Xingshaoshu (性少数)

Xingshaoshu — literally “sexual minority” — is the standard formal umbrella term for LGBTQ+ people in mainland Chinese writing. Borrowed from the English phrase “sexual minorities,” it covers everyone whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression differs from the majority: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people alike.

It fills a real gap. Tongzhi carries a warm in-community flavor (plus a lingering “communist comrade” double meaning), while the acronym LGBTQ+ can feel foreign to Chinese readers. So academic papers, news reports, and public-health documents on the mainland default to xingshaoshu.

Register note: formal and written. Among friends, tongzhi is warmer; in Taiwan’s official and educational language, duoyuan xingbie (“gender diversity”) is more common.

Common misreading: hearing “minority” as “abnormal.” The word describes numbers, not pathology — like left-handedness. The WHO removed homosexuality from its disease classification back in 1990 (see Is it an illness?).