A word cloud of some of the words we use about our faith and ourselves

Words we use

There are words we use on this website and in our communities which may be new to some of our visitors, so we've created this page to explain what we mean when we use them.

There are two groups:

Faith words:

The beliefs and practices you could find at Open Table community gatherings.

Identity words:

These are mostly ‘identity’ words, which allow a person, or a group of people, to define themselves. As LGBTQIA+ people gather confidence to be themselves, these words have increased in number. You may hear words that aren’t listed here; the English language continues to develop all the time in response to what people need.

Not all LGBTQIA+ people use all, or any, of the words we list here about themselves. Although all these words are respectful, straightforward words for describing people’s identity and relationships, it is up to each individual to identify with these words; and not for others to label them. In spite of this, we’ve listed the most common and current words here to give greater clarity for visitors who want to understand more.

Faith words:

Spiritual identity:

This refers to a person's faith and their sense of something bigger than themselves.

Hospitality:

All the way through the Bible there are beautiful examples of welcome. Abraham was unaware that he was entertaining angels! We use the word hospitality to refer to our 'more than welcome' to LGBTQIA+ people and allies. Read more about what we mean by ‘more than welcome’.

Communion:

This is the sharing, between us, of bread and wine, or other food and drink, in memory of Jesus’s last meal with his friends. It usually takes place during worship.

Agape meal:

Agape (pronounced ‘Agerpay’) is a Greek word for self-giving love: the kind of love Jesus shows for God and for us. During an Agape meal we sit and eat together, and simply retell the story of how Jesus shared his last supper with his friends; and how he still calls us to love one another as God loves us.

Safer space:

A space where policies and practices are in place to protect people against harm and abuse. This includes (but isn’t limited to) spiritual, emotional, psychological, physical, sexual, and/or material harm. An LGBTQIA+ Safer Space is somewhere that people are specifically protected against anti-LGBTQIA+ words, ideologies and actions. Read more about how we aim to keep everyone safe.

Open Table:

This is the phrase which best expresses us, and our belief in the loving, utterly non-judgmental welcome of Jesus Christ. An ‘open table’ is an unconditional invitation to join in a celebration of communion in which everyone can take part, without exclusion, judgement or a test of belonging or ‘worthiness’. Read more about how we got the name ‘Open Table’.

Identity words:

 

LGBTQIA+:

These initials stand for: Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Plus. It is the most usual umbrella term for people whose gender identity or sexual orientation  is different from what our society expects us to be:

  • Lesbian:
    A word to describe a woman who love women.

  • Gay:
    A word for a man who loves men OR a woman who loves women.

  • Bi (short for ‘bisexual’):
    A word for someone who loves people of more than one gender.

  • Trans (short for ‘transgender’):
    A word for someone who identifies as a gender different from the sex they were assigned at birth.

  • Queer:
    Although this word was (and sometimes still is) used as a slur, it is reclaimed by some LGBTQIA+ people to describe themselves. It is a word to be used carefully, and only with people who have claimed it for themselves.    

  • Questioning:
    Used by some people who are exploring their sexual, romantic,  and/or gender identities. Some people use the word ‘egg’ as an alternative to ‘questioning’.

  • Intersex:
    People whose physical characteristics differ from male or female, or from their sex assigned at birth, sometimes describe themselves either as ‘intersex’, or having ‘intersex traits’. Not all intersex people identify with the LGBTQIA+ umbrella.

  • Asexual:
    A word used by some people who don’t experience sexual attraction. This is an umbrella term for a great diversity of people’s love and attachment.

  • + (plus):
    The plus sign after the other initials refers to all the other ways that people who may come under the same LGBTQIA umbrella choose to describe or identify themselves.

Ally:

This refers to a person who cares about, and works for, equality and justice for LGBTQIA+ people. 

Sexual orientation:

Many people believe that this phrase describes a person's fixed set of physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions to other people. Some people’s sexual orientation is more influenced by whom they love romantically. 

Gender identity:

A person’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both, or neither. Someone's gender identity could be the same as, or different from, the sex assigned to them at birth. Some people do not have a sense of gender identity.

Non-binary:

Some people use this term if they identify as a gender that is different than the binary genders of male or female, or identify as both male and female, or do not identify with either gender.

Sexual/romantic identity:

A person’s sense of themselves in relation to the person or people to whom they are sexually and / or romantically attracted.

For a wider list of terms, and for more information on sexual orientation and gender identity, please visit: