Pages

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

What is LGBTQIA+? Article by Aryan Doshi

 The term LGBTQIA+ is an acronym. The first two letters mean lesbian and gay, which refers to same-gender attraction. These phrases picked up popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. The term gay is also used as an umbrella term for other orientations. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is a person who has come out as gay. Furthermore, B stands for bisexual. This term means to be attracted to your gender as well as another gender. Frank Ocean, a singer, and songwriter is bisexual. The T stands for transgender. This term has many meanings, but an overall definition is a person who has changed their gender identity from the biological gender. A role model is Caitlyn Jenner. She was biologically male but currently identifies herself as a trans woman. The following letter means Queer, an umbrella term which means the individual is not heterosexual or does not identify as their original gender. This means a person who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, may identify themselves as queer. An example is the comedian and host of the sitcom Ellen, Ellen Degeneres. The I stands for intersex. Intersex is the term that represents any person that is born with biological gender characteristics that are not in a traditional male or female body. It does not correlate with an orientation or gender identity. The last letter is A, which stands for Asexual. Someone who is asexual does find little to no sexual attraction. Lastly, the + sign incorporates all genders, identities, and sexual orientations that are not in the acronym. Not all words can fit in one acronym, so the + sign brings in all of them. Examples of these would be non-binary and pansexual. The significance of these terms is so that everyone is treated with respect. This is confusing to many people, but taking 5-10 minutes to learn definitions or understand these terms makes a difference. Without knowing the meaning of LGBTQIA+, you may disrespect somebody accidentally. Individuals can cause harm to someone that may not be your fault and just inexperience. By learning these terms, you eliminate the scenario of hurting someone's feelings unintentionally. Everyone is human, regardless of any other aspects of life. Therefore, they should and will be treated fairly. 



https://newsela.com/read/lgbtqia-plus-acronym-definitions/id/2001021431/ 

https://outrightinternational.org/content/acronyms-explained https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/style/lgbtq-gender-language.html

No comments:

Post a Comment