Most of us know what the acronym LGBT means, but many of us struggle with the full acronym: LGBTQQIP2SA.
Liberals are awesome, honestly. We try, you know? But I’m probably not the first liberal to stumble over this long acronym. Let’s break it down.
It is common practice for someone to want to label another person or group with a unique word that identifies who that person or peoples are. It is also common practice that, as times change, the words used to describe diverse groups get shortened into acronyms that become the identity of of a group from outsiders. Sometimes this works. Other times it doesn’t.
When a group has chosen to identify itself with certain words and wishes to include more unique identifiers into its fold, the acronym can become quite a mouthful to say. Such is the case with LGBTQQIP2SAA, the full letter list that comprises members of the LGBT community plus.
But what does it all mean?
- L – Lesbian.
- G – Gay
- B – Bisexual
- T – Transgender
- QQ – Queer and Questioning
- I – Intersex. People who have female and male sex organs or any other chromosomal differences.
- P – Pansexual. People who refuse to be limited to partners based on gender, biological gender, or gender identity.
- 2S – Two Spirit. A First Nations view that a person is born with both female and male spirits and therefore can identify as both genders.
- A – Asexual. A person who does not experience sexual attraction to any gender.
- A – Allies. Straight allies who support the community.
The true intention of a long acronym such as this is to be all-inclusive, seeking to forget no one or their unique identity. However, this has led to a long string of letters that most often gets chopped in half after LGBT. When this happens, its far too easy to forget that there are other gender and sexual identities than the labels that get the most attention.
The argument about the correct meaning of LGTBQQIP2SAA and its necessity is something that flares up in the community from time to time. While this acronym grows to cover all groups of unique individuals, it falls short of including some who may feel left out. Unfortunately, there is no one magic word that can describe the entire community as a whole and satisfy everyone. But the effort to try is there, and that’s what counts.
Image via: UNT Glad Vice President – Siena Riehle
