How You See LGBTQ
It’s National Coming Out Day: but nearly 50% of LGBT Americans are in the closet at work
People have been talking ABOUT the LGBTQ community, so we decided to talk with them to learn from their experiences. Tell us, how does the world see YOU? Do you feel defined by your skin color, gender, or maybe even your religion?
LGBTQ community (or LGBT community or GLBT community), also referred to as the gay community, is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, LGBTQ organizations, and subcultures, united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality.
LGBTQIA – A Beginner’s Guide to the Great Alphabet Soup Of Queer Identity
Alright y’all, I’ll admit it. This whole LGBT etc. acronym is getting pretty damn confusing. Back in the stone ages, “gay” just referred to anyone who was attracted to people of the same sex or who had a non-normative gender presentation or identity, but nowadays things have gotten a little bit ‘cray. It seems like there’s an identity for pretty much everything, and the marvelous global community of same-sex-loving and gender-non-conforming individuals has spiraled into a gloriously confusing rainbow of identities and communities. As a matter of fact, there are probably more identities in the queer community now than there are colors in the rainbow.
So how do you make sense of all this? Well I, Jacob Tobia, am here to help you out as your benevolent, glittery, gender queer tour guide through the queer alphabet soup. Let’s dive in, shall we?
L is for Lesbian.
If you identify as lesbian, it probably means that you’re a women who is sexually attracted to other women.
G is for Gay.
People who identify as gay are generally men who find themselves attracted to other men. Man + Man + Intimacy + Desire = Gay. It’s a simple equation. Furthermore, because the goal of the gay rights movement is to confuse you and leave you hopelessly disoriented, gay can also refer to women. But only sometimes. And there’s no rule for when it’s appropriate to use it that way or not. Get over it.
B is for Bisexual.
People who identify as bisexual are attracted to both men and women.
T* is for Transgender or “Trans.”
Let me just start by saying this: Transgender is a complicated word that means a whole bunch of different things to a whole bunch of different people.
Q1 is for Queer.
Queer is a beautiful, mysterious, and subversive word. Think of it as 85% dark chocolate: it’s complex in flavor, and while some people find it bitter, others find it delicious. Back in the 1980s (i.e. when dinosaurs roamed the earth and zebra print was taken seriously), the word queer was used as a derogatory term. In the modern era, queer is more complex. For older folks, the word queer may still sting, but for the younger whippersnappers out there, the word queer has been reclaimed in a few different senses.