Making a limited set of queer self-identifiers can grind against things that are important in our community, like self-identification and freedom of language, and that we have a lot of feelings attached to words (of course we do!). Even a term like “gay” has so many meanings across time, space, and social contexts. To make the tags work for the anthology, and make it so people can find poem that might reflect some part of them and their identities, we have to impose consistency on a vocabulary that seeks fluidity and embraces play and contradiction as part of its foundation.
Tags are a way to organize collections of items by topic. We chose to center authors rather than poems in our tags, so each item in the Anthology comes with tags that describe the author's identity, life experiences, and other important information about themselves.
Authors self-selected or wrote-in their identity tags. To search for authors and their poems by tag, click on the links below.
Jump to tags about:
Tags about Gender and Sexuality
Agender
Not identifying with a gender. Some people under this label self-identify with the idea of “lacking a gender”. People who are agender might also describe themselves as genderless or gender neutral.
Aromantic
Experiencing little or no romantic attraction to others. People who are aromantic may also describe themselves as being part of the aromantic spectrum, or aro-spec, an umbrella term for identities which are closely related to aromanticism but range in levels of romantic attraction.
Asexual
Experiencing little or no sexual attraction to others. People who are asexual may also describe themselves as being part of the asexual spectrum, an umbrella term for identities which are closely related to asexuality but range in levels of sexual attraction.
Bisexual
Experiencing sexual attraction to multiple genders or sexes, or sexual attraction regardless of gender or sex. Sometimes shortened to “bi”.
Demiromantic
Experiencing romantic attraction only after forming a strong emotional bond first. People who are demiromantic may describe themselves as being part of the aromantic spectrum, and can also be any other romantic or sexual orientation.
Demisexual
Experiencing sexual attraction only after forming a strong emotional bond first. People who are demisexual may describe themselves as being part of the asexual spectrum, and can also be gay, bisexual, straight, or any other sexual orientation.
Gay
Experiencing sexual or romantic attraction to one’s own sex. This term is often used to describe men who are attracted to the same sex, but can be used by individuals of any gender.
Genderfluid
Experiencing an adaptable nature of gender identity and gender expression. This can shift over time or depending on the situation.
Genderqueer
Experiencing a gender identity that does not correspond to the conventional gender binary. People who are genderqueer may describe themselves as a combination of two or more genders, or as between genders on a spectrum.
Lesbian
Women or femmes who experience sexual or romantic attraction to their own sex. People who are lesbians might or might not also use the term “gay” to describe themselves.
Nonbinary
Having a gender identity which is outside of, or does not confirm to, beliefs about the traditional gender binary in which all individuals are either male or female.
Omnisexual
Experiencing sexual or romantic attraction to people of all genders, where gender plays a role in that attraction. Some, but not all, omnisexuals may have preference for certain genders.
Pansexual
Experiencing sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of their gender, where gender does not play a role in that attraction. Some, but not all, pansexuals may refer to themselves as gender-blind.
Polysexual
Experiencing sexual or romantic attraction to some, but not necessarily all, genders. Some polysexuals may have preference for certain genders.
Queer
People experiencing any non-heterosexual sexual or romantic attraction, or any non-cisgender gender identity, may use the term queer to identify themselves instead of, or in addition to, other identifiers.
Sapphic
An umbrella term for any woman attracted to women or in a relationship with another woman, regardless of their sexual orientations, and encompassing the romantic love between women.
Transfemme
Individuals whose gender identity or expression is partially or fully feminine and differs from the gender they were assigned at birth.
Transgender
Individuals whose gender differs from the gender they were assigned at birth, sometimes shortened to “trans”. Transgender people can be binary, non-binary, or outside of the gender binary.
Transmasc
Individuals whose gender identity or expression is partially or fully masculine and differs from the gender they were assigned at birth.