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Tag: LGBT Acronym

All the latest breaking news on the LGBT Acronym. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on the LGBT Acronym.

  • What does LGBTQ2 stand for?

    The LGBTQ2 is an acronym mostly widely used in Canada and other parts of North America.

    What does LGBTQ2 stand for?
    It’s becoming increasingly popular but what does LGBTQ2 stand for?

    Outside Canada LGBTQ2 is not in wide use, its origins are a means of identifying some Native (North) Americans. However due, in part, to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau its use has become popularised.

    The 2 in LGBTQ2 stands for ‘two-spirit’. It is an umbrella term for being a “two spirit” described as a Native (North) American who identifies as non-binary, non-cisgendered or genderqueer. It could also refer to someone who identifies as non-heterosexual. It is used to describe certain spiritual people. It is not interchangeable with LGBT Native American.

    Wikipedia explains, “it is a sacred, spiritual and ceremonial role that is recognised and confirmed by the Elders of the Two Spirit’s ceremonial community. While some have found the term a useful tool for intertribal organising, not all Native cultures conceptualise gender or sexuality this way, and most tribes use names in their own languages.”

    The L stands for Lesbian

    The G stands for Gay

    The B stands for Bisexual

    The T stands for Trans

    The Q stands for Queer (use with caution) or Questioning

    The 2 stands for two-spirit

    It was adopted in 1990 to replace an outdated and now considered offensive term.

    The term is not widely used outside North America.

    Can you expand this definition? Use the comment box below, and we’ll add to this article.

     

     

  • We need to leave the K out of LGBT+

    COMMENT /

    LGBT is an initialism that has been in use since the late 1980s. Simply standing for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. But in recent years, extra letters have been added to the acronym, which in my opinion is suppressing the individuality of LGBT people.

    Is the LGBT acronym starting to lose all meaning as more and more letters get tagged onto the end?

    I may be a gay man but sometimes I feel I’ve been bracketed together with other people who, although also gay, may not actually share the same issues, values or goals.

    I feel the acronym is now starting to lose all meaning as letters, which to me have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with homosexuality or trans, are being tagged onto the end.

    K, for example, the most recent letter to be added has really got my gander up. For those of you not in the know, it stands for kink. I really can’t see what kink has to do with the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender community.

    Please correct me if I’m wrong but the last time I checked, anybody could be a bit kinky or have a kink. Old people, heterosexuals, gays, anyone. So to add K to an already far too long acronym is pushing the boundaries.

    Of course, I believe that anything to do with sexuality or gender identity should still be included in the LGBT umbrella. But others, like K, turn it into a completely different cause altogether. It’s about sexuality, not sexual fantasies.

    I understand the origins of the LGBT acronym. It was to help a minority community feel less marginalised. And to help bring the community into wider society. As a community, we have come very far forward in our rights. I’m not saying the world is perfect for the LGBT community but it’s certainly ten times better than it was fifty years ago.

    My fear is that we are detaching ourselves from the society that we have fought to become accepted in and a part of. This long-winded acronym, to an outsider, can seem pretty daunting and far too politically correct.

    For a minority group who have fought for many, many years for inclusion, I fear we are endangering ourselves of exclusion from an accepting society by pigeonholing the gay community with this acronym.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • COMMENT | What does LGBT+ actually mean…

    LGBTQIAPK – Has it all gone too far? – A follow up

    The rationale behind the question was about division by classification. Is this a form of segregation?

    Is it a division any group would allow; if it were not a self-imposed segregation?

    When segregation has been imposed historically by authority it has created alienation and not promoted inclusion. How is this different?

    There appear to be 3 distinct groups, Heterosexuality, LGBT+, and the groups and acts that are illegal.

    “I am a man, and a gay man at that, but I am not LGBT+. Where does LGBT+ exist? It exists in the policy documents of local authorities and on the pages of corporate propaganda”

    Is LGBT+ just political? I sometimes feel like a unit of currency or a pawn in someone else’s game. I am not a stepping stone for someone’s political ambition or career. I am a man, and a gay man at that, but I am not LGBT+.

    Where does LGBT+ exist? In someone’s mind or the minds of some, but perhaps not the consciousness of the masses. It exists in the policy documents of local authorities and on the pages of corporate propaganda. It exists in some places in London, perhaps many. If London is the epicentre of LGBT+ in the UK, then like a pebble dropped in a pool the ripple weakens as it moves further out.

    I liken LGBT+ to the Euro and Gay to the pound. They are fast getting to be worth the same. Spending the Euro is possible in London, but try that currency in almost any village in the country and it will be rejected. The pound may sometimes be “the only gay in the village,” but in the UK it is more credible.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • COMMENT | LGBTQIAPK – Has it all gone too far?

    I am a 55-year-old gay man living in a small market town in Mid Devon. Until I made a move of around 10 miles, four years ago I had always been out and openly gay. I am not anymore.

    I live in a complex where everyone is over 50. Older people I have met here seem to talk about homosexuality as it is defined by the physical act as a preemptive to being disgusted. It is not about being gay which as a term encompasses a lifestyle and personality.

    As a single man, moving to a new place, I did not feel the need to define myself. The people where I live are generally not looking for a partner or to hook up and so my sexuality was assumed by them, and I did nothing to contradict what they thought of me.

    I had known pride in being gay. I am proud of being around during a time of change for gay rights. I am proud to have equal rights. There comes a time though to move on, to integrate and to consolidate.

    I feel every time the “runaway bus” of the acronym LGBT+ adds a letter, it is a “nail in the coffin” of acceptance. It seems that for every step forward a new cause is added and another divide created.

    For me, it is about being gay. I am not the eternal campaigner. I feel every time the “runaway bus” of the acronym LGBT+ adds a letter, it is a “nail in the coffin” of acceptance. It seems that for every step forward a new cause is added and another divide created.

    By inclusion, I am excluded. In the past, I could explain to people I was gay and get their acceptance. Now because of the marketing of LGBT+ and the media, it feels difficult to be a standalone gay as it comes with the baggage of so many deviances as to be abhorrent to an average person.

    After so many years is it not the time to give it a rest? To stop ramming sexuality down the throat of the heterosexual masses. (The pun was intended for effect)

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • ANSWERS | What does the 2 in LGBTQ2 mean?

    The LGBTQ2 is not a widely used acronym and is not widely used outside Canada. However, its popularity is on the rise.

    What does the 2 in LGBTQ2 mean?

    The 2 in LGBTQ2 stands for ‘two-spirit’. It is an umbrella term for being a “two spirit” described as a Native (North) American who identifies as non-binary, non-cisgendered or genderqueer. It could also refer to someone who identifies as non-heterosexual. It is used to describe certain spiritual people. It is not interchangeable with LGBT Native American.

    Wikipedia explains, “it is a sacred, spiritual and ceremonial role that is recognised and confirmed by the Elders of the Two Spirit’s ceremonial community. While some have found the term a useful tool for intertribal organising, not all Native cultures conceptualise gender or sexuality this way, and most tribes use names in their own languages.”

    It was adopted in 1990 to replace an outdated and now considered offensive term.

    The term is not widely used outside North America.

    Can you expand this definition? Use the comment box below, and we’ll add to this article.

     

     

  • ANSWERS | What does the L in LGBT stand for?

    Question: What Does The L In LGBT Stand For?

    What does the L in LGBT stand for?

    The L in LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) or sometimes referred as GLBT, stands for Lesbian. Lesbian is a description for a woman who is sexually and romantically attracted to other females. The term lesbian can be used to also express sexual identity.

    Some women prefer the term “gay woman” to lesbian.

    The term lesbian is said to have originated from the Greek Island Lesbos, which was home to a 6th-century poet Sappho, who was known for poetry which described relationships between women, their beauty and her love for girls.

    By 1890 the word Lesbian was used in medical papers as an adjective. It was used to describe tribadism, commonly known as “scissoring” – a form of non-penetrative sex.

    By 1925 the term Lesbian was used as a noun to refer to a woman who had same-sex attraction and the female version of a male homosexual referred to as a “sodomite”.

    For more reading on the term Lesbian and it’s origins check out this page

    If you want to add further discussion to this description please use the comment section below.

  • ANSWERS | What does LGBT stand for?

    If you’ve seen the letters LGBT and wonder what they mean we’ve got the answer for you.

    What does LGBT stand for?

    LGBT is the standard initialism for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, there are often other letters added to it, including Q (Queer or Questioning) and I (Intersex). It was first grouped in this way during the 1990s.

    Sometimes the letters are rearranged to have the G first, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender. Some places, mainly in the USA, this initialism is more widely used. However, since the ’90s LGBT has become the standardised way of referring to the community after some activists decided that the “gay community” did not accurately reflect everybody who was in it. Q which stands for Questioning or Queer was added in 1996, although is not always used.

    ALSO READ: What does the F in LGBTQIF stand for?

    There has been much debate on whether more letters should be added, such as Q and I and A (Asexual). Some have suggested that trans and intersex should be grouped together under their own banner as they are gender-related and not sexuality related as LGB are. Although you can get LGB trans and intersex people. Q (Queer) is also problematic for some, as it doesn’t describe a sexuality more an ideology.

    The word is also offensive to many in the community.

    ALSO READ: What does the I in LGBTQI stand for?

    Sexuality has often been defined as homosexual (same-sex attraction), bisexual (both-sex attraction), heterosexual (opposite-sex attraction) and Asexual (no sexual attraction).

    Some people in the community find the term clunky and unworkable and a new initialism has been suggested GSM which stands for Gender and Sexual Minorities or GSD Gender and Sexual Diversity.

    In THEGAYUK editorially we use LGBT+ as described in our style guide to encompass a spectrum of other sexualities and gender identities.

    Do you think you can add more to this article? Please add your expansion in the comment section below.

  • ANSWERS | What Does The P In LGBTQIP Stand For?

    In the ever-growing initialism for the LGBT+ community, new letters are being added all the time. Ever wondered what the P in LGBTQIP stands for?

    What Does The P In LGBTQIP Stand For?

     

    Pansexual.

    Pansexuality is described and identified as a: romantic, sexual and emotional attraction to people of any sex or gender identity.

     

    The Oxford English Dictionary describes pansexuality as:

    not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity.”

    ALSO READ: What does the I in LGBTQI stand for?

    ALSO READ: What does the F in LGBTQIF stand for 

    Pansexual people may describe themselves as gender-blind, meaning that a person’s gender identity isn’t or might not be a deciding factor in their attraction, and some may consider a person’s gender to be irrelevant and may reject the gender binary that exists in society.

    Pansexuality shouldn’t be confused with bisexuality, which is the sexual, emotional and romantic attraction to both males and females.

    So where did the word come from?

    The word pan comes from the Ancient Greek word which means “all, every”. The words Pansexual and pansexualism are thought to have first been used in 1917 – credited to Sigmund Freud who said, “that the sex instinct plays the primary part in all human activity, mental and physical”.

    Any famous Pansexuals?

    Well, probably the most famous person who described their sexuality as pansexual is Miley Cyrus who came out to her mother as pansexual at the age of 14. During a facebook chat in 2015 with fans Miley opened up about her sexuality saying,

    “I never want to label myself! I am ready to love anyone that loves me for who I am! I am open.

    Pansexual day?

    The first ever pansexual day was celebrated on the 8th December 2015, where the hashtag PansexualDay trended for 24 hours.

    For more information about pansexuality take a look at http://thepancommunity.tumblr.com/faq

     

    Can you expand this article? Add your comment below.

  • ANSWERS | What does the F In LGBTF Stand For

    So what does the F in LGBTF actually stand for?

    What does the F In LGBTF Stand For

    The F in the LGBTF initialism stands for “friends” sometimes also known as Allies – although Allies might have a little more activism element to them. Friends are those people who don’t identify as being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender but want to be supportive of the LGBT rights movement.

    It’s not that common to see LGBTF and is a relatively new addition to the LGBT initialism. There has been criticism of the term with some asserting that friends or allies do not need to have a letter in the LGBT initialism.

    Can you expand this article? Use the comment section below to add your thoughts.

     

     

  • ANSWERS | What Does The I In LGBTQI Stand For

    The LGBT initialism is ever growing as more and more letters are added.

    What Does The I In LGBTQI Stand For

    What does the I in the LGBTQI stand for? It stands for Intersex.

    Intersex stands for a sex variance between the binary of male and female, or Cisgender.

    Generally speaking, Cisgender people are those whose gender identity or expression conforms with their biological sex or birth sex.

    Historically there was no word ‘heterosexual’ before 1890 and it did not enter common use until the 1960s.

     

    The Oxford Dictionary of English determines the word Intersex to mean:

    the abnormal condition of being intermediate between male and female; hermaphroditism.

    • [ count noun ] an intersex individual; a hermaphrodite.

    NOTE: this has now been updated to:

    relating to or denoting a person or animal that has both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: an intersex child | she identifies as intersex.

    the condition of having both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: people born with intersex.• [count noun] a person or animal having both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: she is different to the other teenagers in one crucial way—she is an intersex.

    Old usage and out of date terminology.

    Hermaphrodite is generally considered a taboo word and shouldn’t be ascribed to someone unless they label themselves as such.

     

    Intersex and the trans community

    Trans Media Watch describes Intersex as an individual in whom genetic, hormonal and physical features that may be thought typical of both male and female co-exist.

    “individual in whom genetic, hormonal and physical features that may be thought typical of both male and female co-exist.

    “They may be thought of as being male with female features, female with male features, or may have no clearly defined sexual features.”

    Can you define this definition better? Use comments below to update.