The LGBTQIA-community

[Kieran_Frost]

Keep in mind, this is just my opinion, and I'm not saying that this is what should be put in place, and everyone made to follow.

Hey, voice your thoughts on the matter. If we disagree, we disagree, but you have a right to express your feelings on it.

It seems to me that the community is too fragmented, and we are constantly adding letters, but it always stops at "lgbt". I've seen Demi Lovato call us "The Alphabet Mafia", and I've jokingly called us "The Alphabet Crew". It also seems that the 6-stripe flag is used to cover the whole community, but somehow is also assigned to gay men specifically. We also know that each subgroup has their own flag.

It's very fragmented, sadly. And I don't see how it will heal anytime soon. While I fully support each 'group' reclaiming their voice in the LGBT+ community through their own flag and own pride and own day... that's not how you bring a group together, but emphasising what separates you (in my opinion). But maybe we don't need to be one group anymore, maybe that will be where this evolution of ideas leads? To communities of groups, and no-longer an umbrella group of LGBT+? And if it does, it does, gotta let things take their course (steering as best we can).

In my mind, the 6-stripe flag would officially be assigned to the whole community, which would then be called "The Queer Community". This would do away with the ever-growing list of letters, and automatically cover all the groups whose letters get cut off (intersex, demisexual, genderqueer, asexual, pansexual). Gay men would then need to design their own flag, to go along with all the other flags. My choice would be a white flag, with the pink triangle, point down, as a way to honor those who we lost in the camps, and to persecution and hate crimes throughout time.

Ohhhh, love that pink triangle point down on a white flag, that sounds very beautiful. In many ways gay men don't 'need' a flag the way other groups do, because of larger issues of 'privilege' (even in the LGBT+ community). When you feel comfortable using the established symbol, it normally means 'because the established norm works in your favour' (which is privilege). Ohhhh it's a minefield.

Also, a number of people are offended by "Queer" because of it being used as a slur against us.

I'm one of them, alas. If that's where the LGBT+ community goes, okay. Their right to do it. But it'll never be a group I feel any connection to. That said getting everyone to agree on a universal umbrella term will never happen, there have been too many iterations for a new one to stick (based on how I think these things work). I think each to their own, and use what you personally feel comfortable using, accepting that others won't always feel included (the price we have to pay). I use LGBT+ as the umbrella term because it's the least offensive one I can find, that seems to annoy the least people. But I understand some dislike being relegated to a + (I've had to make peace with that, since I've seen just as many object to 'alphabet soup' as I have the +; but still find those the quieter of the voices compared to objection to umbrella terms such as Qu**R community and gay community).

To be honest, I decorate my apartment for Pride, and I had rainbow lights and a new rainbow flag in my windows, I opted to replace my 6-stripe one to get one that includes the black and brown stripes for gay people of color.

Sounds AMAZING!!!