I just saw a stranger on social media describe themselves as "an LGBTQI male"
and I'm like ...
...
...mate, there's no way you can be more than like half of those things. At a stretch.
And I realized I always assume that when someone, some specific person, is described as "an LGBT [with optional added letters] person"...I just assume they're cis gay men?
We can tell those who have done a find-and-replace if "LGBT" for "gay" in their mental lexicon but haven't really thought through the implications.
So they say stuff like this "I'm LGBTQI myself" thing, but also things like, when same-sex marriage came in: "now LGBT people can get married!" yeah, um a lot of us already were. Friends of mine are annoyed about "LGBT parliamentarians" since there aren't any openly trans ones; they argue you shouldn't include the T where it's not represented.
@hollyamory This is why I use queer! It includes LGBT, plus more. Seems to ruffle a few feathers.
@Andromeda
Sometimes it's helpful to be specific, and I know some people who don't like "queer." But it's a valid and popular reason to use the word, definitely!
@hollyamory I'm half of lgbt, so it's easier to just call myself queer than to list it all out. Which is also why I don't use LGBTQIA+, it's just too long :P
privilege within oppressed communities Show more
I think I assume cisgay bc the rest of us know it's important to say what we are? If I say I'm "LGBT," people gonna think I'm a cis lesbian--my LGBT volunteering is enough for that to happen already.
It's important and admirable that we've expanded on "gay" as the label we give our activism and organizations, but we can tell it hasn't really sunk in for a lot of people.