sexual minority

Two fathers with their child Jogappa is a transgender community in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. They are traditional folk singers and dancers. The rainbow flag is the symbol for the LGBTQ community that seeks to represent sexual and gender minorities who do or may wish to identify as part of the community. Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) comprise individuals whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or gender identity differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Sexual minorities include lesbians, gay men, bisexual people, asexual people, and other non-heterosexual people, Gender minorities include transgender people and non-binary people (including third gender). Gender, sexual and romantic minorities (GSRM) includes individuals of a minority romantic orientation such as aromanticism. Sexual and gender minorities is a synonym for LGBTQ people. In 2015, the United States National Institutes of Health described SGM as an "umbrella term that encompasses populations included in the acronym "LGBTI" (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex), and those whose sexual orientation or gender identity varies. It includes those who may not self-identify as any of the immediate letters of LGBTI (e.g., queer, questioning, two-spirit, asexual, men who have sex with men, women who have sex with women, gender variant), or those who have a specific medical condition affecting reproductive development (e.g., individuals with differences or disorders of sex development, who sometimes identify as intersex)."

Numerous professional and academic institutions use sexual and gender minorities or similar terminology. In 2015, the US National Institutes of Health announced the formation of the Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office.