GLBT’s Gotta Go

In the gay community, we’ve stuck with our little four-letter call sign, GLBT, as an inclusive midpoint to those who found “homosexual” too clinical and “gay” too broad. And leave it to us crazy feminists to turn the whole thing ‘round by insisting that we rename GLBT to LGBT as a signal that women are not always second to those gay boys.

Indeed, the longstanding and obstinate usage of GLBT as opposed to LGBT mirrors a sad truth: lesbians are often considered “less than” in the community. Nationally, the leaders of our most influential gay organizations are led by men including Jarrett Tomás Barrios of GLAAD, Joe Solmonese of The Human Rights Campaign, and Charles Robbins of The Trevor Project, among others. But really, I have to look no further than the gay neighborhood in my city to see approximately three establishments aimed at lesbians compared to approximately 15 for gay men.

Wandering down the GLBT initialism we see that, again, the order mirrors the segmentation of the gay community. Bisexuals and transgender individuals are the straggling cabooses to this leadership train. It’s a palpable sentiment that bisexuals are less than gays and lesbians for not being gay enough, are not truly gay, or are simply in gay limbo awaiting the ferry ride to Gaysville. And then there’s transgender individuals, tacked on the end to complete this sad hierarchy of those who matter in the gay community and those who are an afterthought.

Even now, GLBT evolves again to append I’s (Intersex) and Q’s (Questioning) as a begrudging admission that, indeed, our community isn’t made up of four discrete groups, but of people whose sexuality and gender are liquid. And we’re okay with that.

It is human nature to relate order with importance and relate grouping to defined differences. Though it may seem inconsequential or irrelevant, the way we market ourselves is of vital importance to our equality and to the perception of gays by non-gays. In the marketing and public relations worlds, every piece of collateral and every written word is scrutinized because each word has societal connotations. Every way that we speak, write and act contributes to the joint understanding of who we are. And who we are is sometimes fractured. “GLBT” only shuts down a community that is so free and giving by nature.

What shall we call ourselves, then? I can only think of one word that befits our glorious people: Queer. As many gays have already done, I say that we reclaim and appropriate this word as an open-door to any who have ever felt — as the word’s literal definition states — odd, or out of sorts in a heterosexual, “normal” world. For any person who has ever been a pariah because he/she was too masculine, too feminine, attracted to the same sex, felt like another sex, then this is the word for you. If you’re questioning who you are or are enjoy leather bars and second-date U-Hauls, this is the word for you. For anyone who’s ever felt hated, beaten down, this is the word for you. Everyone who has something to offer this world that’s a little off-kilter, but delightful all the same, this is the word for you.

Come one, come all, let’s gather underneath the Queer tent and say goodbye to GLBT forever.

Photo credit: fotologic