Caminhoneira | Portuguese | Masculine lesbian | Used in Brazil | [57] |
Gouine | French | Lesbian, homosexual woman | Has been partly reclaimed by some women. | [58] |
Goudou | French | Lesbian, homosexual woman | Has been partly reclaimed by some women. | [59] |
Against bisexual people
Prejudice against bisexual people is called biphobia
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
AC/DC | English | Goes both ways | Used in North America | [60] |
Switch hitter | English | Doing it both right and left | Comes from baseball terminology for a player who bats both right and left handed | [61] |
Against transgender people
Prejudice against transgender people is called transphobia
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tranny/Trannie | English | Diminutive of transvestite or transgender | Mostly targeted towards transgender women, however can be used towards all transgender individuals. | [64] |
Shim | English | Portmanteau of “she” and “him” | [64] | |
HeShe | English | Often not derogatory within African American LGBT communities[15] | [65] | |
Transtrender | English | Someone pretending to be transgender | Implies that one who claims to be transgender is only doing it for attention | [66][67][68][69] |
Trans men
Prejudice against trans men is called transmisandry.
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cuntboy | English | [70] | ||
Hefemale | English | [71] | ||
Trans women
Prejudice against trans women is called transmisogyny
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Shemale | English | Woman who's had top surgery or breast growth from HRT, but not bottom surgery[72] | May be used by trans sex workers | [73] |
Dickgirl | English | A woman with a penis | [70] | |
Ladyboy | English | [70] | ||
Chicks with dicks | English | [74] | ||
Mahu | Hawaiian | Hermaphrodite, masculine woman, feminine man | Was not originally offensive | [75] |
Shim | English | [76] | ||
Trap | English | Someone pretending to be a woman in order to trick others | Implies that one who claims to be transgender is only doing it for sexual reasons | [70][77][78] |
Trans-identified male/TIM | English | A trans woman | Implies transwomen are actually men | [79][80] |
Against intersex people
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hermie | English | Hermaphrodite | [81] | |
Izak | Dari, Pashto | Someone without a distinct sex | Used in Afghanistan | [82] |
Hybrid | English | A being with mixed origins | [83] | |
Napumsakapandaka | Tamil | A person born without either male or female external genitalia[lower-alpha 2] | A kind of Pandaka | [85] |
Intersex men
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
Napumsaka | Tamil | A male who can not have sex due to absence of sexual organs from birth | [85] |
Intersex women
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
Against cross-dressers
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Transa | Swedish | Cross-dressing person | [86] | |
Transvestite | English | Old word for cross-dresser | Often used for men. Similar words in other languages are the preferred term[lower-alpha 3] | [88] |
Quean | English | Drag performer | Originally meant "a woman of low morality" | [89] |
Cross-dressing men
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pondan | Malaysian | Homosexual cross-dressing man | [90][91] | |
Tranny | English | [65] | ||
She-Man | English | [92] | ||
Okama | Japanese | Cooking pot | [93] | |
Banci | Indonesian | [94] | ||
Bencong | Indonesian | [94] |
Cross-dressing women
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
Hommasse | French | Woman who cross-dresses, "hewoman" | [95][96] | |
Hermaphroditi | Early Modern English | Masculine woman who cross-dresses | Not used to refer to people with the word hermaphrodite | [97] |
Against androgynous people
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
Berdache | French | "Boy prostitute" | Used by anthropologists as a term for Amerindian androgynous people, primarily men | [98][99] |
Androgynous men
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
Breck girl | English | [100] |
Other
Term | Language | Meaning | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chaser[lower-alpha 4] | English | Someone who is, or is interested in being, in a relationship with a transperson | Implies that the interest is only fetishistic or predatory | [102][103][104] |
Fence-sitter | English | A Questioning person | [105] | |
Khusra | Urdu | A transgender woman, hijra, gay man, effeminate man, or someone who lacks male reproductive organs. | "Aimed at emasculating"; used in Pakistan | [106] |
Kteuy | Several | Male bodied LGBT individual who doesn't align with social expectations | May not be derogatory outside of Cambodia | [107] |
Breeder | English | Someone who reproduces biologically | Used against any person in a relationship which can produce biological children | [108] |
Fruit fly | English | A person with many LGBT friends | [109] |
Disputed or reclaimed usage
The use of the word gay as a generalized pejorative adjective (e.g.,"Giving us more homework is so gay!") is considered by some to be homophobic,[110][111] because it implies that homosexuality is wrong.[112] A 2015 YouGov survey found that 49 per cent of 18 to 29 year-olds believe the use of the word like that to be acceptable.[113]
The term queer was used historically as a pejorative. It has been reclaimed by some LGBT people, though others still find it offensive.[114][115]
See also
- List of LGBT slang terms
- Lists of slurs
Notes
- In British English the words Faggot and Fag have other, innocuous meanings, notably a type of food and a cigarette respectively.[30][31]
- Said to be punishment for having castrated animals in a previous life.[84]
- Such as Transvestit in Swedish[87] and Travesti in some Spanish speaking territories, European Portuguese and in the La Francophonie (French speaking regions).
- Or tranny chaser.[101]
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