РусскийLGBT
LGBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which itself started replacing the term gay when in reference to the community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, as many felt the term gay community did not accurately represent all those to whom it referred. The initialism has become mainstream as a self-designation and has been adopted by many sexuality and gender identity-based community centers and media in the United States and other English-speaking countries. It is also used in many other countries.
Today, LGBTQ and LGBTQ+ are also widely used. The letter Q usually stands for queer and sometimes for people who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity. The + is used to include other sexual orientations, gender identities and sex characteristics that are not specifically represented by the letters LGBT or LGBTQ.
The initialism LGBT is intended to emphasize a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures and is sometimes used to refer broadly to people who are non-heterosexual or whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
To recognize this inclusion, a popular variant adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer and/or are questioning their sexual identity as LGBTQ, recorded since the 1990s.
Some variants also add the letter I for intersex and A for asexual. Terms such as LGBTQIA+ and LGBTIQ+ are therefore also used. In some Indigenous North American communities, 2S for Two-Spirit may also be included.
Whether or not LGBT people openly identify themselves may depend on whether they live in a discriminatory environment, as well as the status of LGBT rights where one lives.
History
Before the sexual revolution of the 1960s, there was no common non-derogatory vocabulary for non-heterosexuality; the closest such term, "third gender", traces back to the 1860s but never gained wide acceptance in the United States.
The first widely used term, homosexual, was thought by many people to carry negative or medicalized connotations and tended to be replaced by homophile in the 1950s and 1960s, and subsequently gay in the 1970s. As lesbians forged more public identities, the phrase "gay and lesbian" became more common.
As equality was a priority for lesbian feminists, disparity of roles between men and women or butch and femme were sometimes viewed as patriarchal. Lesbian feminists often rejected traditional gender-role play that had been common in bars, as well as what they considered chauvinism among some gay men. Some lesbians also preferred to organize separately from gay men.
This was soon followed by bisexual and transgender people also seeking recognition as legitimate categories within the larger community. After the initial euphoria of the Stonewall riots wore off, starting in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, there was a change in perception; some gays and lesbians were less accepting of bisexual or transgender people.
It was sometimes claimed that transgender people were acting out gender stereotypes and that bisexuals were simply gay men or lesbian women who were afraid to come out. Each community that is collectively included has struggled to develop its own identity including whether, and how, to align with other gender and sexuality-based communities, at times excluding other subgroups; these conflicts continue today.
The initialism LGBT saw occasional use in the United States from about the late 1980s. Not until the 1990s did it become common to speak of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people with equal recognition within the movement.
Although the LGBT community has seen controversy regarding acceptance of different member groups, particularly bisexual and transgender individuals, the term LGBT became an important symbol of inclusion.
Despite the fact that LGBT does not nominally encompass every sexual or gender minority, the term is often used broadly to include people not identified in the four-letter acronym.
By the 2010s and 2020s, LGBTQ and LGBTQ+ became increasingly common alternatives, while many governments, organizations and media outlets also use LGBTI, LGBTIQ, LGBTQIA+ or similar variants.
Variants
Many variants exist including variations that merely change the order of the letters; LGBT and GLBT have both been widely used, although LGBT is now much more common. When not inclusive of transgender people it is sometimes shortened to LGB.
LGBT may also include an additional Q for "queer" or "questioning", producing LGBTQ.
Other variants may add an I for intersex, an A for asexual, or 2S for Two-Spirit people. A P may sometimes be used for pansexual, although this is much less common than LGBTQ+.
LGBTQ+ has become one of the most commonly used modern variants. The plus sign represents identities that are not specifically named in the acronym.
LGBTQIA+ generally stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex and asexual, with the plus sign including additional identities.
LGBTIQ+ is another common version, particularly in Europe and international human-rights discussions.
The order of the letters has never been completely standardized and different organizations use different forms of the acronym.
The terms pansexual, omnisexual, fluid and queer may overlap with other sexual orientations but are not necessarily considered forms of bisexuality by everyone.
Likewise, transgender is an umbrella term covering many gender identities, but transgender people can have any sexual orientation. Being transgender does not mean that somebody is gay, lesbian or bisexual.
SGL or same gender loving is sometimes used by some Black Americans as an alternative to gay or lesbian.
MSM or men who have sex with men is mainly used in public health to describe men who have sex with other men without necessarily describing their sexual orientation.
A phrase introduced in the 2000s, "minority sexual and gender identities" (MSGI), as well as similar expressions such as "gender and sexual minorities", have also been used as broad alternatives but have never become as common as LGBT or LGBTQ+.
The magazine Anything That Moves once coined the acronym FABGLITTER, while another less common acronym was QUILTBAG. Neither became widely used.
Today, the simpler LGBTQ+ is generally much more common than these longer experimental acronyms.
The initial A in older expressions such as GLBTA was sometimes used for "allies", although in modern LGBTQIA+ usage the A generally refers to asexual, aromantic or agender identities rather than straight allies.
Criticism of the term
The initialisms LGBT, LGBTQ and their variants are not agreeable to everyone they are intended to encompass.
For example, some argue that transgender causes are not always the same as those of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This argument centers on the fact that transgender identity concerns gender identity, whereas lesbian, gay and bisexual identities primarily concern sexual orientation.
A transgender person may therefore be heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual or have another sexual orientation.
These distinctions have sometimes caused disagreement in political movements where LGB goals may be perceived to differ from transgender goals. Issues such as same-sex marriage historically focused mainly on sexual orientation, while other questions concern gender recognition, discrimination and transgender rights.
Similarly, some intersex people want to be included in LGBT groups and prefer initialisms such as LGBTI or LGBTIQ+, while other intersex people do not consider themselves part of the LGBT community.
Intersex refers to variations in sex characteristics and is not itself a sexual orientation or gender identity.
A reverse to the above situations is evident in the belief of "lesbian and gay separatism", which holds that lesbians and gay men form, or should form, a community distinct and separate from other groups normally included in the LGBTQ sphere.
Some separatists have opposed including bisexual or transgender people in lesbian and gay political organizations. Such views have sometimes led to biphobia and transphobia within LGBT communities.
Many people have looked for a generic term to replace the numerous existing abbreviations. Words such as "queer" and "rainbow" have been used.
"Queer" was historically widely used as an insult and for that reason some older gay and lesbian people still dislike the term. Many younger people, however, have reclaimed queer as a broad identity covering sexuality or gender identities outside heterosexual and cisgender norms.
The portrayal of an all-encompassing "LGBT community" or "LGBTQ community" is also disliked by some lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
Some do not subscribe to or approve of the political and social solidarity normally associated with LGBT organizations, gay pride marches and LGBT activism.
There is also enormous diversity inside LGBT communities. A gay man, lesbian woman, bisexual person, transgender person and intersex person may have very different experiences, cultures and political priorities despite being grouped together under the same acronym.
Nevertheless, LGBT and LGBTQ+ remain widely used umbrella terms around the world.
See Also
- Gay | Lesbian | Bisexuality | Transgender
- Queer | Intersex | Asexuality | Pansexuality
- North America | South America | Europe | Africa | Asia | Oceania
