Capital Pride launches its 10-day festival celebrating Ottawa’s pride community and culture Friday.
On Sunday, Aug. 24 the biggest-ever Capital Pride Parade begins at 1 p.m. and works its way from Gladstone Avenue and Bank Street to city hall. More than 75,000 people are expected to attend.
Sexual orientations and gender identities are often associated with a diversity of labels and confusing terminology. There are many colours in the rainbow, and the Citizen has compiled a list, though not comprehensive, of many words that people use to identify themselves.
Some people may identify with more than one of these broad definitions, or may not fit the definitions exactly.
Sexual orientation
Asexual: A person who does not experience sexual attraction to any group.
Bisexual: A person who is sexually attracted to both genders.
Gay: A man who is sexually attracted to other men. The term is often also used in reference to women who are attracted to other women.
Lesbian: A woman who is sexually attracted to other women.
Pansexual: A person who is sexually attracted to members of all gender identities and expressions.
Questioning: A person who is exploring their own sexual and/or gender orientation.
Straight: A person who is attracted to members of the opposite sex.
Gender identity and expression
Bigender / genderfluid: A person who identifies with and fluctuates between both genders.
Cisgender: A term used to refer to people who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.
Genderless / agender: A person who does not identify with any gender.
Intersex: A person whose sexual anatomy does not fit within the traditional labels of male or female.
Transgender: A person who does not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. This term is often shortened to trans.
Transsexual: A trans person who undergoes or desires medical treatment to relieve dysphoria associated with their gender identity. While all transsexual people fall under the trans umbrella, not all transgender people are transsexual.
Two-spirit: A term associated with First Nations and Native Americans that recognizes people who possess qualities or play roles associated with both traditional genders.
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