LGBTQIAA+

[Wisdom3_1-9]

I've seen a couple posts over the past few days asking about the presence of other "LGBT" members in the SS community. I guess I've always assumed that there is a rather high percentage of queer members here (at least compared to the general population) since society's reluctance to accept sexual and gender minorities is often a pathway to life situations that cause people to consider suicide. So, I've never really bothered to ask. (Plus, I came from Tumblr where almost everyone is queer.)

In any case, seeing the posts got me thinking. A number of sexual and gender minorities responded. I'm a gay male, so almost every generic term includes me — "gay," "LGBT," "LGBTQ," etc. But I wondered if others were ever discouraged by not seeing their "letter" represented. The title of this thread is the longest acronym I've observed in public, but even so, it doesn't explicitly include pansexuals, which is a rather significant omission, in my opinion.

I've always thought that our community should just label ourselves as "queer." I know it used to be a derogatory term, but we have, for the most part, reclaimed it. Gender and sexuality are more fluid than previously believed anyway. The need to label ourselves and keep adding letters to the acronym I think potentially distracts from the goal of ensuring that we are viewed as equals in society and under the law. (I have actually heard detractors deride our community by referencing the ever-increasing litany of letters in the acronym.)

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Soul]

I identify as queer, so it would be fine with me, but I think a whole new designation would have a better chance of winning people over. The otherly oriented (OO) community. The rainbow crowd.

 

[happy?1270]

im pansexual and identify as genderfluid (idk though i may just be gender queer i haven't looked into it still confusedish)

 

[RC90]

I've seen a couple posts over the past few days asking about the presence of other "LGBT" members in the SS community. I guess I've always assumed that there is a rather high percentage of queer members here (at least compared to the general population) since society's reluctance to accept sexual and gender minorities is often a pathway to life situations that cause people to consider suicide. So, I've never really bothered to ask. (Plus, I came from Tumblr where almost everyone is queer.)

In any case, seeing the posts got me thinking. A number of sexual and gender minorities responded. I'm a gay male, so almost every generic term includes me — "gay," "LGBT," "LGBTQ," etc. But I wondered if others were ever discouraged by not seeing their "letter" represented. The title of this thread is the longest acronym I've observed in public, but even so, it doesn't explicitly include pansexuals, which is a rather significant omission, in my opinion.

I've always thought that our community should just label ourselves as "queer." I know it used to be a derogatory term, but we have, for the most part, reclaimed it. Gender and sexuality are more fluid than previously believed anyway. The need to label ourselves and keep adding letters to the acronym I think potentially distracts from the goal of ensuring that we are viewed as equals in society and under the law. (I have actually heard detractors deride our community by referencing the ever-increasing litany of letters in the acronym.)

Any thoughts on this?

Sorry, it was me who created that thread. I didn't mean to forget about anyone, I'm sorry if my post somehow upset you. I was not even aware of pan until this morning when another member mentioned. So sorry.

 

[Wisdom3_1-9]

Sorry, it was me who created that thread. I didn't mean to forget about anyone, I'm sorry if my post somehow upset you. I was not even aware of pan until this morning when another member mentioned. So sorry.

Please know that I wasn't offended, nor did I mean to insinuate that you insulted anyone. My apologies if my comments came across that way. "LGBT" and "LGBTQ" have really become the regular terms used in society now. I think people understand and I don't think people take offense. I was just thinking about how, over time, the acronym has expanded to be more inclusive as we learn more about gender and sexuality. We could have a whole flurry of letters eventually. I just think a shorter, clearer name for our community might be welcomed.

 

[fox21132113]

Yes, I wish our community would just call themselves queer. I gave up looking up all the different ways to be queer, so many variations. My life would be easier explained. So I agree with the author, whole hardily. My name is Britt, and I am Queer.

 

[VIBRITANNIA]

i can understand why people are uncomfortable with 'queer', and i think that should be respected. i just go with lgbt+ whenever i refer to our community. i don't exactly like that, though, because i don't want to push other sexualities/identities to the side. i don't know where i stand on this question.

 

[Deleted member 17949]

tbh I the title of the community is just a verbal and written handle with which we can address it. Whether or not it includes every single part of the community isn;t too important so long as we know that it defines the whole community. LGBT+ would be totally fine, as would LGBTQIAP+ or any other acronym. I prefer to use LGBT+ for simplicity.

 

[Matthias_k]

I was recently told that I am a "bisexual hetero-romantic" :) Everything is so complicated today.

 

[WinterFaust]

I'm a cis lesbian. I used to frequently identify as queer and sometimes still do. How I personally identify really depends on how much I resonate with whatever word I'm using and whether or not I have positive associations with it at the time. For instance, even though I'm a lesbian, there are a fair amount of lesbians who are phobic of various orientations and gender identities. There are some who have a particularly rigid and binary way of looking at things which makes me feel very disconnected from them. But then again, there are other aspects of my identity outside of queerness that cause a disconnect to the community as well even though I'm quite happy to be queer.

I do think we could be better about having a more inclusive umbrella term. Tumblr is very much a queer bubble where a lot of folks feel similarly but outside of that, there are some people who don't like the queer designation. So I'm not sure what the solution is but I don't think the current acronym is practical. Perhaps, the community should turn the question to those who feel unrepresented or invisible so that we can create something that helps them feel more seen?

 

[Cosmiq]

I just like saying I'm gay and opting out of everything else because I like things to be simple for me. If someone wants to go into details about how I identify every part I will try. But there are so many terms and I get that some of them help others have a sense of one's self, but I just don't care for diving into it and will just try to remember the preferences of those I meet.
I know in the lesbian community, some people don't like the word queer because they feel like it erasing lesbians more than the negative history of the word queer. A lot of lesbians feel they are often overlooked in LGBT history.