To understand LGBTQ+ culture today, one must look at the physical spaces where the modern movement began. In the mid-20th century, anti-queer laws and police harassment forced the entire community into the margins. It was within these margins that transgender women, gender-nonconforming people, and drag queens established critical safe havens. The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot (1966)

A common point of confusion within mainstream cultural discourse is the conflation of gender identity and sexual orientation. While related through shared communities, they describe entirely different human experiences. Gender Identity

Trans culture has forced the broader LGBTQ community to evolve its lexicon. Terms like (non-trans), passing (being perceived as one's true gender), and egg (a trans person who hasn't realized it yet) are now mainstream. Furthermore, the push for gender-neutral language (they/them pronouns) has changed how queer spaces address everyone , moving away from "ladies and gentlemen" to "folks" or "friends."

Concerns the gender of the people an individual is romantically or sexually attracted to.

Gender identity refers to a person's deeply felt, internal sense of being male, female, non-binary, or another gender. Transgender individuals have a gender identity that differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Cisgender individuals have a gender identity that aligns with their assigned sex at birth. Sexual Orientation

—one's internal sense of being male, female, both, or neither—which differs from the sex assigned at birth. American Psychological Association (APA) 🏳️‍⚧️ Understanding the Transgender Community