Now I Know My ABC(LGBTQI+A)'s

TRIGGER WARNING: Some friends may feel that the genders and sex references I put do not apply, and may feel uncomfortable. Please understand I'm not trying to exclude anyone, so I'm going by definitions in the dictionary so as not to jumble any words or be misunderstood. But no matter what, love is love, and if you feel truly excluded, please let me know and I WILL edit the post!

I'm taking what a friend wrote in one of their video blogs and making a little post of my own about it! This week, we're talking about the letters of the alphabet! Well, not really, because I'd hope one would know them already.

Nah, we're talking about the letters that make up the acronym for the "not-so-straight" community. This is an educational post, there will be a test after. (Just kidding, I know I'm not funny, moving on.) But just in case you think you may not need this, out of the 22 people who voted, 10 people said they didn't know what all of this meant. So, here we go.

• L: lesbian
• G: gay/genderqueer
• B: bisexual/pansexual
• T: transgender

And there's a few more that people LOVE to forget about. (Disclaimer: there are multiple accepted acronyms for the community. This is just the one I feel is the easiest to understand, and it tends to be the most used acronym after the simple LGBT.)

• Q: queer/questioning
• I: intersex
• A: asexual/aromantic

Just for your references, the video makes the statement that A does NOT stand for "ally", so for those who believe their heterosexual self belongs in the "anything BUT heterosexual" community, please show yourself out. Belittling our cause after "supporting" it just so you can feel included isn't a pretty look. But if you prove yourself a decent human and actually act as an ally, then of course you're welcomed.

So, what I'd like to talk about is what they all mean. Some of them are self-explanatory, but let's just do it for everything so no one gets left out in the cold. (Again, let me reiterate that these are definitions taken from the dictionary, and are not meant to offend anyone as far as gender, sex, or identity!)

• Lesbian: a homosexual woman

• Gay: a homosexual, specifically a man

• Bisexual: sexually attracted to both men and women

• Pansexual: not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity

• Transgender: a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex

And now these are the ones where the dictionary got iffy. Some of these are just words, so I'm going to do my best to explain for some of those who may not be too sure how they apply to this community.

• Queer: "strange, or odd..." This, in the community, simply means someone who identifies as something other than heterosexual. It can be used as a blanket term for the whole community, but some of us just use it to cover whatever our sexuality may be within that community.

• Questioning: "indicating or implying a question..." In the queer community - actually, in any community, really - a lot of people have no idea what they are and how to label themselves, or even if they'd like to label themselves at all. Simply, they're questioning themselves and figuring themselves out and where they fit in to everything.

• Intersex: "someone whose anatomy or genetics at birth do not correspond to the typical expectations for either sex..." So, this one is an interesting concept. Ever heard the term "hermaphrodite"? An example of someone who is intersex. It's not an offensive term. Rather, it's not meant to be. And it's not always visible, either. Medically, it could be a completely internal thing. I read a great article about why some people feel this does not belong in the original acronym, and how doing so may imply that these intersex individuals are homosexual/bisexual etc., but in that same article, they state that they face similar struggles and erasure as the rest of the community, and an acronym shouldn't stop a cause from working together for acceptance. Good point, in my opinion.

• Asexual: "someone without sexual feelings or associations..." There's only been one source of media that has ever, to my knowledge, portrayed an asexual community properly - BoJack Horseman. It took until Season 4 to do it, but once they did, it was amazing. It doesn't mean you're incapable of finding a partner. It doesn't mean you don't WANT to find a partner. It means you're not interested in sex. Some people don't like vegetables, some people don't like spiders, and some people don't like sex, and that's perfectly fine.

• Aromantic:"someone who doesn't experience romantic attraction..." Which does not mean they don't experience love. This simply means that romantically, they're not with it. Platonic love is absolutely capable for someone aromantic. They just feel that there's no need for an intimate pairing, considering they can actually love. I feel that in my generation, this isn't so common, but the "eligible bachelor(ette)" thing could totally apply. Like, they may have siblings and friends and parents and family and whoever that they love. But anything more than that just isn't their thing.

I hope that I was able to educate you guys! Hopefully, if anyone ever asks about the queer "alphabet", you can give them a little bit of knowledge and prove that labels are sometimes there for a reason. No matter what you may think, you do fit in somewhere. I promise.