Pronouns

Words used to refer to a person without using their name (e.g. she/her, he/him, they/them, ze/zir). Because pronouns imply the gender of the person being referred to, they are a form of gender expression. A person’s pronouns should never be assumed based on appearance; when a person is misgendered, it can make them feel disrespected, invalidated, and dysphoric.

Protected Veteran

A protected veteran has earned status that prohibits discrimination against them and provides Affirmative Action-type requirements for certain employers. Protected veterans include: disabled veterans; veterans who served on active duty during a war, campaign, or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized; veterans with an Armed Forces Service Medal “pursuant to Executive Order 12985 (61 FR 1209)”; and recently separated veterans. Protected veteran status begins on the date of discharge or release from active duty and continues for three years afterwards. See here.

Puberty Blockers

Medications that temporarily postpone puberty by halting the production of sex hormones (e.g., estrogen, testosterone). In addition to various other medical uses, puberty blockers are frequently used by transgender and gender expansive children to delay the development of secondary sex characteristics (e.g. breast growth, facial hair, body hair, deepening voice) that do not align with their gender identity. Because puberty is irreversible, this delay allows trans and gender expansive youth more time to explore their identity, live in the experienced gender, and decide if they will begin hormone replacement therapy.

All legitimate research proves that puberty blockers are safe, effective, and lead to optimal outcomes for trans people (e.g., improved mental health, decreased gender dysphoria, reduced need for expensive gender-affirming operations as adults). Puberty blockers have been used for several decades by youth experiencing precocious (early) puberty, and are the standard of care in treating transgender youth according to leading international health organizations. See more.

Queer Coding

The subtextual coding of a character as queer by using recognizable LGBTQIA+ traits, stereotypes, and tropes (e.g., exaggerated femininity or masculinity, vanity, hypersexuality, intimate same-gender friendships and/or rivalries) without explicitly confirming it in the story. Queer coding stems from censorship regulations like the Hays Code, which banned most onscreen portrayals of queer characters (unless they were evil and/or punished) for several decades. Despite these negative representations and the harm they have caused, queer coding itself isn’t inherently negative; it’s often used by queer creators to express their identity and experience when they are restricted by industry censorship, and queer coded characters have historically been the only form of representation for many LGBTQIA+ people. Note: Queer coding is never an acceptable replacement for explicit, authentic representation, and is typically only used in modern storytelling due to anti-LGBTQIA+ censorship. For more, see here and here.

Queer

A word with many meanings. In the context of bi+ identity, queer is used by some people as a way to explain that they aren’t straight but don’t feel like their sexual orientation falls into categories like gay, lesbian, bi, or pan.

Queerbaiting

A marketing technique in which creators allude to the presence of queer characters or relationships in their content in order to attract LGBTQIA+ audiences but fail to include actual representation so as to not lose discriminatory straight and cisgender audiences.

Queerplatonic

An umbrella term for a partnership/relationship that defies the divide between romantic and “just” friends. It may involve a greater degree of intimacy or commitment than platonic friendship but doesn’t often include sexual or romantic elements. For more.

Race-Related Stressors on Aging

A race-related stressor is something that causes psychological or emotional distress that an individual or group of people experience as a result of being a target of a racial discriminatory action (e.g., microaggressions, hate crimes, institutionalized racism). These stressors impact how individuals or racial and ethnic populations age (e.g., African Americans have higher rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s due to chronic stress; Arab Americans report high levels of depression and anxiety due to bias-motivated violence; Asian Americans’ health conditions often go untreated due to a lack of culturally and linguistically accessible care; Latinx Americans have high rates of negative mental health outcomes due to bigotry and prejudice; Native Americans and Alaskan Natives have a lower life expectancy because of disproportionate poverty, discrimination in the delivery of health services, and cultural differences).

Overall, older people among ethnic minorities report poorer health outcomes than white older people no matter their social and economic conditions. More on African Americans here and here, and more on Arab Americans here.

Racial Profiling

A longstanding and deeply troubling national problem, per the ACLU. It occurs every day, in cities and towns across the U.S., when law enforcement and private security target people of color for humiliating and often frightening detentions, interrogations, and searches without evidence of criminal activity and based on perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. Racial profiling is patently illegal, violating the U.S. Constitution’s core promises of equal protection under the law to all and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. It’s not just patently illegal but also ineffective: alienating communities from law enforcement, hindering community policing efforts, and causing law enforcement to lose credibility and trust among people they’re sworn to protect and serve.

Recidivism

A person’s relapse into criminal behavior that results in re-arrest, reconviction, and return to prison after their release.

Refugees

Those forced to flee their home countries due to war, political persecution, natural disaster, famine, or poverty.

Relative Adoption

 A form of adoption for anyone biologically related (e.g., grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, adult sibling) to a child open for adoption. The relative becomes the legal parent and accepts all legal responsibilities and obligations related to raising that child to adulthood.

Religions

South Asians practice a wide variety of religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism. Many are also atheists and agnostics.

Reservists

Often former active-duty service members providing and maintaining trained units for active duty in Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard reserve forces. Reservists are stationed near their homes and only deployed internationally if called up for active duty. They can be deployed as individuals or units (every three years, on average).

Resource Families

Those who provide homes and nurture children removed from their living situations. Whether they are fostering, adopting, or kin providing care, they must undergo training and background checks to become licensed.

Reunification

As it relates to foster care, reunification is the return of a child to their family of origin after involvement in the child welfare system. Reunification is the most common goal for children in foster care, and the process should place the needs of the child first (e.g., trauma-informed, culturally-responsive, family-centered approaches). For more.

Same-Gender-Loving

(SGL) A term coined by activist Cleo Manago in the 1990s to describe African Americans or Black people with same-gender attractions. SGL is used as a culturally affirming identity without relying on Eurocentric terms and symbols of attraction and orientation.

Sanctuary City

A city that limits its cooperation with national government efforts to enforce detention and deportation of residents. Allows migrants of any immigration status to report crimes without fear of deportation.

Sapphic

A term to describe women and non-binary people who are attracted to women, especially those assigned female at birth. This can include women and non-binary people of any sexual orientation (e.g., lesbians, bisexual non-binary femmes, pansexual women, wlw, etc.). The term is derived from the name of the Greek poet Sappho of the Greek Island, Lesbos, whose writing famously portrays love and desire among women. For more.

School-to-Prison Pipeline

The tendency for non-white, poor, and disadvantaged youth and young adults to become incarcerated because of harsh disciplinary and over-policing practices within schools.