2SLGBTQIA+

An acronym representing Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning, intersex and asexual people. The plus sign at the end of the acronym represents the countless number of ways people choose to identify themselves.

Accommodation

Accommodation is the duty owed by institutions or spaces to members of communities not to discriminate against them. It is any temporary or permanent measure used to change the environment or the way things are customarily done to enable an individual with special needs to have equal opportunity, access and participation.

AFAB

An acronym, standing for 'Assigned Female At Birth.' used to educate about and refer to AFAB people's bodies without connecting to womanhood or femaleness. For example, one may use the term 'AFAB people' when discussing issues related to menstruation in order to include multiple gender identities. AFAB people may or may not identify as female, all or some of the time.

Affirmed Gender

A person's true gender, as opposed to their gender assigned at birth. A person's affirmed gender may or may not be the same as their gender assigned at birth. This term replaces 'chosen gender' or 'new gender.'

Agender

A person who doesn't experience or identify with any gender. 

Ally

A person who recognizes their privilege, through both commitment and effort, and works for justice in solidarity with marginalized  groups. That work involves facilitating the empowerment of these groups and dismantling systems of oppression, including those systems the person in allyship might benefit from personally. Being an ally is about consistent, intentional and overt actions, not claiming an identity.

AMAB

An acronym standing for 'Assigned Male At Birth.' used to educate about and refer to AMAB people's bodies without connecting to manhood or maleness. For example, one may use the term 'AMAB people' when discussing issues related to prostate health in order to include multiple gender identities. AMAB people may or may not identify as male, all or some of the time.

Anti-Blackness

The Council for Democratizing Education defines anti-Blackness as being a two-part formation voiding Blackness of value while systematically marginalizing Black people and their issues.

Overt racism is the first form of anti-Blackness; underneath this lies structural and systemic racism, the structure of which is held in place by anti-Black policies, institutions and ideologies.

The unethical disregard for Black institutions and policies is the second form of anti-Blackness, and is protected by the overt racism of the first form. This disregard is the product of the class, race and/or gender privilege experienced by certain individuals due to anti-Black institutions and policies. 

Anti-Racism

The active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing institutional systems, organizational structures, policies, practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably.

Anti-Racist

An anti-racist is someone who supports an anti-racist policy, through their actions and by expressing anti-racist ideas. This includes expressing that racialized groups of people are equals and supporting policies that reduce racial inequity.

Antisemitism

An idea with deep historical roots, antisemitism is an ideology that blames Jews for society's problems via dehumanization, degradation, stereotypes and lies. The content of this ideology has changed over time but in its various iterations, antisemitism involves exploitation, marginalization, discrimination and violence.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia are entangled and deeply rooted in the same systems of white supremacy and Christian hegemony that have also driven ongoing genocide against Indigenous people, and bigotry toward non-Christians.

Aromantic

A person who doesn't experience romantic attraction to other people. Aromantic or aro people exist on a spectrum, and may or may not experience sexual attraction.

Asexual

A person who doesn't experience sexual attraction to other people, distinct from chosen sexual behaviours like celibacy or abstinence. Asexual or ace people exist on a spectrum, and may or may not experience romantic attraction.

Assigned Sex

The sex assigned to an infant at birth, based on their visible sex organs/genitalia.

Assimilationist

A person expressing the racist idea that a particular racial group is inferior, culturally or behaviourally, and who supports cultural or behavioural programs meant to 'develop' that group.

Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder

A condition characterized by problems with attention, focus, overactivity and impulse control. The three clinically recognized subtypes of ADD/ADHD are inattentive, hyperactive-compulsive and combined. ADD/ADHD can be experienced by and diagnosed in both children and adults.

Black

A person who identifies as Black, Caribbean and/or African, and has African Indigenous heritage that predates colonization.

Bigender

A person whose gender identity encompasses or is moving between two genders. The genders may be male and female, but are not always.

Bigotry

Intolerance, prejudice and discrimination that glorifies one's own group while denigrating other groups—for example, white supremacy.

BIPOC

A term that refers to Black and/or Indigenous People of Color. POC or People of Color are often used, but BIPOC explicitly leads with Black and Indigenous identities, which helps to counter anti-Black racism and the invisibilization of Indigenous communities. However, the term can blur or erase the distinctions between communities, in particular the Black and Indigenous communities it’s meant to centre. Also, given its likely origin in the United States, the term BIPOC can project U.S.-centric ideas of race onto other countries and cultures.

Bisexual

A person with the potential for romantic, emotional and/or sexual attraction to people of more than one gender. This may or may not include attraction to people who share the bisexual person's own gender. Bi or bi+ people may or may not experience this attraction to multiple genders at different times, to different degrees and in different ways.

Black Lives Matter

A decentralized political movement addressing state and institutional violence against Black people, and founded by three Black women in 2013 in response to the acquittal of the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager in Florida. Black Lives Matter (BLM) is now a member-led global network with several dozen chapters.

Bullying

An ongoing and deliberate misuse of power through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening. 

Examples of bullying include:

• Physical bullying, when physical force or aggression is used against another person (e.g., hitting).
• Verbal/non-verbal bullying, using words or gestures to verbally or nonverbally attack someone (e.g., name-calling or gestures).
• Cyberbullying, the use of electronic media to threaten, embarrass or intimidate, or to damage a person or group’s reputation (e.g., sending threatening text messages, creating and posting pictures or memes).