LGBTQ+ identities, explained

The Rainbow Quarter is for the whole LGBTQ+ community: lesbians, gay men, bi and pan people, trans men and women, non-binary, intersex, queer, questioning, asexual and aromantic people, cross-dressers, drag artists and straight allies. Each identity below has its own page with what it means and what Blackpool has for you: places, groups, health services, history and links.

People define themselves, so if someone tells you a word for who they are, use theirs. Language also changes, and some terms on these pages are historical, included so you know what they mean.

Last reviewed 10 October 2026. These pages are general information, not legal or medical advice.

What the letters mean

The short forms most UK organisations use are LGBTQ+ and LGBTQIA+: lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual, aromantic or agender, with the + for everyone else under the rainbow.

The longer acronyms

Longer strings try to name more identities one by one. They are used in some education and campaigning, mostly in North America, but none has replaced LGBTQ+ in everyday UK use.

LGBTQQIP2SAA (12 characters)

An educational form: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Pansexual, 2S Two-Spirit, Androgynous and Asexual. It grew out of shorter Canadian forms such as Pride Toronto's LGBTTIQQ2SA.

MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ (16 characters)

A Canadian term joining the campaign over Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls with 2S Two-Spirit and LGBTQQIA+ people. It comes from Canada's national inquiry, whose final report in June 2019 extended its findings to Two-Spirit and LGBTQQIA+ people, and from the national action plan that followed. It made headlines in April 2026 when an MP used it in Canada's parliament and critics mocked its length. See Two-Spirit.

LGBTIQCAPGNGFNBA (16 letters)

A very long string that circulates online and is often described as having 17 letters, though it has 16. No UK organisation uses it officially; it is best read as an attempt to give one letter to each identity. Letter by letter, it is usually read like this:

Letter	Stands for	What it means	Blackpool page
L	Lesbian	Women, and some non-binary people, attracted to women	Lesbian
G	Gay	Men, and some non-binary people, attracted to men; also a broad umbrella word	Gay
B	Bisexual	Attracted to more than one gender	Bisexual
T	Transgender	An umbrella for people whose gender is different from the sex they were registered at birth	Transgender
I	Intersex	Born with natural variations in sex characteristics; a body trait, not a gender identity	Intersex
Q	Queer or questioning	A reclaimed umbrella word, or exploring your identity	Queer, Questioning
C	Curious	Exploring attraction beyond what you've felt before, without a fixed label	Curious
A	Asexual	Little or no sexual attraction to other people	Asexual
P	Pansexual	Attraction regardless of someone's sex or gender	Pansexual
G	Gender-nonconforming	Expressing gender in ways that don't follow social expectations	Gender-nonconforming
N	Non-binary	A gender outside only male or only female	Non-binary
G	Gender-fluid	A gender that shifts over time	Gender-fluid
F	Female to male	A trans man: registered female at birth, a man	Trans men
N	Non-binary (again)	Repeated in some versions to stress the range of non-binary and culturally specific identities	Third gender and cultural identities
B	Bigender	Two genders, at once or in turn	Bigender
A	Androgynous	Usually an appearance or expression mixing masculine and feminine; it doesn't tell you someone's gender	Androgynous

Some lists read the middle letters differently, as GN (gender-nonconforming) and GF (gender-fluid), so don't worry if you see another version.

Straight people in the community

LGBTQ+ spaces have always included straight people: allies, straight trans people (being trans is about gender, not attraction) and straight intersex people (intersex is about the body). Older acronyms sometimes used the A for ally; today the A means asexual, aromantic or agender, and allies are welcome without a letter. The same equality law protects every orientation, straight included: see straight people in the quarter, allies, straight trans people and straight intersex people.

Gender and UK law

UK law recognises two legal sexes, male and female.

• Gender Recognition Act 2004: lets a trans person apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), which changes their legal sex for most purposes, including a new birth certificate. Only male or female can be recorded.
• Equality Act 2010, section 7: makes gender reassignment a protected characteristic. It covers anyone proposing to undergo, undergoing or having undergone a process to change their sex. Acas confirms that surgery, other medical treatment and a GRC are not required.
• Supreme Court, 16 April 2025: in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers the court ruled that "sex", "man" and "woman" in the Equality Act mean biological sex, so a GRC does not change someone's sex for the purposes of that Act. Trans people remain protected from discrimination because of gender reassignment.
• EHRC code of practice: the Equality and Human Rights Commission's updated code for services, reflecting the ruling, came into force on 5 August 2026.
• Non-binary people: there is no legal non-binary gender, and passports and birth certificates show only M or F. Non-binary people may be protected under gender reassignment depending on their circumstances; in Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover (2020) an employment tribunal found that a gender-fluid and non-binary employee was protected.

This area of law is changing and is being argued in the courts, so check the official sources below, or get advice, if a decision depends on it.

Sources

• Gender Recognition Act 2004, legislation.gov.uk
• Equality Act 2010, section 7, legislation.gov.uk
• Acas: gender reassignment discrimination
• House of Commons Library: gender recognition and the Equality Act 2010
• EHRC: the Supreme Court ruling and its work
• TransActual: the Equality Act 2010
• Stonewall: list of LGBTQ+ terms
• LGBT Health and Wellbeing: LGBTQ+ terms explained
• UCSF LGBT Resource Center: glossary (PDF)
• LGBTIQA+ Greens: LGBTIQ becomes LGBTIQA+
• Wikipedia: list of LGBTQ acronyms
• LGBTQ and All: what LGBTQQIP2SAA means
• What's On Queer BC: the full 2SLGBTQQIPAA acronym
• Newsweek: MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ explained
• National Inquiry into MMIWG, final report