Transphobia

Discrimination rooted in the fear, hatred, disbelief, and/or mistrust of transgender people and others whose gender expression doesn’t conform to traditional gender roles within the male/female gender binary. This includes explicit discrimination (e.g, slurs and derogatory language; physical and sexual assault; familial rejection; anti-trans legislation; housing, employment, and healthcare discrimination), microaggressions (e.g., misgendering, mocking pronouns, interrogation of medical history), and more passive forms of discrimination (e.g., unconscious bias, internalized negative attitudes and beliefs about trans people).

Transracial Adoption

When a child of one race or ethnic group is adopted by a parent(s) of a different race or ethnic group. While adoptive parents might mean “race doesn’t matter” in the best possible way, race and culture matter greatly, and children being raised in households where their race, culture, and heritage aren’t acknowledged or celebrated can negatively impact them. In the U.S., 30% of domestic adoptions are transracial. This number does not include international adoptions, which are frequently transracial. For more.

Trauma Porn

Refers to art or media that exploits the pain, suffering, and brutalization of marginalized people for the sake of entertainment. These depictions cater to non-marginalized viewers and characters rather than exploring the experience, situation, or POV of the person(s) being victimized. These kinds of depictions are harmful for all viewers as they deny the life and livelihood of those being victimized, devaluing their existence in our communities and society, granting no opportunity for empathy and deeper understanding.

Two-Spirit (2S)

Created in 1990, an umbrella term intended to describe Indigenous people who do not fit into colonizers’ binary understanding of sexual orientation and gender. “Two-Spirit” is a direct translation of the Ojibwe term “Niizh mandidoowag,” but it’s used by many U.S. Native American/First Nations Indigenous peoples. Many Native cultures have specific words in their language to refer to people with diverse genders and sexual orientations; Two-Spirit is not intended to replace those specific words. While it is not a synonymous term for “queer,” “bi,” or “trans,” people who are 2S may also identify as such.

Note: This term should only be used by First Nations/US Native American Indigenous peoples, and writers who are not Two-Spirit should always consult experts on this subject. For more, see here and here.

U.S. Census

The U.S. Constitution mandates that America gets only one chance every 10 years to count its population. The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States. The data collected determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives (a process called apportionment) and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities. Find more here.

U.S. Refugee Act of 1980

Amendment to previous U.S. immigration and refugee assistance acts that established a more uniform basis for assisting refugees. Due in part to this resettlement Act, U.S. SEA communities include large, diverse populations not only in coastal cities, as commonly assumed, but throughout the U.S. including in Chicago and Las Vegas, and in Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, and Washington.

Undetectable

When antiretroviral treatment (ART) reduces the amount of HIV in the body to such low levels that the virus is no longer detectable in normal blood tests and becomes untransmittable to sexual partners. For more.

Undocumented Immigrant

An individual residing in any given country without legal documentation. In the U.S., this includes people who entered without inspection and/or proper governmental permission and those who had a legal visa that’s no longer valid.

Unnecessary Intersex Surgeries

Some intersex children and babies undergo unnecessary, irreversible surgeries without their consent for no other reason than to make their bodies conform to traditional, false notions of what it means to be male or female. The vast majority of these surgeries are not medically necessary, lead to complications (e.g., physical pain, loss of genital sensitivity, poor mental health), and could instead be delayed until the intersex person can decide whether surgery is right for them. See here for more on this issue.

Veterans Affairs

(US Department of Veterans Affairs) A Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with integrating life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 1700 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics across the U.S. Also charged with administering veteran benefits such as education benefits, disability compensation, pension payments, education benefits, home loan certificates, and aide and attendance benefits. Veterans Affairs has two branches: Veteran Health Administration (VHA) and Veteran Benefits Administration (VBA). The VHA oversees hospitals, clinics, and retirement homes. The VBA oversees compensation benefits, pension, death, and education benefits. The VA also encompasses the VA National Cemetery Administration, which operates national cemeteries and provides burial benefits.

Visa

A visa is an official document that indicates that the holder has permission to enter and stay in a requested country for a specified period of time.

Wage Gap

Refers to the difference in wages earned between men and women and non-binary people in the workforce. Women and non-binary people consistently make less than men (and Black, Indigenous, and Latinx women earn less than their white and Asian counterparts, with disabled women earning less than non-disabled women). Also known as the “gender pay gap.” Read more about how the wage gap impacts Black women, Indigenous women, and Latinx women.

WASH Inequality

Stands for water, sanitation, and hygiene. Women and girls face disproportionate inaccessibility to WASH; less likely to have access to hygiene products, clean water, and safe, enclosed bathing facilities. This makes them more vulnerable to disease, violence, and poverty.

WLW

Stands for “woman-loving woman” or “women-loving women.” This term has become a unifying label for a woman who is attracted to and/or has emotional, romantic, and sexual partnerships with other women (e.g., lesbians, pansexual women, sapphics, same-gender-loving women). Often stylized as “wlw.” For more.

Womxn

An alternative spelling of “women/woman” (pronounced the same) to remove the use of “men/man.” This term is particularly used by intersectional feminists to show inclusion of trans, non-binary, BIPOC, and disabled women. However, it should be noted that many transgender and non-binary people find the term exclusionary and even offensive, as it implies that the word "woman" is not already inclusive of transgender women. Use with caution.

Yazidi

Yazidis are predominantly ethnically Kurdish and have kept their religion alive for centuries, despite many years of oppression and threatened extermination. There are an estimated 700,000 Yazidis worldwide -- the vast majority in northern Iraq.The ancient religion is rumoured to have been founded by an 11th century Ummayyad sheikh, and is derived from Zoroastrianism (an ancient Persian faith), Christianity, and Islam. The religion has taken elements from each, ranging from baptism (Christianity) to circumcision (Islam) to reverence of fire as a manifestation from God (derived from Zoroastrianism), but remains distinctly non-Abrahamic. This derivative quality has often led the Yazidis to be referred to as a sect.

They’re often marginalized because they worship a fallen angel, Melek Tawwus, or Peacock Angel, one of their seven primary angels. Unlike Satan’s fall from in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Melek Tawwus was forgiven and returned to heaven by God. This has erroneously given Yazidis an undeserved reputation for being devil-worshippers — a notoriety that, in the climate of extremism in Iraq, turned life-threatening. For example, Al-Qaida denounced Yazidis in Iraq as infidels and sanctioned their indiscriminate killing.

Yellow Peril

A racist fear in Western countries and cultures that East Asians, particularly of Chinese descent, will invade their lands and disrupt white Western values, power, and culture. While often dismissed as 19th-century history, racist anti-Asian fears, microaggressions, and violence persist and have been revitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic. Find more on its history here.

Zoroastrianism

A pre-Islamic religion of ancient Persia (now Iran) founded by the prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) in the 6th century BCE. Zoroastrians believe in one God (Ahura Mazda), and that one day the forces of good will defeat the forces of evil and restore the world to the state of perfection it was originally. For more.