“People of Colour” is a broad term often used to refer to Black, Asian, Brown, mixed-heritage and other racialised communities. It offers a way to talk about shared experiences of racial identity, and to build solidarity across different cultural backgrounds.

For people of mixed heritage or diaspora backgrounds—whether first or second generation—identity can be complex, shifting, or layered. Many grow up navigating multiple cultural frameworks or feeling positioned between worlds. POC can be a useful shorthand in collective spaces, though for many, naming one’s specific background—whether Somali-British, Pakistani, Chinese-Caribbean, dual heritage or something else—feels more accurate, grounded or personal. The term invites shared recognition, without flattening difference.

LGBTQ+ is a collective term that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning people, with the “+” making space for a wide spectrum of other identities—such as intersex, asexual, pansexual, non-binary and gender-fluid. For many, it’s an affirming umbrella that provides visibility and connection.

At the same time, these letters can’t always capture the fullness or fluidity of lived experience. For some, identity is anchored and known; for others, it’s evolving, in flux, or defies fixed description altogether. The term holds both the comfort of shared language and the challenge of not always fitting into it neatly. It acknowledges those who stand firmly in their sense of self, and those still questioning or residing in the liminal spaces in between.

Neurodiversity refers to the natural variation in human minds, ways of thinking, processing and being. The term celebrates difference rather than treating it as deficit. Someone who is neurodivergent might identify with experiences like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette’s, or sensory sensitivity—but many also use it more broadly to describe a mind that doesn’t follow dominant norms of focus, learning or communication.

For some, neurodivergence is a core part of identity. For others, it may be something they’re exploring or have never had the language to describe. Being neurodiverse can mean moving through the world in nonlinear ways—perceiving, relating and creating differently. It may bring insight, challenge, exhaustion, clarity, confusion—all at once. The term holds space for this complexity, and for those whose minds exist beautifully outside the expected frame.

GSRD stands for Gender, Sexual and Relationship Diversity. It’s a broad and inclusive phrase used especially in therapeutic and educational contexts to describe the full range of ways people experience gender, sexuality and connection.

This includes those who identify as LGBTQ+, as well as people whose lives don’t conform to dominant ideas of relationships—such as those in polyamorous, open, or kink dynamics. GSRD acknowledges that identity and connection aren’t always fixed or binary. Some people find clarity and grounding in labels; others live in fluidity, change, or questioning. The term honours difference without requiring a definition—making space for what doesn’t always need to be named.