HUELEN10
Member
I've been having talking with friends recently and there are a lot of people I know with very opposing views. Since GAF has a decent chunk of both non-heterosexual people and non-heterosexual supporters/allies/activists/etc, I wanted to get an outside opinion on the issue of the terminology. For those not in the know LGBT (or GLBT as some places call it) stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender. Simple enough right? GSRM is another term, and it stands for Gender, Sexual, and Romantic Minorities. As you can see, the two terms are not interchanagble, yet there is a growing number of people that want GSRM to be the term used by the people and the media when talking about stuff like orientations and stuff like that. Here are some of the pros and cons I have personally either dealt with or seen.
LGBT Pros
GSRM Pros
GSRM Cons
Personally, I think it would be easiest to say if you're not heterosexual, you're queer, but that to many still carries negative connotations, and I respect that. Personally, I prefer the GSRM term because it is more inclusive, and at the same time shows that gender, sexuality, and romance are all different things, different things not worth hating a motherfucker for, and things that should have no bearing on how you are treated by other people. That being said, what is your take on this GAF? Are the dangers of sounding too all-inclusive truly real if GSRM becomes more popular? Will LGBT over time change to be more inclusive to other sexualities, bringing more gender into the field, and also adding romantic preferences?
LGBT Pros
- It's mainstream and most people know what it means and entails.
- It focuses mainly on sexual orientations, which to many is all that matters in the LGBT as far as civl rights is concerned.
- Transgender: A lot of people say that the T doesn't belong in the acronym because LG and B or orientations, and transgenderism is simply the state of one's gender identity not matching one's assigned genitals, not an orientaiton (a valid point). That, and there actually exist gay and lesbian people (trust me, I know because I've spoken with them) that think that trans poeple should not be lumped with them because of (truly hateful IMO) things like "I was born this way, my sexuality is not a choice, but those trannies are fucked in the head, mooching off the civil rights we fought for".
- Redundancy: Gay and lesbian? Why? When people use terms like heterosexual or straight, there is no distinction made with men or women. Some people think the G and L should be replaced with H for homosexual, and others believe gay should emcompass both gay and lesbian. Other still make the point that using both gay and lesbian promotes sexism.
- Lack of orientations, and complete focus on binary ones: Pansexuality, Asexuality, Polysexuality, and Androphilia/Gynephilia are not included in LGBT.
- Allies: Some people think that LGBT supporters are nice and all, but not actually part of the LGBT (since, you know, they're not gay; they're just allies). As such, a lot of people add letters to LGBT, which leads us to...
- Letter meaning: LGBTAQETC? What is A? Ally? Asexual? What is Q? Queer? Questioning? Quiche ("it's pretty fucking gay, that's why I asked" is something I've actually been told when someone asked me if Q mean quiche.)? Too much confusion.
GSRM Pros
- It is all-inclusive to all sexual orientations, gender statuses, and romantic orientations, and it binary and non-binary friendly. Gays, Bisexuals, Pansexuals, Aces, Trans people, agendered people, and everyone else is included.
GSRM Cons
- It sounds too all-inclusive: GSRM is about pretty much all (what some would call) non-heteronormative genders, sexual orientations, and romantic orientations, and that's it. One of the issues is that some fetishist think it includes them, and some straight flurries and straight bondage enthusiasts believe they are included in the GSRM The fact that you are kinky doesn't mean you are part of the GSRM.
- Minorities: Some non-heterosexual people have a problem with being labeled as a minority.
Personally, I think it would be easiest to say if you're not heterosexual, you're queer, but that to many still carries negative connotations, and I respect that. Personally, I prefer the GSRM term because it is more inclusive, and at the same time shows that gender, sexuality, and romance are all different things, different things not worth hating a motherfucker for, and things that should have no bearing on how you are treated by other people. That being said, what is your take on this GAF? Are the dangers of sounding too all-inclusive truly real if GSRM becomes more popular? Will LGBT over time change to be more inclusive to other sexualities, bringing more gender into the field, and also adding romantic preferences?