When it comes to GLBT terminology there are better and worse phrases to use, and people may use a term that others find offensive without realizing that the term they chose was problematic.
Here are some commonly used phrases that are potentially problematic and a better choice to use in each case.
1) Potentially Problematic: Homosexual
Better Choice: Gay or Lesbian
Reason: The word homosexual comes with a lot of baggage. It was used to diagnose people with the mental illness of homosexuality until 1973 and is often used by people who feel that the words gay and lesbian are too positive.
2) Potentially Problematic: Sexual Preference
Better Choice: Sexual Orientation
Reason: Most people agree that being gay, lesbian or bisexual is not a choice. The word preference implies that this is just something you can choose to like better. We prefer chocolate over vanilla. We don’t casually prefer an attraction to the same sex.
3) Potentially Problematic: Gay / Lesbian Lifestyle
Better Choice: Gay / Lesbian Life
Reason: The phrase gay lifestyle comes with a lot of assumptions and often implies that GLB individuals are promiscuous and like to party. Since there are a million and one different ways to express your sexual orientation, there is no one gay life style. There is however gay and lesbian life and culture which people experience in myriad ways.
4) Potentially Problematic: Fag, Faggot, Homo, Dyke
Better Choice: Gay, Lesbian
Reason: Though some people embrace these terms to describe themselves and their community, most people fins them offensive. These words are often used with hostility to put down a gay or lesbian person and to imply that that person is less than the person using the phrase.
5) Potentially Problematic: She-male, He-she
Better Choice: Transgender
Reason: These terms make it seem as if transgender people are not human and are freakish in some way. Additionally, they are often used to fetishisze and sexualize transgender folks and reduce trans people simply to their genitals.
