LGBT Terms - Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender & Other

nonke ノンケ
sutoreeto ストレート
Straight. Heterosexual. (slang)

Homosexual

gei ゲイ
Gay.
(not to be confused with gai ガイ, which comes from the word "guy" instead.)

bian ビアン
Lesbian person.

Bisexual

bai バイ

Bisexual.

(also means "bye" as in "bye bye," baibai バイバイ)

Transgender

toransu-kei トランス系

Trans type. Transgender or transsexual person..

(also refers to the "trance," the music genre.)

tora トラ
Transgender. Transsexual. Transvestite.
(abbreviation of "trans," toransu トランス.)

onee オネエ
Man who uses onee-kotoba and effeminate mannerisms, often but not necessarily gay.

Minefield

These are terms that should be avoided if possible because they're offensive to some. Unfortunately, they aren't universally offensive to all people so there's some people which are totally okay with them and even use these terms toward themselves, which makes the decision of using them or not like trying to walk across a minefield.

homo ホモ
Gay. Homo.
(offensive to some, sometimes derogatory, use gei ゲイ instead.)

homodachi ホモ達
Homosexual "friend," tomodachi 友達.

rezubian レズビアン
rezu レズ
Lesbian. (offensive to some, use bian ビアン instead..)
(generally associated with lesbian pornography or concept instead of people.)

nyuuhaafu ニューハーフ
Newhalf.
Transgender women, generally related to entertainment.
(offensive to some, although some label themselves as this.)

nyuuboi ニューボイ
neohaafu ネオハーフ
Newboy. Neohalf.
The FtM version of newhalf.

okama オカマ
Effeminate gay men, transgender women, etc.
(offensive to some, sometimes used derogatorily, although some label themselves as this.)

onabe オナベ
Female-to-male version of okama.
(offensive to some, better avoid calling people by this word too if you can.)

Worthy of Mention

nekama ネカマ
Guy who pretends to be a girl on the internet.

nenabe ネナベ
Girl who pretends to be a guy on the internet.

otokonoko 男の娘
An anime term for a "boy that looks like a girl." Used in real life by cosplayers, etc.
(not to be confused with otokonoko 男の子, "boy".)

onnanoko 雄んなの子
Female counterpart of the above: "girl that looks like a guy."
(not to be confused with onnanoko 女の子, "girl.")

Appearance

A couple of noteworthy gay and lesbian slangs used toward appearance. A good number of them weren't included here, see the jargon lists below for further reference.

kuma-kei 熊系
Bear. (literally "bear-type.")

bea ベア
Bear. (see above)

daiku ダイク
Dyke.

bucchi ブッチ
Butch.

femu フェム
Femme.

booisshu ボーイッシュ
"Boy-ish." Tomboy.

Other Relevant Words

Gay Bar

gei baa ゲイバー

Gay bar.

Okama bar. (often features tranvestites and transgender women as entertainers.)

miseko 店子
Someone who works in a gar bar, etc. (mise means "store")

mama ママ
Mama. Manager of a gay or okama bar.

Effeminate Speech

onee-kotoba おネエ言葉
Female and effeminate speech associated with okama.

hogeru ホゲる
To speak in onee-kotoba, or show effeminate mannerisms.

Sexuality

sekumai セクマイ

Sexual minority. (abbreviation.)

seku セク

Sexuality. (abbreviation.)

Sex-Related

tachi タチ
Top. Pitcher. Active. Lead in a sexual relationship. Dominant partner. Etc.

Top. Pitcher. Active. Lead in a sexual relationship. Dominant partner. Etc.

(term used in both gay and lesbian relationships)
(not to be mistaken with tachi 達, the pluralizing suffix)

neko ネコ
Bottom. Catcher. Passive. Led in a sexual relationship. Submissive partner. Etc.

Bottom. Catcher. Passive. Led in a sexual relationship. Submissive partner. Etc.

tachi)
(not to be mistaken with neko 猫, "cat.")

seme セメ. uke ウケ.
Usually synonymous with tachi and neko, respectively.
These two words come from the doujinshi world of gay shipping by fujoshi where they refer to who penetrates and who's penetrated in anal sex.
(note that, technically, as far as gay shipping goes, a character may be both tachi and uke at the same time, if he takes lead sexually in a ship but is also the side being penetrated. Whether this is the case in Real Life™ usage of the words I don't know.)

(opposite of(not to be mistaken with猫, "cat.")Usually synonymous withand, respectively.These two words come from theworld of gay shipping bywhere they refer to who penetrates and who's penetrated in anal sex.(note that, technically, as far as gay shipping goes, a character may be bothandat the same time, if he takes lead sexually in a ship but is also the side being penetrated. Whether this is the case in Real Life™ usage of the words I don't know.)

riba リバ.
ribaashiburu リバーシブル
Switch. Versatile. Can be either tachi or neko. Or either seme or uke.
(literally "reversible.")

tachi 凸. seme 凸.
neko 凹. uke 凹.
riba 回.
In SNS, these kanji are used by gays and lesbians instead to symbolize the respective words. These are artificial readings only relevant in the LGBT context: normally 凸, 凹 and 回 are not read that way.

horu 掘る
To dig. (original meaning.)
To have (gay) anal sex. (to penetrate.)

horareru 掘られる
To be dug. (passive conjugation of horu: to be penetrated.)

Jargon Lists

リバーシブルSwitch. Versatile. Can be eitheror. Or eitheror(literally "reversible.")In SNS, theseare used by gays and lesbians instead to symbolize the respective words. These are artificial readings only relevant in the LGBT context: normally 凸, 凹 and 回 are not read that way.To dig. (original meaning.)To have (gay) anal sex. (to penetrate.)To be dug. (passive conjugation of: to be penetrated.)

The Wikipedia in Japanese has two articles listing gay and lesbian "jargon," yougo 用語, that contain terms not found in this post. In case you want to take a look:

Terms Containing Letters

LGBT-related terms containing letters and their pronunciations in Japanese. Many of these are used in English too.

LGBT.

eru-jii-bii-thii エル・ジー・ビー・ティー

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender.

Labels

san さん to the word:

• emu-thii-efu-san MtFさん
  An MtF person.

Some of the terms below may refer to people, specially when used with honorifics. For example, in English you say "the woman jumped," but you don't say "the MtF jumped." In Japanese, it's possible to refer to an MtF person by addingさん to the word:

T.

thii ティー

Trans.

TG.

thii-jii ティー・ジー

Transgender.

TS.

thii-esu ティー・エス

Transsexual.

TV.

thii-vii ティー・ヴィー

Transvestite.

CD.

shii-dhii シー・ディー

Crossdresser.

MtF.

emu-thii-efu エム・ティー・エフ

Male-to-female. Transgender woman.

FtM.

efu-thii-emu エフ・ティー・エム

Female-to-male. Transgender man.

MtX.

emu-thii-ekkusu エム・ティー・エックス

Male-to-X. An x-gender person assigned male at birth.

FtX.

efu-thii-ekkusu エフ・ティー・エックス

Female-to-X. An x-gender person assigned female at birth.

GID.

jii-ai-dhii ジー・アイ・ディー

Aセクシャル
aseukusharu アセクシャル
eisekusharu エイセクシャル
Asexual. (aromantic)
(for romantic asexuality, the term "nonsexual" is used in Japanese instead.)

Other

AG
ei-jii エイ・ジー
Autogynephilia.
Autoandrophilia. (sometimes used like this by mistake, probably because most people don't know AG is only MtF, and the FtM abbreviation would be AA.)

SRS.
esu-aru-esu エス・アール・エス
Sex reassignment surgery.

SNS
esu-enu-esu エス・エヌ・エス
Social networking service. (dating sites, etc.)

Gender Identity Disorder.AセクシャルアセクシャルエイセクシャルAsexual. (aromantic)(for romantic asexuality, the term "nonsexual" is used in Japanese instead.)AGエイ・ジーAutogynephilia.Autoandrophilia. (sometimes used like this by mistake, probably because most people don't know AG is only MtF, and the FtM abbreviation would be AA.)SRS.エス・アール・エスSex reassignment surgery.SNSエス・エヌ・エスSocial networking service. (dating sites, etc.)

Closet & Coming Out

These terms are related to hiding and exposing one's sexual orientation or gender identity.

kuroozetto クローゼット

Hiding one's sexual orientation. "Closet."

kuroozetto suru クローゼットする

To hide one's sexual orientation.

kamingu-auto カミングアウト

Coming out [of the closet].

For someone who's hiding their sexual orientation to expose it to their family, friends, etc.

kamingu-auto suru カミングアウトする

To come out. (literally "to comming-out.")

authingu アウティング

"Outing."

For someone who's in the "closet" to be exposed without their consent. (for example, only your best friend know you're gay, then he posts it on Facebook.)

Passing

Some of these are terms loaned from English LGBT.

pasu パス. pasu suru パスする.

Pass. To pass.

To be perceived as the desired gender.

(example: to pass as a woman)

passhingu パッシング
Passing.

ストレートStraight. Heterosexual. (slang)ゲイGay.(not to be confused withガイ, which comes from the word "guy" instead.)ビアンLesbian person.トラTransgender. Transsexual. Transvestite.(abbreviation of "trans,"トランス.)Man who usesand effeminate mannerisms, often but not necessarily gay.Newhalf.Transgender women, generally related to entertainment.(offensive to some, although some label themselves as this.)Newboy. Neohalf.The FtM version of newhalf.Effeminate gay men, transgender women, etc.(offensive to some, sometimes used derogatorily, although some label themselves as this.)Female-to-male version of(offensive to some, better avoid calling people by this word too if you can.)Guy who pretends to be a girl on the internet.Girl who pretends to be a guy on the internet.An anime term for a "boy that looks like a girl." Used in real life by cosplayers, etc.(not to be confused with男の子, "boy".)Female counterpart of the above: "girl that looks like a guy."(not to be confused with女の子, "girl.")熊系Bear. (literally "bear-type.")ベアBear. (see above)ダイクDyke.ブッチButch.フェムFemme.ボーイッシュ"Boy-ish." Tomboy.店子Someone who works in a gar bar, etc. (means "store")ママMama. Manager of a gay or okama bar.Female and effeminate speech associated withTo speak in, or show effeminate mannerisms.パッシングPassing.