LibGuides: LGBTQIA+ Health Research &amp; Practice: LGBTQI Research Terminology

Phrasing an LGBTQI Research Question

Why is this important?

Social and cultural norms and discussion surrounding LGBT people has been changing rapidly in the United States and around the world, leading to rapid changes in acceptable and/or widely used vocabulary. Library and research terminology changes more slowly, and older research articles often use language now considered outdated, unacceptable, or overly clinical for use in conversation or writing.

Familiarizing yourself with current LGBTQIA+ terms will help you find current research and will prepare you for assisting patients in this community in the future.

Medical & Social Terminology

These sources list current social vocabulary relating to LGBTQIA+ issues. Keyword and natural language searching will find many of these terms in relevant articles and news stories, both in PubMed and in other databases.

LGBTQIA+ Glossary of Terms for Health Care Teams
In this glossary, you will find terms relevant to the health care and identities of LGBTQIA+ people.
PFLAG National Glossary of Terms
Compiled by PFLAG, a large and well-respected LGBTQ+ advocacy network, this glossary defines a large number of terms relevant to the LGTBQ+ community.

PubMed & MeSH Terminology

PubMed and other medical research databases index their articles using the National Library of Medicine's MeSH subject headings. Many older or even some current MeSH terms for LGBT concepts are no longer acceptable socially or are rarely used. Many commonly used terms are not reflected in MeSH at all.

Due to this issue, it is critical that you consult the MeSH database to find all terms to search PubMed effectively. You may also search for common terms using a keyword search, but many useful articles will not include them. To be most effective, you will need to search using both MeSH and common terminology.

What is MeSH? (National Library of Medicine)
This brief tutorial from the National Library of Medicine will help you understand the purpose and structure of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and use MeSH to search PubMed for medical literature and information.
Seaching PubMed with MeSH (National Library of Medicine)
This tutorial introduces you to advanced search techniques you can use to search PubMed using MeSH terms.
MeSH Browser (NCBI, NLM)
Use the MeSH browser to find MeSH terms relevant to your research and to help you build your PubMed search.

MeSH Terms and Examples

Note: Entry Terms are used as synonyms in MeSH and indexed together.
Common Terms	MeSH Terms	MeSH Subheadings	MeSH Examples
LGBTQ LGBT LGBTQIA+ Queer	Sexual and Gender Minorities Entry Terms Non-Heterosexuals Non Heterosexuals Non-Heterosexual Sexual Dissidents Dissident, Sexual Dissidents, Sexual Sexual Dissident GLBT Persons GLBT Person Person, GLBT Persons, GLBT GLBTQ Persons GLBTQ Person Person, GLBTQ Persons, GLBTQ LGBT Persons LGBT Person Person, LGBT Persons, LGBT LGBTQ Persons LGBTQ Person Person, LGBTQ Persons, LGBTQ Lesbigay Persons Lesbigay Person Person, Lesbigay Persons, Lesbigay Non-Heterosexual Persons Non Heterosexual Persons Non-Heterosexual Person Person, Non-Heterosexual Sexual Minorities Minorities, Sexual Minority, Sexual Sexual Minority LBG Persons LBG Person Person, LBG Persons, LBG Gays Gay Men Who Have Sex With Men Gender Minorities Gender Minority Minorities, Gender Minority, Gender Lesbians Lesbian Women Who Have Sex With Women Bisexuals Bisexual Homosexuals Homosexual Queers Queer	classification education history legislation and jurisprudence organization and administration psychology statistics and numerical data	"Sexual and Gender Minorities/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
Homosexuality Gayness Queerness	Homosexuality Entry Terms Homosexuality, Ego-Dystonic Ego-Dystonic Homosexuality Homosexuality, Ego Dystonic Homosexuality, Female Homosexuality, Male	analysis blood chemically induced classification complications diagnosis drug effects drug therapy epidemiology ethics ethnology etiology genetics history immunology legislation and jurisprudence metabolism microbiology organization and administration physiology physiopathology	"Homosexuality/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
Lesbian Queer female/woman Gay female	Homosexuality, Female Entry Terms: Female Homosexuality Lesbianism	epidemiology ethnology etiology genetics history physiology psychology statistics and numerical data	"Homosexuality, Female/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
Gay male Queer male/man	Homosexuality, Male Entry Terms: Male Homosexuality	epidemiology ethnology etiology genetics history physiology psychology statistics and numerical data	"Homosexuality, Male/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
Bisexual Bisexuality Bi	Bisexuality	classification drug effects epidemiology ethics ethnology history physiology psychology statistics and numerical data	"bisexuality/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
Transgender Transperson Transman Transwoman Trans	Sexual and Gender Minorities Transgender Persons Entry Terms: Person, Transgender Persons, Transgender Transgender Person Transgenders Transgender Transgendered Persons Person, Transgendered Persons, Transgendered Transgendered Person Two-Spirit Persons Person, Two-Spirit Persons, Two-Spirit Two Spirit Persons Two-Spirit Person Transsexual Persons Person, Transsexual Persons, Transsexual Transsexual Person Transexuals Transexual	classification education history legislation and jurisprudence organization and administration psychology statistics and numerical data	"Transgender Persons/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
Intersex Persons	Sexual and Gender Minorities Intersex Persons Entry Terms Intersex Person Person, Intersex Persons, Intersex	education psychology statistics and numerical data	"Intersex Persons/statistics and numerical data"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]
Gender	Gender Identity Entry Terms Gender Identities Identity, Gender Gender Femininity Gender Role Masculinity	drug effects history physiology psychology surgery therapy	"Gender Identity"[Mesh] AND "Delivery of Health Care"[Mesh]