Via Emily Howe, corporategender.org

NOT FOR PROFESSIONAL USE

Avoid to remain kind and inclusive:

• "Womxn" arose as an alternative term for the English language words "woman" and "women" and was regularly in use from 2015-2020; the transgender community has requested that others retire the word as it implies the exclusion of trans women from "women."

• "Ladies" is old-fashioned and is being retired due to it's reliance on old school notions of gender that patronize women, especially in the workplace setting.

• “A transgender”, “A trans” (transgender is an adjective, instead say “transgender person”, “trans woman”, or “trans man”)

• “Tranny”, “transvestite” (say, “trans person” “someone in the transgender community”)

• “Female-to-male” /“FTM” or "Male-to-female" /“MTF” (no longer in use)

• “Pre-op" or “Post-op” (no longer in use) 

Via Emily Howe, corporategender.org

If you can't remember "all the letters" in LBGTQAI+ or their exact order- it's okay. The Pride community has many different versions. The best practice is to use the ones you remember. What counts is allies speaking up about LBGTQ+ concerns.

Gender

IDENTITY-FIRST LANGUAGE

Via Stasi Bacigalupo, Disability Rights Leader 

In many communities, we are experiencing a transition to "Identity-first language" from the "people-first language" that was recently considered the best practice. This is especially true in the Autistic community.

​

The key here is to take your lead from the person who is in the community or has a disability themselves. 

Identity-first language would be “Jennifer is Autistic” "I am disabled" "I am a woman"

​

"People-first language" places the person before a diagnosis/condition, describing what a person "has" rather than what a person "is", such as “Jennifer has or lives with Autism” or I am someone who has a disability."

NEURODIVERSITY

"Neurodivergent"/"neurodiverse" are an increasingly common way to refer to people who have a brain that is developmentally different and/or "a mental illness" (“Mental health disability” and “mental illness” are being replaced by "neurodivergent" and "neurodiverse")

NOT FOR PROFESSIONAL USE

Avoid to remain kind and inclusive:

• “Homosexual” (use “gay”, “lesbian”)

• “Sexual preference” (“sexual orientation”, or increasingly just “orientation”)

• “Gay lifestyle” - it’s just a life

• “Gay relationship” – it’s just a relationship

• “Gay wedding” – it’s just a wedding

• “Queer” - unless you're queer yourself; instead, use “Pride Community” or “LGBTQ+”

NOT FOR PROFESSIONAL USE

Avoid to remain kind and inclusive:

• Do not correct someone with a disability who calls themself something that you don't agree with. People get to self-define.