Queer & Proud: LGBT Lessons (Part 1)

 By Psychic Ace

Welcome to your first LGBT lesson, this series is dedicated to teaching others about the LGBTQ+ community, because despite the fact that LGBTQ+ people are more common to find in today’s age, not that many people actually know what it is, so I’m here to explain.

The term LGBTQ+ can be overwhelming for some people. Often, people will question what the acronym stands for and why there is a plus at the end. These people often use “gay” as an umbrella term for the group. This isn’t necessarily wrong, as a lot of LGBT people also use gay as an umbrella term, but it is better to know what you are talking about before mentioning it.

Lesson One: LGBTQ+ Meaning

LGBTQ+ is "acronymed" in a bunch of different ways, such as LGBT(+), LGBTQ(+), LGBTQ2IP2SA2(+), LGBTQIAPK(+), etc. and no, none of those are typos, and we will be exploring the most common of the bunch first.

LGBT, the most commonly known acronym for the community, stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. These are the orientations that are most known within the world. Lesbian is when a female only likes other females, Gay is when a male only likes other males, Bisexual is when someone of any gender like both boys and girls, and Transgender is when someone was born a different gender than they identify as, whether that be male to female (MTF) or female to male (MTF).

LGBTQ+ only adds two more parts of the community, the Q is often thought of as Questioning, someone who thinks they could be a part of the LGBT community, but isn’t sure what sexuality or gender they are, while the plus is basically just a way to include the extended portion of the bunch.

LGBTQ2IPNBA2(+)... this one looks more like a chemical formula than an acronym, so let’s get into it. Q2 is basically just QQ and one of those is for Questioning, while the other is for queer. Queer is like a really big umbrella term for all of the sexualities, including questioning. The term is used when someone knows what they like but can’t quite place it, or they just don’t like the term “Questioning”. I is for Intersex, which is another umbrella term, but it isn’t something that you can simply identify as. Sometimes, when people are born, their bodies do not fit within the regular male or female binary. There are many ways that someone could be classified as intersex, such as having reproductive organs that are not the same as neither the male nor female organs. Doctors will often still assign the child to a “legal sex” (Male or female). The P is for Pansexual, this is a person who is open to dating anyone, no matter their gender identity. The NB is for Non-Binary, someone who does not identify with either binary sex and often times goes by the pronouns they/them, but that is not always true. A Non-Binary person could go by any pronouns, it all depends on what makes them the most comfortable. A2 stands for Asexual and Aromantic, Asexual is when someone does not feel sexual attraction to anyone, but they may feel romantic attraction, and Aromantic is when someone doesn’t feel romantic attraction, but they may feel sexual attraction. Someone could identify with both of those or just one (or none).

LGBTQIAPD(+) is the last one that we will talk about today, though there is much more that these do not cover. This one only adds one more orientation, D, for Demi. Demi has three different variations, Demiboy, Demigirl, and Demigender. Demi means that a person almost fits in a category, but not quite. Each one is pretty self-explanatory, Demiboy for someone who is nearly a male, Demigirl for someone who is nearly a woman, and Demigender for the overall term, or someone who is nearly non-binary. It is hard to identify these types of people, and they use all sorts of pronouns.

I hope this mini-lesson helped you grasp the LGBTQ+ community a bit better, next lesson will be on LGBT Youths | Home and School Life.