LGBT. LGBTQ. LGBTQQ. LGBTQIA. LGBTQIA+. LGBTQQIP2SAA.
When do we say enough is enough?
According to writer Alex Myers over at Slate, the answer is: Never. He says the LGBTQ acronym can’t have enough letters, numbers, and symbols, and here’s why:
“Adding more labels to the acronym isn’t about making sure all the snowflakes know they are special,” Myers writes. “These labels save lives.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Related: Will 2018 be the year graysexuals finally go mainstream?
Myers argues that labels provide people who may often feel like outcasts a sense of belonging, not to mention a deeper understanding of who they are and where they come from.
“These labels create a powerful sense of understanding and self-acceptance,” he writes. “The fact that the acronym has become a target for mockery only indicates the amount of work that still needs to be done around LGBTQIA+ civil rights.”
Myers goes on to say that he understands not everyone agrees with him. More and more people, particularly younger generations, aren’t comfortable labeling themselves or putting themselves in specific categories. But language, he says, “grants us the ability to explain ourselves, to put words to what we feel and think and experience.”
Related: G0ys and androphiles and ‘mostly straights’, oh my! 6 sexual identities that came out in 2017
He continues:
Having terminology also creates community: If a word exists to describe something, the implication is that the concept is important enough to merit a term, that there’s a critical mass in need of this word. If the feeling an individual has “dares not speak its name,” then how is one to find others who share that feeling? These labels—all of them, not just the original one or two or three—play a necessary role in generating solidarity.
What do you think? How do you feel about the LGBTQ acronym? Share your thoughts in the comments section…
Frank
YES it is getting a little ridiculous
Kangol
No, people can use whatever terms they like, so long as we don’t forget that when it comes down to it, we have to ensure that we are equal and are not being discriminated against because of who we are and who we love. Acronym it up, children!
Danny595
Then why doesn’t the acronym contain letters for every social, racial, economic, ethnic, and religious group on Earth? Why include transgenders but not Buddhists, hermaphrodites but not low-wage workers? And why are gay people the only ones to go down this path of alphabet soup insanity?
KaiserVonScheiss
I think Myers is full of it. What sense does it make to make up all these labels and create an alphabet soup of an acronym?
mz.sam
Oh definitely hell friggin’ Yesss…ENOUGH, LGBT brother and sisters !
JAW
We use LGBT+ Others also add the letter that represents them so the queers would say LGBTQ the a-sexuals would be LGBTA etc.
I am up for anything that gets us away from using offensive words like queer.
Danny595
Why not LGB+? Why are you privileging the T, a group which is not defined by sexual orientation and most of whose members are not LGB.
kael_0916
And yet, there are those of us that identify as queer.
JarodD
Short answer: it’s excessive. Regarding LGBTQQIP2SAA since it’s the longest mentioned above, firstly questioning and allies don’t need a letter in the acronym. If we include allies then we may as well include everyone (we could even shorten lgbtq rights to just rights , because hey why be concise with our message at all -_-). Questioning is explicitly a process that someone goes through to decide their sexual/gender identity and due to it’s inherent unspecific and transient nature shouldnt be included with the other more final identities. Transgender and intersex should not be included along with the sexual terms due to being completely separate from sexual desire since — plus from an efficacy standpoint — tend to confuse cis straight people into thinking theyre the same thing when they arent. Queer doesnt need to be included in the term since it was originally used as a derogatory statement and also because it’s inherently a blanket term for basically anything non-binary. Bi and pan are too similar to be two letters. Bi people are basically pan people who are attracted to more classically gendered people aka the ends of the gender spectrum. I think the acronym should be LGBA+, if pan representation is really needed then you can highplight the P shape inside of the B shape. As far as gender identity goes, It could be TG+ for transgender, genderfluid, and the + for anything else such as intersex. Lastly 2 spirited according to wikipedia is just native american indian terminology for gender nonconformists which seems completely redundant aside from pointing out the cultural source which is beyond the purpose of the acronym.
JarodD
meant specific* not concise
kael_0916
Final identities? Sexuality and gender are fluid. I also know several people who have identified as questioning for much longer than you would imagine. You’re way off about what two-spirit means. And there are many people that identify as queer, myself included, and they do not all conform to the definition you described, even as a blanket statement or as a gender identity.
Mandrake
It’s indeed ridiculous. Putting all those letters together makes us all a community? Please. For marketing purposes and for coming up with an applicable acronym to use when identifying who we all are could be simply the “NC Community” for the Non-Cisgender Community.
NateOcean
Do you actually know what cis-gender means?
Heywood Jablowme
We have enough trouble in North Carolina as it is. – lol
But yeah, you really need to look up what cis-gender means.
tnguy222
The more letters, the less respect and the more absurdity.
CanadianGuy62
Let’s just call it LGBTWXYZ. It’s just getting ridiculous. So many variations.
Personally, I think queer covers it all.
Paco
As a gay man, I just say gay when referring to the ever growing acronym. Yeah, it isn’t precise, but it at least covers gays and lesbians. When I came out, we didn’t have the entire alphabet of sexual labels to remember.
Why is there a label for everything if people no longer want labels? It’s not a rejection of labels. It is a rejection of labels they haven’t made up for themselves. They still want them.
Danny595
Gay or LGB works just fine. Why must we mention transgenderism, hermaphrodites and a whole variety of other groups when it isn’t our intention to speak about them? Why allow activists to channel and regulate our thought by manipulating our language?
QJ201
SOGI
Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity
it’s an Aussie thing
Danny595
Actually, SOGI is widely used in the US — by anti-gay groups who oppose gay rights protections. It makes as much sense as referring to commercial trucks/peanut butter.
itsandre
i’m fine with it having every letter of the alphabet. i usually just stop after the t and add a +.
but i REFUSE to accept the a for ally. allies, as great as they are, aren’t part of the community. they’re straight people who support gay people. straight people aren’t part of the gay community, so they don’t get a letter in the acronym
kael_0916
They absolutely should be part of it. The acronym was created because of the community fighting for our rights. Whether they identify as part of the community is up to them. However, the A was added pretty early in the rights movement to mean allies, when we had few and needed their support to be heard. Now, the two A’s typically stand for Agender and Asexual.
blitzkid84
Irrelevant? Yes. I would also describe this ever growing acronym as ridiculous, desperate, embarrassing and redundant but that’s just me.
Danny595
LGBT was and is a scam on LGB people. There is no logical or moral basis for conjoining LGB people with various groups which are not defined or demarcated by sexual orientation and asserting that they are all “one people.”
LGBT was invented not to describe reality, but to deliberately distort it for the purpose of advancing the interests of transgender activists. It enables the manipulation and exploitation of LGB people. Because of “LGBT,” our identity is diluted, our organizations are co-opted, and our resources are spent on endless wars over issues that don’t concern us. Absent LGBT, individual LGB people might choose to get involved or not get involved in issues relating to transgenderism. But that freedom didn’t sit well with trans activists. They needed to take away the choice and force all LGBs to feel obligated to them in perpetuity. “LGBT” is the scam that accomplishes that selfish goal. And the scam needs to be maintained periodically through pieces like the one published in Slate.
john.k
I agree.
blitzkid84
Thank you!
Brian
Has there ever been an article on Queerty that you didn’t whine about? We get it, you hate everything, why do you keep coming back to a site that so clearly represents the opposite of everything you believe in?
There is representing opposing points of view, and there is being a nonstop a$$hole. If this is your idea of sport, you need to find a less pathetic hobby.
SiamSam
@Brian Danny didn’t attack or insult anyone. It’s pretty clear who the whiny a$$hole is here.
Brian
Siam, he’s throwing a hissyfit over transgender people being included in the LGBT acronym, and he’s referred to hermaphrodites a couple of times in other comments in this article. Trust me, some people are insulted.
But at least he’s not clutching his pearls over the whorishness of gay men this time around, so I guess that is a point in his favor.
SiamSam
@Brian Again, I look at the tone and language Danny used, and what you used. It’s quite obvious who’s clutching pearls and throwing hissyfits. Google “projection.” You’re soaking in it.
Danny595
Brian – I comment on only select articles on Queerty, the ones which I think are relevant to the quality of life for LGB people. This is one. You don’t have to agree with me, but it serves no point to gripe and grouse and call names. The argument above is not “clutching pearls” – which I think is a way to both effeminize gay men and dismiss their arguments without addressing the content.
What I tried to do above is to point out that, in the case of “LGBT,” an initialism (not an acronym) language was invented deployed not to describe reality but to achieve a particular political result which could not have been achieved otherwise. “LGBT” gives trans activists and many other groups ownership over LGB property and labor, an ownership to which they have no entitlement and which we never granted previously. It goes beyond an alliance or a friendship or a working arrangement. It is the conjoining of groups at the level of identity, and it’s primary purpose is to deprive LGB people of our right right to say “no.” As such, “LGBT” is objectively anti-gay. If you care about gay people, as I do, then you should object to every usage of “LGBT” and its variants. No matter how ubiquitous it may be, it’s still wrong.
Brody
Spot-on.
DROP THE T.
Tobi
Drop The T.
john.k
I have no idea what all the letters in LGBTQQIP2SAA mean. Maybe I’m just an old fogey.
Queer Rabbi
I agree with Alex Myers 100%. Recognition is key to individual survival. Coalition is key to communal survival. Every identity within LGBTQIA shares the common element of being something other than the heteronormative binary paradigm that equates anatomy with orientation and gender expression (Men have dicks [bigger is better, of course], desire women, and are masculine, for ex.) All of us vary from that norm, and we can support each other in community and help protect each other in the current queer-hating atmosphere.
Danny595
Identity expresses who you are, not who you aren’t. Negativity isn’t the basis of a healthy identity and it is harmful to LGB youth to tell them that they should define themselves not as gay, lesbian and bisexual but as a component of a generic mass “everyone who isn’t X” and that they are perpetually obligated to other groups about whom they may know nothing and with which they may not agree.
As for the claim that “LGBTQIAAPTS+” is needed for “survival,” there isn’t a shred of evidence presented to support it. It’s an absurd claim. No one is saying that transgenders can’t call themselves transgenders and give themselves a letter. The only point of dispute is why it is mandatory that T and all of the other letters, numerals and special characters (*,+) must be attached to LGB. The idea that if you don’t append your letter to LGB, then you will die, is patently absurd. And in fact, it’s demonstrably untrue, because transgenders maintain numerous social, legal and political organizations which are exclusively transgender, which are not “LGBT.” And no one has died. What this is really about is emotional manipulation and abuse, deployed in the interest of preserving a construct which itself is harmful to LGB people. This is not about transgenders and other groups “surviving” but about them inventing language to dominate, exploit, and colonize LGBs.
chris33133
Coalitions do not entail having everyone under the same group of letters. IMHO, GLB is good enough; none of the other letters address “sexual orientation” per se. I will never respond to “queer” simply because I was on both ends of “smear the queer” when I was growing up; that term cannot be redeemed, maybe after I’m gone. If people want to use non-binary terms, let them; again, some will respond to them, I won’t.
sfhairy
Yes, it’s gotten ridiculous. I have no problem with people identifying as they want, but it doesn’t need to fall under the LGB umbrella.
SiamSam
To outsiders, it just looks like some kind of bizarre sex-obsessed cult. I prefer joining greater society and leading by example, being more than just a sexual identity or lazy caricature.
Brody
Yes, however, in my experience most gay men’s identity IS based on sex.
Ever walked into a guy’s house and been assaulted with pornographic “art” adorning the walls and shelves? It’s more common than I would have hoped.
Those people live and die by the gay creed, and indeed are seen by society as a sex cult, because . . . well, their entire identity revolves around sex.
Bob LaBlah
Its really a shame you kids have come along at a time when everyone must be famous and recognized. The mentality of the trans community is one I have never understood and can’t for the life of me understand why they insist on inclusion with us who simply consider ourselves gay or lesbian and are happy with that. Seeing how the Director of the Trans Police (Malloy) decided that Rupaul had to go and Caitlyn was the next best thing to come along since water for them I wonder if any of them are now regretting that mistake. Caitlyn cared about ONE thing, money and ways to keep it rolling in. I say to each his own and lets go back to the two simple choices, lesbian or gay with no in-between.
Jaxton
Why does the L precede the G in LGBT? Are the L’s special or something?
Female homosexuals were hardly ever prosecuted for committing homosexual acts. You wanna know what the punishment was for men who committed homosexual acts in Britain? Hanging. The last person to hang for committing homosexual acts in Britain was a bisexual male.
Putting the L before the G represents a hijacking of male homosexual victimhood by lesbians and rabid females in general. Enough’s enough.
SiamSam
Because homosexual men still enjoy male privilege, even when they are being beaten and murdered. No man has ever been oppressed more than a woman. Ever. It’s like totally a fact.
Jaxton
Siam Sam, don’t conflate two different types of politics. Stick to homosexuality.
There is no doubt that male homosexuality has been.persecuted whereas female homosexuality has largely been left alone. Just check the court records.
As for “no man has ever been.persecuted more than a woman”, are you nuts? Just tell that to Stalin’s male victims or Hitler’s male victims at Auschwitz.
Get rid of the L from the front of LGBT.
mhoffman953
@Jaxton
I think SiamSam was being sarcastic but you took it seriously. It was obvious when he said that gay men are privileged then cited how gay men get beaten and murdered and gay women don’t.
SiamSam
Yep, was just being sarcastic. But this is how bad it’s gotten. It’s impossible to tell what is satire anymore.
Zambos271
Can we do away with “snowflake” in 2018? It’s condescending and overused.
Brian
It is overused, but they certainly deserved to be condescended to. They’re an embarrassment to humanity.
MSchmal
At some point, does the label becomes the focus? People already confrom themselves to labels to much as it is. Labels are part of the problem. Each of us kills a little part of ourselves everytime we limit our existence to conform to a label. Labels separate communities. We should be seeking to transend labels not waste time trying to perfect them. Labels give proof to the lie of equality in this country. Once someone is labeled a hierachy is created. Ultimately labels serve to reenforce to patriarchy.
inbama
Of course it’s ridiculous.
Who ever asked any of these groups if they wanted to be lumped together? Do gays and lesbians not have a right of association? A right to organize on their own for their own behalf without criticism?
And is an absurdly long string of letters that spells nothing really still and acronym?
Prax07
Leave it as LG, the B, T, etc aren’t part of our group and never should have been arbitrarily added in the first place.
RIGay
I tuned out after the T.
There is an artist in Provincetown embellished the rainbow flag with the word “PEACE”, and the flag is sold to raise awareness about a multitude of human rights issues.
I think I would better identify as “Gender: Peace”; kinda covers all the bases, ya know?
RIGay
And on the off-chance you are interested… http://www.commonstreet.org/rainbow-peace-flag-project/
Brody
It’s now quite obvious that LGBTQQIAAP represents lesbians, gays, and a bunch of mentally ill megalomaniacs seeking acceptance and attention—which, apparently, we lesbians and gays are happy to provide, because . . . reasons.
RIGay
We’re too wish-washy to say “Have a cup of STFU, Already!”?
Kieru
At this point I think we’re doing a disservice to those in our community who are fighting for rights based on their gender identity. The LGBTQ+ message has, for decades, been all about sexual orientation. I have encountered so many people who think “Transgender” is a sexual orientation because it’s part of our acronym.
If we want to remain a single community I’m a big proponent for a complete name switch:
GSRM
Gender, Sexual, and Romantic Minorities
I like this because it’s crystal clear that the community is more than just sexual orientation. Its very name outlines the different communities that make up the collective, without the need to constantly add new letters every time we as a society recognize the nuance of gender identity or sexual and romantic orientations.
I also like this label because it removes specific groups from being part of the name. No more arguing if it should be LGBT or GLBT. No more accidental focus on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual because their labels are first in the list and will more often be spoken aloud.
Some people would prefer to remove ‘minorities’ from the label under the misconception that it conveys something derogatory or negative. I’m a bit more pragmatic; no matter how you measure it if you are either non-CIS or non-Heterosexual you represent a minority of the population.
Mars414
Here’s my suggestion for a new, all-encompassing acronym: A2Z. Hello, I’m part of the A2Z Community!
Dave in Northridge
Well, this is indeed progress. None of you went to the article to find out that that the writer is indeed transgender so none of you accused the writer of being self-serving.
Me (yeah, cis-gay man)? I’m just wondering what real world concerns have you arguing about an acronym that hasn’t yet supplanted LGBT in everyday use. If ever there was something that could be called a “first-world problem” this is it.
lauraspencer
All of these letters together have nothing in common other than they are open to more than traditional, heterosexual sex. Why not simplify? Heterosexual & Non-Heterosexual. Heterosexual have basic male/female relations. Everyone else who is doing their own thing is Non-Heterosexual.
The idea that all these letters have something in common with each other because they don’t have traditional heterosexual sex is bizarre. Who and how we have sex shouldn’t be used to categorize or make a “community”. I like everyone, but personally I have more in common as a gay man with a heterosexual man than I do with someone trans or lesbian.
Greg
I never use the LGBT acronym. I’m not a lesbian and I really don’t have anything in common with transsexuals.
MikeInWeHo
I’m glad the LA LGBT Center stopped at the letter T. I’d vote for that.
It’s surprising and sad to see people suggest the T be dropped. Trans people have been part of the movement since the beginning. We were together at the Stonewall riots!
Brody
Does that mean we now should include straight people in the gay alphabet, since they’ve been involved in our struggle as well?
Tobi
“We were together at the Stonewall riots!” is a lie perpetuated by the trans community who have tried to transwash the fact that it was a drag king, Storme DeLarverie, who was responsible for kicking Stonewall off.
draven
I’m just a man of brown complexion skin who is a gay male American ….
Heywood Jablowme
Lettuce Gay Bacon Tomato
gaym50ish
Personally, I kind of like the term used by the Unitarian Universalist UN Office. It’s SOGI, pronounced SOH-jee, and it stands for
sexual orientation/gender identity. It’s simple yet inclusive. And I NEVER understood adding the letter A for “allies.”