Consortium is committed to making sure that we reference specific communities wherever we can.
There may be occasions when we use abbreviations and acronyms to describe communities. For example, when quoting a third party or when attempting to convey a significant volume of information (such as the Equity Fund criteria).
In such instances, readers will be signposted to this page where we have provided further information below and we will continue to review the definitions detailed.
Consortium understands that no one term or definition will resonate with all members of intersectional groups. We are also aware that language necessarily evolves and we will continue to explore how to best represent the communities we’re working with, guided by those communities.
POC: LGBT+ People of Colour
PGM: LGBT+ People of the Global Majority. Whilst this term may still be fairly new, we think it's more representative as brown, black and multi-racial people are the global majority.
We recognise the use of terms such as POC/PGM reflect a diverse range of people and communities. We use them as inclusively as possible to reflect people from communities who experience racism.
BAME: LGBT+ People from Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnicities
Consortium is no longer using the acronym BAME, however we recognise it is still used by many intuitions, funders and groups and it may therefore be used in this context on our website.
As an organisation Consortium uses the acronym LGBT+
We also aim to reflect our communities and we therefore use the extended acronym LGBTQIA+ where relevant (although we recognise some groups may use different variations of this).
And when we are working with and referencing intersectional groups we will use the specific acronym or terminology relevant to each group.
You may therefore see different variations across our website and social media content.
Used as an umbrella terms for people who recognise their potential for sexual and emotional attraction to more than one gender (labels which may fall under the ‘bi+ umbrella’ include bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, fluid, queer)
Primarily used in relation to LBT Women’s Health week: LBT Women's Health Week is a week aimed at lesbian, bisexual and trans women, and frontline workers and healthcare providers who work with them.
Occasionally, our events cover topics that are widely considered to be "women's" health issues, such as as fertility, menopause, menstruation, cervical health, etc. We recognise that such issues are not limited to cis women, and that some trans, non-binary & intersex people may relate to these experiences. Therefore, we advertise our events as being open to LBT+ women and femme-aligned people — if you feel an event is right for you, then it is.
D/deaf
While we recognise these terms don’t begin to express the full spectrum of attitudes and conformities, or life experiences for that matter, they can help us to understand how identity differs in deaf culture:
‘Big D deaf’ has been used for those who are born deaf or experience hearing loss before spoken language is acquired and regard their deafness as part of their identity and culture rather than as a disability. They form the Deaf Community and are predominantly British Sign Language (BSL) users.
‘Small d deaf’ has been used for those who have become deaf or hard of hearing in later life, after they have acquired a spoken language and so identify themselves with the hearing community. Small d deaf people are more likely to use hearing aids and develop lipreading skills.
There are many who belong to the Deaf community even though they may prefer or additionally use speech.
Disabled
We use this as a broad umbrella term to include people who may have a registered disability, but don't necessarily consider themselves disabled, as well as those who may not have a registered disability but consider themselves part of this community, including those with long-term physical and / or mental health conditions.
Neurodivergent
We use this as a broad umbrella term to include people who may have a formally diagnosed learning difficulty or disability, as well as those who may not have a diagnosis but consider themselves part of this community.