LGBT

[Lucky]

The NY Times today uses the acronym LGBT, defining it as the "abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."

But when did I get abbreviated? How is it that lesbians are identified as a group with gay men? And what about transgender? What does that have to do with me?

Yes, I know it is a common thing to use LGBT when talking about these groups, but aren't we individual people and individual groups?

I don't know much about what it is like to be transgender, and can guess that lesbians are like gay men except when they are not, which is a lot.

So I wish they would just use gay men when talking about gay men, and lesbians and transgender when talking about them.

But I know it is not going to happen. It's too easy to use this acronym, and it is easy in part because we have let it happen.

[Guest CharliePS]

The NY Times today uses the acronym LGBT, defining it as the "abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."

But when did I get abbreviated? How is it that lesbians are identified as a group with gay men? And what about transgender? What does that have to do with me?

Yes, I know it is a common thing to use LGBT when talking about these groups, but aren't we individual people and individual groups?

I don't know much about what it is like to be transgender, and can guess that lesbians are like gay men except when they are not, which is a lot.

So I wish they would just use gay men when talking about gay men, and lesbians and transgender when talking about them.

But I know it is not going to happen. It's too easy to use this acronym, and it is easy in part because we have let it happen.

There is strength in numbers. The larger the minority group, the more power it has to accomplish its goal, which in this case is to eliminate discrimination against anyone based solely on sexual identity. It is primarily a political tactic, much like lumping together all Latinos/Hispanics, regardless of the fact that Mexicans, Cubans and Puerto Ricans don't usually think of themselves as part of a single group. It's an old phenomenon: immigrants to the US from Cork, Galway and Dublin in the early 19th century didn't think of themselves as "Irish" until they found themselves pushed together as part of a beleaguered "ethnic" minority. The political calculation is also part of the reason why the LGBT group doesn't include certain sexual minorities, like pedophiles or exhibitionists, who would weaken the group rather than strengthen it (and that's why opponents keep trying to link those categories); in fact, it took a long time for the political leaders of the group to accept transgenders, which they perceived as a negative for the group's image.

The first combinations of lesbians and gays occurred in bars in smaller cities, where neither group was large enough to support a single establishment. In the 1960s, early gay rights groups like the Janus Society in Philadelphia included both gays and lesbians, who saw themselves as having a common political interest despite their traditional social separation. That tactic continued with the organization of larger national groups in the post-Stonewall period. I'm afraid you are going to be perceived as an LGBT until there is no longer a need for the political movement.

[MsGuy]

It's an old phenomenon: immigrants to the US from Cork, Galway and Dublin in the early 19th century didn't think of themselves as "Irish" until they found themselves pushed together as part of a beleaguered "ethnic" minority.

Never knew that! Great historical parallel, Charlie.

[Lucky]

Charlie's response has had such an impact on me that I am considering a sex change operation in Thailand just so I can identify more with the transgender community. Unite brothers/sisters, and in between folks!

[BiBottomBoy]

We group together because we all face the same type of oppression. Lesbians and transgendered people are our allies. We all share common concerns.