Do you want asexuals to be part of the LGBT community?
When people ask me this, I usually answer with a joke:
Well, there isn't enough room on the [SF LGBT Center] sign.
Since the addition of "T" into "LGBT" still seems controversial, gunning for asexual inclusion is almost a moot point right now. However, I'd love to be included, if they'd have us.
Apparently, some people are already throwing "A" into the mix. According to Wikipedia's article on "LGBT":
Many variants exist. The most commonly used involve adding a Q for queer or questioning (some variants, in fact, use two Qs to represent both of these groups), an A for asexual or allies (and sometimes 'S' for straight ally), a T for two spirit, an I for intersex, or a P for pansexual or polyamorous. Some even add an O for omnisexual or other.
And also:
At its fullest, then, it is some permutation of LGBTTTIQQA, though this is extremely rare.
I say, don't stop at transfolks or asexuals. I say, include everyone! It sounds facetious, but I'm completely serious. It's power in numbers, people! Sure, LGBTTTIPQQA (gotta add a 'P' in there for those pansexuals) is harder to cross-stitch. But to those who would say that such a community would never be possible, I give you an example that you're probably already quite familiar with: The United States. We're composed of 50 states and assorted territories, filled with millions of people who are as different from each other as can be. But despite (or because of) our crazy-large diversity, we've managed to stumble along together for quite some time now. We even manage to share some values, like freedom, hard work, and deep-fried Oreos.
Why are people so thrown by a few extra letters? I can imagine a LGBTTTIPQQA community getting together under the premise of equal rights for all people, understanding, and acceptance.
That would be a beautiful-- albeit unpronounceable-- thing.
5 comments:
I don't know, that just seems kind of ridiculous. I mean...there are way too many letters in there. I admit that since we seem to be adding in all the sexualities, asexual should be included, but there should be some debate as to whether to say "asexual" or make up some other word that means the same thing. I know that I don't like to be put into the same category as sponges or certain plants, but I guess right now it's the only word that describes us. I tend to say NONsexual, because asexual has so many meanings and connotations, and nonsexual is just very straight-forward.
I think all those letters are mainly arbitrary. To me, queer is gay/lesbian, questioning is bi, two-spirit is transgendered, polyamorous is bisexual, pansexual is bisexual. I think we're being too nitpicky about what the words mean.
I'm not even going to BOTHER with allies. WTF do we need allies? Ok, so they support people, so what? Why should we include them in the abbreviation for SEXUALITIES? Being supportive of LGBT isn't a sexuality. I'm all for putting in a S in there, for straight, as an H could stand for homosexual AND heterosexual.
I know this is tl;dr. Sorry. Just my thoughts. :-P
WTF do we need allies? Ok, so they support people, so what? Why should we include them in the abbreviation for SEXUALITIES? Being supportive of LGBT isn't a sexuality.
I think allies are imperative, but I agree with you in that they probably shouldn't be included in an acronym about sexualities. If it was some kind of specific organization, then sure, bring 'em in.
As for the term "asexual", it's true that right now, we tend to get confused with amoebas. This is not cool. But I'd like to hope that in time, the "people who don't experience sexual attraction" definition would eclipse the "single-celled organism one". "Gay" used to mean "cheerful", but how many people have you heard saying "I'm just feeling so GAY today!" lately? Couldn't "nonsexual" bring up the same assumptions "asexual" does, that we have no sex organs or are physically unable to be sexual? But I guess I ran with the term "asexual" without questioning it. And questioning things is good to do.
What I'm really trying to figure out here is, are the number of letters really the problem? We have no problem memorizing long strings of letters-- we all know the alphabet, and that's a relatively vast 26. What if we came up with a song for our many-lettered group to help us remember it?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts :-)
some schools have groups like "Rainbow" or "Spectrum" or "Queer Alliance" in an effort to shorten the multiplicating alph-queer-soup.
thoughts on that?
also, not to be too nitpicky, but being polyamorous is not the same as bisexual. someone can be polyamorous ("the desire, practice, or acceptance of having more than one loving, intimate relationship at a time") but not bisexual.
:-)
some schools have groups like "Rainbow" or "Spectrum" or "Queer Alliance" in an effort to shorten the multiplicating alph-queer-soup.
thoughts on that?
Sure! As long as the 'rarer' (yes, that sounds strange) orientations are welcomed, I think that's a good way to go about making an inclusive group.
If there was something like "Queer Alliance for old, graduated folks", I'd join!
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