In the UK parliament recently, mention was made of the letter “I” being added to “LGBT”, so we’d have “LGBTI”. In other words, the “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender” tick box would be expanded to include “I”.
So, what is “I”?
This was a question I asked some friends over dinner. In the absence of any helpful suggestions we had to resort to Google. “Intersex” a friend read out. “In to sex!” yelled another to howls of laughter, “that’s me!”.
For clarification “Intersex”, as understood by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, refers to people who “do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies”. Ahh – they sound like hermaphrodites. If only they had said! Except, according to Wikipedia, the term hermaphrodites is now “considered to be misleading, stigmatising, and scientifically specious” – whatever (on earth) that last bit is.
“Hang on a minute”, said my Google-searching dinner companion, “what about “Q”?”. Apparently this can be “Queer”. I can’t see how this adds anything to “LGBTI” even if it is suddenly a phrase that seems to be in fashion again, but what do I know? Then there’s “Questioning” – as in questioning one’s sexuality, sex, sexual identity or a combination of all three. So, if I’ve got this right, now we have “LGBTIQ” or “LGBTIQQ”.
It seems some political parties use “LGBTI” or “LGBTIQ” but are they being inclusive enough? This got me thinking – what about Asexual people? We don’t hear much about them but some do seem to include them too. If we add them in we have “LGBTIQQA”.
This is getting stupid but the letters just keep coming. “U” has apparently been used for “Unsure”, “C” for “Curious”, “P” for “Polyamorous” or “Pansexual”.
Then the abbreviation “TS” or “2S” for “Two-Spirited” pops up. I had never heard of “Two-Spirited” before but apparently it relates to people who fulfil a “mixed gender role” within their community and is “not specifically a state of sexuality”. Is this similar to Non-Binary or maybe Bi-Gendered or something completely different? Answers on a postcard please.
So we could have “LGBTIQQACPPTS” or “LGBTIQQACPP2S”. And we haven’t even got onto fetishes which are also recognised by some. These ludicrous ever-growing tick box groupings hardly roll off the tongue, yet some are actually using similar length terms as we speak – and, even if they aren’t now, you can be sure it is only a matter of time before they do.
Aside from the sheer number of included groups, I don’t know if there is or should be a hierarchy or an order here. Should “I” for Intersex come before “T” for “Transsexual” or should “Intersex”, “Transsexual” and “Questioning” etc be together? Maybe “Questioning” should be sandwiched in the middle as it can go either way in terms of relevance.
Or should it be more like the grammar rule “I” before “E” except after “C”?
These labels are an obsession for the politically correct. Yet, many people do not share that view – not least some of those who are the ones being labelled in this way. All these people do not necessarily want to be put in the same bracket for whatever the purpose is. Many will have more in common with people who are not in the group than those who are!
For example, there are certainly some gay people who do not necessarily empathise with transsexuals and there are definitely some politically correct feminist lesbians who will have very little in common with some of the gay men I know. Also, some people will be permanently included in the category and some only passing through – e.g. some of the “Questioning”, “Curious” and “Unsures” who later go on to decide.
Brief research suggests that, as expected, intersex people can be gay and straight – just like transsexuals – so why they are also lumped in with the “LGB” bracket I am not entirely sure. Apparently, neither are they as it seems some of them do not want to be lumped in themselves.
Of course, none of this will stop the politically correct tick box mafia – or should they be called the PCTBM?
Back at dinner, another friend – exhausted by the length of the acronyms – piped up: “I think I will just stick to BLT”. “Why just Bisexual, Lesbian and Transgender?” I asked. “No, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato” he said. I couldn’t argue with that.
- Philip Davies is MP for Shipley
