Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on Social Justice & Anti-Racism Terminology

SJAR – Social Justice and Anti-Racism

LGBTQ2S+ – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit, + more (this can commonly include Intersex folk, Asexual folk, Nonbinary folk, Pansexual folk and anyone who identifies as queer.)

  • Lesbian: Women who are attracted to women
  • Gay: People who are attracted to the same gender
  • Bisexual: People attracted to multiple genders
  • Transgender: People who have a gender identity or gender expression different from the sex they were assigned at birth.
  • AFAB – Assigned Female At Birth
  • AMAB – Assigned Male At Birth
  • Queer: An umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities who are not heterosexual or are not cisgender.
  • Cisgender – People whose gender identity or gender expression matches the sex they were assigned at birth
  • Two-Spirit – An Indigenous term that refers to a person who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit, and is used by some Indigenous people to describe their sexual, gender and/or spiritual identity. This term is reserved for use by Indigenous communities only.
  • Intersex – Intersex people are individuals born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies.”
  • Asexual – the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity.
  • Nonbinary – Nonbinary people have a gender identity that does not fit into the male/female binary.
  • Pansexual – Pansexuality is sexual, romantic or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity.

BLM – Black Lives Matter is a decentralized political and social movement advocating for protest against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people.

Anti-Racism – the policy or practice of opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance.

Social Justice – Social justice is a concept of fair and just relations between the individual and society as measured by the distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity, and social privileges

Privilege – the unearned and mostly unacknowledged societal advantage that a restricted group of people has over another group. This does not mean your life is inherently easy because of that privilege, but it is one thing that will not make your life harder. Ex. White privilege does not mean your life is easy because you are white, but rather that your skin colour is not a factor that could make your life harder.

Ableism – A system of oppression that includes discrimination and social prejudice against people with intellectual, emotional, and physical disabilities, their exclusion, and the valuing of people and groups that do not have disabilities.

Cultural Appropriation –  A term used to describe the taking over of culturally significant creative or artistic forms, themes, or practices by one cultural group from another.

See more terms here