bisexual Having attraction to both sexes.
blacklist To prohibit someone from working somewhere because of ideology or identity.
blue discharge A type of neutral military discharge that was often used to remove homosexuals from military service.
cisgender Describing a person whose gender matches their biological sex.
Cold War A decades-long period of tension following World War II between the communist Soviet Union and the United States. It was marked by each superpower’s attempt to influence or force other countries to commit to its ideological political identity and become military allies.
cross-dress To wear clothes, makeup, and accessories that the opposite sex usually wears (e.g. a cisgender man wearing women’s clothing and makeup).
cruising Looking for sexual partners in public.
drag A performance in which men or women cross-dress and sing or act in some way that is typical of the gender they are depicting.
gay An informal term that means homosexual. It is typical for both sexes to use this term when describing their sexuality.
gender identity A person’s internal sense of gender, often expressed through behavior, clothing, hairstyle, voice, or body characteristics. An individual’s gender identity is completely unrelated to any aspect of that person’s anatomy or sexual attraction to others.
Hays Code The limitations on the content a movie could contain that was used between 1930 and the late 1960s.
homophile Relating to homosexuals and or homosexuality in a positive way.
homosexual A person who is attracted exclusively to people of the same sex.
lavender scare A panic in the 1950s that led the US government to fire or otherwise remove many accused and actual gay men and lesbians and other queers from government jobs.
lesbian A term used exclusively to describe a female homosexual.
outed When a person’s LGBTQ+ status has been exposed either intentionally or accidentally.
passing Presenting oneself as part of a social group that the person doesn’t belong to, like a gay woman pretending to be straight.
pseudonym A name someone uses in place of their legal name.
red scare A 1950s panic in which people were removed from government jobs because of suspected communist ties or beliefs.
sexology The scientific study of human sexuality.
sexual orientation Describes the inclination of an individual in terms of their sexual attraction toward others or sexual behaviors. Sexual orientation and gender identity are completely unrelated.
sodomy A legal term used to describe gay sex or sex that cannot produce offspring.
speakeasy A secret illegal bar from the era of Prohibition.
transgender Identifying with a gender that is different from the one assigned at birth.