Agnosticism is derived from the Greek word "a" meaning "without" and "gnosis" meaning "knowledge".
The definition of agnosticism is therefore "without knowledge".
Agnosticism is not a religion but a belief related to the existence or nonexistence of god. A "weak agnostic" is unsure whether god exists whereas a "strong agnostic" believes it is impossible to know whether god exists.
Animism is considered to be the original human religion and can be defined as the belief in the
existence of spiritual beings.
It is the earliest form of religious belief and can be practiced by anyone who believes in spirituality but does not follow any specific organised religion.
|Atheism||Atheism can be defined differently in two broad ways:
|Bisexual||A person who is sexually and emotionally attracted to people of both sexes.|
|British Sign Language||The language of signs and gestures used by Deaf people.|
An accepted phrase that describes LGBT people's experience of disclosing their sexuality.
In this glossary 'coming out' is also used to describe the process through which Transgender people come to recognize and publicly acknowledge their gender identity. As the coming out process is never over for LGBT people, this is an on-going, sometimes daily decision and can cause the person significant stress.
This term can be applied to the population of Brighton and Hove (or any town, city, county or country).
It can also be applied to a specific community which people identify themselves with such as the Black & minority ethnic community.
A cohesive community is a community that is in a state of well-being, harmony and stability.
It is about respecting one another, valuing diversity and celebrating differences of age, religion, faith, ability, culture and other differences.
Cohesive communities are where all members feel a sense of place and belonging.
|Culture||Culture can be defined as a set of beliefs, values, behaviours, habits, attitudes, traditions, customs, skills, arts, rituals and material objects that constitute or characterise a peoples' way of life.|
|Deaf people||People who have lost part or all of their hearing|
|Deaf/Blind people||People who have lost part or all of their hearing and all or part of their sight|
|Disability Discrimination Act||
The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) was introduced in order to improve opportunities for disabled people.
It is unlawful to discriminate against a person because they experience disability.
Organisations must also make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure that the person can access services and employment.
|Disability Equality Scheme (DES)||A Disability Equality Scheme sets out the action that will be taken to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995).|
|Discrimination||This term is applied when any of the people or communities described under the 'equalities' definition below are seen to have been directly or indirectly disadvantaged by individuals or organisations.|
This is a term applied to a range of issues where individuals or communities are seen to have less equal access to aspects of life taken for granted by other people.
These include, Black & Minority ethnic people, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans people, Women, Older people, Younger people, Physically and Sensory Disabled people.
|Equalities Impact Assessments||
These are requirements under the Race Equality Schemes.
All statutory organisations / authorities have to undertake detailed assessments of all their policies, functions and work to identify good or bad practice around the Black & minority ethnic issues.
Ethnic is derived from the Greek word "ethnos" meaning "people" or "nation" and an ethnic group
can be described as a community of people who share a common culture, language, values,
religion, history and ancestry.
Ethnicity is, therefore, a word which represents groups with a shared history, sense of identity, geography and cultural roots.
Ethnocentrism can be defined as the tendency to look at the world from the perspective of one's own ethnic culture.
Ethnocentrism is common among all cultures and sometimes involves the belief that one's own race or ethnic group is more important than or superior to those of other groups.
Sometimes ethnocentrism is unwitting or unintended and often involves ethnic stereotypes.
|Faith||The term faith has many meanings. Faith can mean a strong belief in something as true without using reason.|
An umbrella term for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
Refer to a person whose primary sexual attraction is to people of the same sex.
The term is more commonly applied to men who self-identify as same sex attracted, rather than men who have sex with men but do not self-identify as gay.
While many women identify as gay, the term lesbian is commonly used to describe same sex attracted women.
It is best to avoid using this word to cover all LGB people as it can render lesbians and bisexual people excluded.
Use: Lesbian, gay or bisexual, or the acronym LGB
|Gender Dysphoria||An anxiety, uncertainty or persistently uncomfortable feelings experienced by an individual about their assigned gender which is in conflict with their internal gender identity.|
A person's sense of identity defined in relation to the categories of male and female.
In this glossary, the term is primarily used to describe people whose gender identity does not match their biological sex at birth.
However, it is important to note that not everyone identifies exclusively with one sex or the other.
Some may well identify as both male and female, while others may identify as male in one setting and female in another.
The belief that heterosexuality is naturally superior to homosexuality or bisexuality.
This belief justifies domination and the imposition of values and beliefs.
|Homophobia||An irrational fear and dislike of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, which can lead to hatred resulting in verbal and physical attacks.|
Considered by some in the LGB community to be a derogatory and offensive term.
It originates from a medical definition when same-sex attraction/relationships were construed as mental illness.
Use: gay, lesbian, gay man/woman, bisexual, bisexual man/woman or the acronym LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual).
Humanism is the belief that people can live good lives without religious beliefs.
Humanists make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values. They seek to make the best of the one life we have by creating meaning and purpose for themselves. They take responsibility for their actions and work with others for the common good.
|Impact Assessments||See Equalities Impact Assessments definition above|
|Inequality||This term is applied when any of the people or communities described under the 'equalities' definition above are not seen to be having their needs met.|
For many people, regardless of sexual orientation, homophobia can be internal and not always recognised by the individual.
However, internalized homophobia can and does cause many negative effects for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
It can affect the way people see themselves and the way others treat them.
Internalised homophobia often leads to denial of one's true sexuality in situations that are threatening or require the individual to 'come out'.
|Islamophobia||Islamaphobia is the irrational fear and/or hatred of Islam. This manifests as prejudice towards, or discrimination against, Islam or Muslims.|
|J, K, L|
|Learning Disability||This term is applied to a range of conditions where a person has usually been born with difficulties which stop them developing learning skills at the same rate as others.|
A woman whose primary sexual attraction is to other women.
This term often refers to women who are same sex attracted rather than women who have sex with other women but do not self-identify as lesbian.
|Mental Health||This term is applied to a range of conditions where a person is suffering from an emotional or brain function disorder such as depression, schizophrenia etc.|
|Organisational or Institutional Homophobia, Transphobia & Heterosexism||
This is systematic discrimination of LGBT people by government, business, employers, public services and other organizations.
This includes issues such as invitations to a company event for an employee and their husband or wife, which explicitly excludes same sex relationships or family membership to a fitness club that only mentions opposite sex partnerships.
This exclusion is not necessarily deliberate but means that institutions have not considered same sex partners as an option.
|Religion||Religion can be defined as a group of beliefs concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such belief.|
|Secularism||Secularism is the idea that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society.|
This phrase has been used to infer that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is a choice that LGB people should 'unchoose'.
Use: sexual orientation
|T, U, V, W|
Transgender is an inclusive, umbrella term used to describe the diversity of gender identity and gender expression.
The term can be used to describe all people who don't identify to the common ideas of gender roles, including transsexuals.
|Transition||The social, psychological, emotional and economic processes that a trans person undergoes to move from their assigned gender role into their chosen or acquired gender.|
|Transphobia||An irrational fear and dislike of Transgender people, which can lead to hatred resulting in verbal or physical attacks and abuse.|
|Transsexual||Transsexual is a term used to describe people who are born into the wrong physical sex - this includes pre-operative, post-operative and non-operative female-to-male and male-to-female transsexuals.|
|Transvestite||A person who dresses in the clothing of the opposite sex as defined by socially accepted norms. Consequently, in contemporary society, the majority of transvestites are cross-dressing men. Social transvestites cross-dress merely to feel more comfortable. Transvestites normally cross dress only occasionally and do not seek hormones or surgery.|
|X, Y, Z|
Xenophobia is derived from the Greek words "xenos" meaning "foreigner", "stranger" and "phobos" meaning "fear".
It is the irrational fear and/or hatred of other countries/cultures and the people from those countries/cultures.