To be honest, I think we should just switch to using “queer” at this point. The Q covers everything. In fact we could just use the letter Q and be like on star trek.
It still makes me uncomfortable as an old fart Gen Xer from back when it was almost exclusively used as a slur, but I recognize it’s been reclaimed. It’s just a hard association to break.
I just use LGBT+ since it was LGBT for a long time (it was GLBT but the Ls earned their place at the front during the AIDS crisis) then it became LGBTQ, then a bunch of other letters were added while the community was recognizing is profound variety before it turned into LGBTQ+
Q+ has a nice ring to it, but since I’m an unusual form of NB, I fit squarely into the catch-all variety of Q.
I automatically say LGBTQ if I’m not just specifying which one I’m talking about. I guess that’s what got codified in my head before the plus become commonplace.
I always thought I was regular ol’ cis until recently, but when I thought about it I realized I didn’t really care about my gender identity and just used he/him because it’s what I was born as and didn’t have any problem with it. Apagender, I’ve seen it called. I’ve seen some are also fine with it/its, but I find those dehumanizing.
Five letters is fine, but I’m not subscribed to the new’s letter for knowing what all the add-ons to it mean. It never changes anything for me to know anyway. Just treat people with dignity. “Queer” should be fine at this point for casual use.
In my daily dealings with fellow queers™, I find most people say “LGBT” in casual speech instead of other variations of the acronym, occasionally adding the “Q”, but I’ve never heard somebody casually drop a “LGBTQIA+.” I think we all know that LGBT is inclusive; that, or there’s a silent ellipsis at the end.
I think part of it is that a lot of straight people who are allies but not as familiar with the queer community feel strange about using the word queer, thinking that it’s a reclaimed slur that they wouldn’t be allowed to say if they aren’t themselves queer. They don’t realize that the queer community has collectively decided that no “pass” is needed for the word queer.
To be honest, I think we should just switch to using “queer” at this point. The Q covers everything. In fact we could just use the letter Q and be like on star trek.
It still makes me uncomfortable as an old fart Gen Xer from back when it was almost exclusively used as a slur, but I recognize it’s been reclaimed. It’s just a hard association to break.
I just use LGBT+ since it was LGBT for a long time (it was GLBT but the Ls earned their place at the front during the AIDS crisis) then it became LGBTQ, then a bunch of other letters were added while the community was recognizing is profound variety before it turned into LGBTQ+
Q+ has a nice ring to it, but since I’m an unusual form of NB, I fit squarely into the catch-all variety of Q.
I automatically say LGBTQ if I’m not just specifying which one I’m talking about. I guess that’s what got codified in my head before the plus become commonplace.
I always thought I was regular ol’ cis until recently, but when I thought about it I realized I didn’t really care about my gender identity and just used he/him because it’s what I was born as and didn’t have any problem with it. Apagender, I’ve seen it called. I’ve seen some are also fine with it/its, but I find those dehumanizing.
Five letters is fine, but I’m not subscribed to the new’s letter for knowing what all the add-ons to it mean. It never changes anything for me to know anyway. Just treat people with dignity. “Queer” should be fine at this point for casual use.
In my daily dealings with fellow queers™, I find most people say “LGBT” in casual speech instead of other variations of the acronym, occasionally adding the “Q”, but I’ve never heard somebody casually drop a “LGBTQIA+.” I think we all know that LGBT is inclusive; that, or there’s a silent ellipsis at the end.
Canada uses 2SLGBTQIA+, https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/free-to-be-me/2slgbtqi-plus-glossary.html
yeah, I mean, we do that officially but not in conversation.
I think part of it is that a lot of straight people who are allies but not as familiar with the queer community feel strange about using the word queer, thinking that it’s a reclaimed slur that they wouldn’t be allowed to say if they aren’t themselves queer. They don’t realize that the queer community has collectively decided that no “pass” is needed for the word queer.