The LGBTQIA+ Spectrum

I enjoy providing counseling services to all, but the group that I specialize in working with are individuals that identify as LGBTQIA+. For those who may be unfamiliar with this initialism it is short for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (or queer), intersex, and asexual. I always place a "+" after the "A" to demonstrate that this is not an exhaustive listing of identities. My favorite tool to use for folks that are exploring their identity, or family members who are struggling to understand, is The Genderbread Person.

We can't think of gender, sex, sexual orientation, or gender expression in binary terms. Everything that makes us who we are happens on a continuum. There are an infinite amount of possible identities. Even with one person the identity could change depending on various internal/external factors. For example: My gender identity- genderqueer; gender expression- femme; biological sex- female; attracted to- all types of folks (pansexual).

Even folks that think they have a clear picture of who they are and what they are attracted to have looked at the genderbread person and discovered that things are a bit more grey than they thought.