Search Results for: rory gory

1. 

   How Young People Are Redefining “Transgender” And “Nonbinary”

   by Rory Gory March 31 is Transgender Day of Visibility, an annual occasion dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of transgender people as well as raising awareness of and advocating for the transgender community. Created in 2009 by Rachel Crandall, Executive Director of Transgender Michigan, Transgender Day of Visibility is a time for recognizing transgender people in a positive light, rather than only centering the conversation …

2. 

   What Do Hurricane Category Numbers Mean?

   Part of the drama of hurricane season revolves around the predicting and changing of the severity—or category—of the storm. What category will the hurricane be when it hits land? What kind of damage might it inflict? What is a hurricane category? There are a few classification scales that meteorological agencies use to determine the intensity of hurricanes. The Saffir-Simpson scale is used to measure the strength of …

3. 

   How The Letter “X” Creates More Gender-Neutral Language

   by Rory Gory The letter X is often used to represent the unknown or the indescribable. In English, there are so few words beginning with X that in Samuel Johnson’s famous early dictionary, X was defined as, “a letter, which, though found in Saxon words, begins no word in the English language.” The mathematician and philosopher René Descartes used the letter X to represent variable …

4. 

   What Does The Term “Nonbinary” Really Mean?

   by Rory Gory Many people are raised to believe that gender and sex are the same thing, and that there are two options available to us: male or female. But neither sex nor gender is inherently binary—the belief that people must be classified into one of these two categories. When something can’t be placed in two boxes, we call it nonbinary, meaning “not consisting of, …

5. 

   The Evolving Terms of Sexuality And Romantic Attraction

   by Rory Gory Pansexual, skoliosexual, asexual biromantic. How young queer people are identifying their sexual and romantic orientations is expanding—as is the language they use to do it. More than 1 in 5 LGBTQ youth use words other than lesbian, gay, and bisexual to describe their sexualities, according to a new report based on findings from The Trevor Project’s National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental …

6. 

   What Does It Mean To Be Asexual?

   by Rory GoryIn a recent study, “Diversity of Youth Sexual Orientation,” The Trevor Project found that one in five LGBTQ youth are using different words to describe their sexual and romantic identities and orientations, including terms like asexual and aromantic. (Read more about this study and those new words here.) But, there are many persistent and painful myths and misunderstandings surrounding sexual orientation, romantic attraction, …

7. 

   Why Is “Bisexual” Such A Charged Word?

   by Rory Gory Bisexual people make up 52 percent of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community, but in recent years, the words to describe the identity of someone who is attracted to more than one gender have become increasingly complex. As the conversation around gender identity has expanded, so, too, has the language to describe both gender and sexuality as well as the complex …

8. 

   How To Talk About Mental Health: What To Know And Avoid

   by Laura Vismara Content warning: This article deals with the sensitive topic of suicide. If you (or someone you know) need support, call the toll-free, 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You can also text HOME to 741741 for free, which offers 24/7 support from the Crisis Text Line. This article also covers a range of difficult topics on mental health, including eating disorders …

9. 

   Why The Phrase “Commit Suicide” Should Be Avoided

   by Rory Gory | updated by John Kelly, senior research editor at Dictionary.com There are many stigmas and misconceptions surrounding mental illness, but it’s quite common to experience it. Nearly one in five US adults live with a mental illness, translating to about 46.6 million people as of 2017. Whether or not you live with a mental illness, mental health is something that all of …

10. 

    How Conversion And Other Words Can Harm LGBTQ People

    by Rory Gory No matter your sexual orientation or gender identity, all people have something in common. There are many things in life that we can choose or change, such as how we decide to express ourselves, the relationships we commit to, or the dreams we pursue. And then there are things in life that happen to us whether or not we want them to: …

11. 

    Fruit vs. Vegetable: What’s The Difference?

    Trying to classify what’s a fruit and what’s a vegetable isn’t always cut and dry. In fact, the debate about it can get pretty juicy—seedy, even. This all stems from the fact that some things we eat are technically fruits but are almost always called vegetables (and treated like vegetables, too). Some people make a distinction based on the level of sweetness, but the difference—from …

12. 

    Doughnut vs. Donut: Is There A Correct Spelling?

    Many people around the world agree that doughnuts—those small sweetened or unsweetened pieces of dough fried in deep fat—are delicious. What is less agreed on (at least in the United States) is the spelling: is it doughnut or donut? Technically, it can be both. Dictionaries and popular style guides like the AP Stylebook list doughnut as the preferred spelling. However, donut is a common variation …