Not sure if this is the place for it or not… Also not sure how politically correct all of this is gonna be. I don't wish to offend anyone. Sorry in advance if I do. So, why is it that your two basic options in life are 'Straight' or 'Not-Straight'. I mean, do the letters LGBTQI&A belong together? Sure, LGBQ(depending on which Q we're talking about) and A, and then TQ&I. But I'm not sure. Does what I'm trying to get across make sense to anyone?
I dont really get why you'd want to split it and seggregate what is already a tense community between all the different parts.
It's divided between straight and non-straight (essentially non-cis-straight) because straight is, by and large, the majority, the default, the prestige, and the non-marginalized. Though sometimes there are loose connections between various degrees of "non-straight", I think it is important that they be joined together. Having "non-straight" in common is something that sets you apart from the majority.
See, you say 'not-straight' but you're forgetting bisexual people have 'straight' in them. (e.g. from observation and no actual mathematical algorithm I'm 30% straight). One day the groups will split when there's no normative (and just what's simply more common ... but not better/worse) and then we're all just individuals.
Here I think the term "straight" is equated with monosexuality. I'm biromantic, but I don't consider myself "straight" just because I "have it in me".
Straight people are exclusively attracted to the opposite sex. Bisexuals don't have straight or gay in them because they're not exclusively attracted to the opposite sex or the same sex, so they don't fit that qualification. ---------- Post added 1st Mar 2016 at 09:46 AM ---------- I think that the T and I shouldn't be included, because people don't really know what transgender means and confuse/conflate it with a sexuality all the time--it being apart of LGBT worsens this. Intersex is just a genetic disorder and really has nothing to do with sexuality (or being trans, but it should just be LGBQA anyway)
I can understand the reasons for excluding T on the basis of it not being a sexuality, and "non-straight" LGB+ referring to sexualities, but I think it's the marginalization of T, and its association with sexualities that joins it to the others. There might be a plus side to excluding it, but I think that would be minor overall--where then would trans people go for support? That's why "non-cis-straight" is maybe a more accurate descriptor of what this LGBT+ "entity" really is.
Exactly this. The LGBT+ community is already extremely small in comparison to society as a whole. We should be boosting and encouraging each other not shoving sections of people out. I get that the T on the end is confusing because people automatically infer that it's a sexuality but that just proves that we have so much more to educate on. By cutting the T out and leaving it as LGB+ you're excluding trans people and they're left with no support and even less availability to educate others on trans issues. People know the term 'LBGT' now, its not like we can separate it at this stage and personally I wouldn't want to. Trans people deal with a great deal of sexuality issues and the complexes between gender and sexuality in that case do merge so I don't see a problem with keeping them together. We're a bigger group with more people to provide awareness and educate. There's little to no advantage of segregating trans from the sexualities.
This is one of the reasons, yes. But the main reason is because historically trans people have been leading "the movement" since the very begging. They are the brave ones who bring up the conversation, create communities, serve the undeserved in our community. Historically, we owe the trans movement so so much. The "community" wasn't put together in a conference room with charts and strategies as to how exactly make this thing work . It was put together by people who were out in the streets, putting their lives on the line, fighting for a better future.
That's the first time anyone on EC has acknowledged this. And now the homosexuals want to kick the T to the curb. So ungrateful.
It seems almost as if now that LGB people have gotten a decent amount of acceptance, through marriage and public awareness, they feel comfortable in a position where they can lose the T- a more discriminated against group, if I may say so. This is wrong on so many levels. Any non-straight-cis person, learn your history, as someone on this thread has already pointed out. We were with you from the very beginning. To me, the LGB and the T are closely intertwined. We both are vulnerable minorities here to support each other. Maybe in this day and age, the LGB could afford to split with the T without much damage, but if it were the other way around, trans rights would be even more trampled on than they are already. Instead of trying to splinter an already disadvantaged group, why don't we work on the acceptance, bravery, and love the LGBT+ community represents together, and help each other?
No, we don't. Asking questions isn't wanting to exclude anyone. It's wanting to understand why and how things happened. While there may be a few that want to, the vast majority do not. And have never even thought of such a thing... And...I just realised something...while I call myself gay and lesbian and queer...this is the first time I've thought of myself as homosexual....a strange feeling....
I think that once there is enough acceptance we won't need so many different divisions. Everyone will just be people. And if that person happens to be born with a sex that doesn't match their gender or likes people of the same gender, then so be it. Unfortunately thats probably a bit too much to ask and it probably won't happen any time soon.
I think I may have been misunderstood. I personally have no issues with anyone based on how they identify in any way. I was just curious.
To misquote a famous TV series from the Sixties: I am not a letter. The various letters make no difference to me whatsoever. I see each and every person as an individual with their own needs, desires, problems and solutions. In the so-called 'straight' classification there would be any number of additional letters according to what people like and enjoy. We don't need a bunch of letters to hold us together because, in the end, no matter what anyone says, we're looking out for ourselves first and the rest just happen to be there too, different, but excluded from the mass and, therefore, useful.
