W
Wisdom3_1-9
he/him/his
- Jul 19, 2020
- 1,954
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?
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?