Used to describe a person who is (temporarily) physically abled or not physically limited.
Office ofMulticultural Affairs
Concepts Library
Tri-Co Summer Institute for Social Justice Resource Center
Each of the concepts listed below can be defined by a variety of lived experiences, understandings, and frameworks. We have included the ways we typically use these terms during the institute, and welcome additions that may add to our collective and complex understanding.
- Able-Bodied
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Ableism
A set of beliefs that favors abled people and creates a culture of what is acceptable and/or normalized behavior, bodies, and experiences.
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Abrahamic Religions
Monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham, specifically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
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Agnostic
One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a god(s) or one who is skeptical about the existence of god(s) but does not profess true atheism.
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Asexual
A person who is not sexually attracted to any person and/or who is not interested in sex.
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Atheist
One who rejects belief in the existence of deities or one who does not believe that any deities exist.
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Biological/Assigned Sex
The physical form you are born into and/or assigned by a medical person.
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Bisexual
Someone who is attracted to two genders or sexes romantically, sexually and emotionally, but not necessarily simultaneously or equally.
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Cisgender
Someone whose gender identity and sex they were assigned at birth match up.
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Citizenship Status
A status conferred, usually by a governing agency, which grants rights and privileges to citizens and denies rights, access and privileges to non-citizens.
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Disability
A concept that symbolizes or categorizes people with visible or invisible limitations or challenges in mobility, learning, emotional, or psychological experiences. Types of abilities may include: Developmental, cognitive and learning, neurological, physical mobility, medical, auditory, visual, psychological.
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Discrimination
Negative behaviors directed at persons because of their membership in a group.
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Ethnicity
A social construct that divides people into social groups based on characteristics such as shared sense of group membership, values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history, and ancestral geographical location. Members of an ethnic group are often presumed to be culturally or biologically similar, although this is not in fact necessarily the case.
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Gay
A person who identifies as a man who is attracted to men romantically, sexually and emotionally; in some contexts used as an umbrella term for LGB.
Lesbian: A person who identifies as a woman who is attracted to women romantically, sexually and emotionally. -
Gender Expression
How one presents and expresses their gender to the world.Sometimes used in terms of masculine and feminine, but not limited to the two.
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Gender Identity
The internal sense of how you perceive yourself.
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Genderism
A system of prejudice and discrimination based on one’s gender identity, expression, presentation and/or perceived gender; most often against people who do not conform to dominant norms of masculine/male/man or feminine/female/woman.
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Gender Non-Conforming
Someone whose gender expression is different than the societal expectations of that person’s gender. Not all GNC people identify as transgender.
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Genderqueer
Someone whose gender identity is both man and woman, neither man nor woman or something else.
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Heterosexual
A person who is attracted romantically, sexually and emotionally to a gender other than their own.
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Heterosexism
The individual, institutional, and societal/cultural beliefs and practices based on the belief that heterosexuality is the only normal and acceptable sexual orientation. Like racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression, heterosexism awards power to members of the dominant group and denies privileges to members of the subordinate group.
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Homophobia
The fear, hatred, or discomfort of lesbian and gay persons or any behavior that is outside the boundaries of traditional gender roles. Homophobia can be manifested as fear of association with lesbian, gay, or bisexual persons or being perceived as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Homophobic behavior can range from telling jokes about lesbian and gay people to physical violence against people thought to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
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Intersex
Someone who is born with "ambiguous genitalia." Intersex is not limited to just genitalia, it can also be associated with chromosomes and hormones.
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Monoracial
Identifying with or having ancestry of a single racial group.
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Multiracial
Identifying with or having ancestry of two or multiple racial groups. Some multiracial people may identify with or name themselves as being of multiple races distinctly or separately (ex., Black and Asian American) while some people (or in certain contexts), multiracial and/or multiracial categories (ex: Afrolatina) may be the term people use to identify themselves.
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Nationality
The status of belonging to a particular nation by origin, birth, or naturalized citizenship.
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Pansexual or Omnisexual
Someone who is attracted to people of multiple or all genders and/or sexuality romantically, sexually and emotionally.
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Patriarchy
A system that gives power and privilege to men at the expense of women and gender variant folks.
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Prejudice
Negative feelings toward persons based on their membership in a particular group.
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Queer
Originally a pejorative term, "reclaimed" to serve as an umbrella term for people who do not identify as heterosexual and/or do not identify within normative frames or binaries of sexuality and/or gender; Also used to describe a political identify.
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Race
A social construct that artificially divides people into distinct groups based on characteristics such as physical appearance (particularly skin color), ancestral heritage, cultural affiliation or history, ethnic classification, and/or the social, economic, and political needs of a society at a given period of time.
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Racism
The systematic subordination of members of targeted racial groups who have relatively little social power in the United States (African Americans, Latino/a Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans), by members of the dominant racial group who have relatively more social power (Whites).
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Religion
A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies.
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Religious Oppression
The systematic discrimination against targeted religious groups by the dominant religious group in a society.
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Religious Privilege
A system of privileging certain religious groups, in the U.S. context, particularly Christians; centering Christianity as a normative standard to other non-Christian faiths and peoples.
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Secular
Of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal.
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Sexism
A system of prejudice and discrimination based on one’s sex or perceived gender; most often against people who do not identify as cisgender men.
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Sexual Identity
How a person thinks of themselves sexually, including physical attractions, sexual attractions, emotional attractions, sexual behaviors, social preferences, and other factors. How one thinks of themselves is not interchangeable with sexual behavior.
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Stereotypes
A generalization or association that links a whole group of people with certain traits or characteristics.
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Third Gender
Describes individuals who are categorized (by their will or by social consensus) as neither man nor woman, as well as the social category present in those societies who recognize three or more genders. The term "third" is usually understood to mean "other."
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Trans*
An umbrella term that represents the variety of expressions and identities. Including genderqueer, transgender, agender, gender fluid, transsexual, two-spirit, etc.
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Transgender
An umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.
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Transphobia
The fear of and discrimination against of Trans* people.
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Transsexual
A term used for folks whose gender identity and sex assigned at birth does not match up. Often people alter their bodies by hormones or surgery in order to make their gender identity match. Not all folks who take hormones or have surgery identify as transsexual.
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Two-Spirit
A modern umbrella term used by some indigenous North Americans for gender variant individuals in their communities.
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Universal Architectural Design
Architectural efforts to design buildings and access so that anyone may use them.
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Universal Instructional Design
Within learning environments, provides multiple ways to access curriculum and demonstrate understanding and learning.
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Xenophobia
An unreasonable fear, distrust, or hatred of strangers, foreign peoples, or anything perceived as foreign or different.