In 2022, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) added into the dictionary LGBTQIA-related words, symbolizing the pervasiveness of words used for and by the queer community in the ever-evolving English language.
Among the words added is “bakla“, which OED defines as “a person registered as male at birth who identifies with or presents a feminine gender expression, typically through behaviors, occupations, modes of dress, etc., that are culturally associated with femininity.”
It added that the word is often seen as a derogatory word in Philippine English.
Nonetheless, OED notes that “bakla encompasses a wide range of gendered characteristics and practices that do not correspond to heteronormative ideas of masculinity. It can often, but not always, denote homosexuality, although the term is increasingly being used as a synonym for Western terms relating to sexual orientation, such as gay and homosexual.”
Other words added by OED included:
The LGBTQ acronym (for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer).
Tea house, which is a term used to describe “a public toilet used by men to engage in or solicit sexual activity with other men.”
Anti-gay and anti-homosexual.
Brotherboy and Sistergirl, which are Aboriginal identities. Brotherboy is defined as “a person registered as female at birth who identifies with or presents a masculine gender expression, typically through behaviors, occupations, modes of dress, etc., that are culturally associated with masculinity”. Meanwhile, sistergirl means assigned male at birth but presents in ways seen as feminine.
Enby, a colloquial term used for a non-binary person.
Muxe (pronounced as ‘moo-shay’), which is a Zapotec identity that OED defined as “a person registered as male at birth who identifies with or presents a feminine gender expression, typically through behaviors, occupations, modes of dress, etc., that are culturally associated with femininity.”
Pangender, which is defined different from pansexual and is “designating a non-binary person whose gender identity encompasses multiple genders, which may be experienced simultaneously or in a fluid, fluctuating manner; of or relating to a gender identity of this type.”
TERF, which was “originally used within the radical feminist movement”, to refer to trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
Gender critical, defined as being “critical of the concept of gender identity, or the belief that gender identity outweighs or is more significant than biological sex. In sense (b), typically distinguishing between gender (as something culturally or biologically defined) and gender identity (considered an innate individual sense).”
Multisexual, which is said to be “characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to, or sexual activity with, people of different sexes or gender identities; (now) spec. having any of various sexual orientations of this type, such as bisexual, pansexual, or polysexual.”
And the words “top” and “bottom” that received new entries that centered around the BDSM meanings behind the words.
