What is Sexual Diversity?

The sexually diverse teenagers of Quintana Roo are known to come out of the closet during carnival week in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Cozumel. During the carnival, men dress up as women and women as men! For some, it is the only time of the year when they can fully express themselves and let themselves go.

So, what is sexual diversity? It is a term referring to one’s sexual orientation. In 2017, we have many different words to describe someone’s sexual preference or gender. A couple of decades ago, heterosexuality was mainly the only orientation that Mexicans would recognize. Here are a few descriptions to help you understand the people around you:

Gender Identity: Personal conception of who one is as a gendered being, the gender one identifies with.

LGBTQ: Acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning.  (There are other letters also used, but this is the most common one.)

Heterosexual/Straight: Sexually attracted to the opposite sex.  

Note that a transgender/transexual can also be heterosexual. For example, a man becomes a woman and dates men, like our much-loved Morganna Love.

Homosexual/Gay: Sexually attracted to people of one’s own sex. Mostly used to describe men, although it can be used for women as well.

Lesbian: Women sexually attracted to women. Trans Miranda Salman is a lesbian.

Bisexual: Sexually attracted to both men and women.

Transgender: Person whose personal identity doesn’t correspond to their birth sex.

It is still a delicate subject since many people don’t understand it.  

Transexual: Transgender who has had hormonal or surgical interventions to change their body, according to who they identify as.  

Drag Queen: Man who dresses in women’s clothes.

Drag King: Woman who dresses in men’s clothes.

We are more familiar with the theme thanks to RuPaul who has had his own show since 2009: ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race.’

Queer: Umbrella term to describe people who are not heterosexual or cisgender.

Cisgender: Person whose birth gender corresponds to their gender identity.

Pansexual: Sexually attracted to any sex or gender.

Agender: Doesn’t relate to any gender identity.

Asexual: Not sexually attracted to anyone.

It is not always about sex! Asexual people have personal relationships without sex.

Now you have a wider sexual diversity vocabulary. There are still many other words to know and more importantly, understand, to make the world a better place.