Dear LGBTQA..a genuine request..

[DerbyTup]

is the LGBT lifestyle generally accepted now - it seems to me that society has come a long way towards this. If not, what else needs to be done?

Edited May 28, 2015 by DerbyTup

[jamesogt]

From an article.......

 

I hate the term LGBT.

It’s the confusion the term causes.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual are all sexualities, so you’d be forgiven for thinking transgender is as well.

Forms ask you if you’re heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or transgender.

But it’s not a sexuality. It’s a gender. It makes no more sense being included with LGB than if you were to add ‘female’ in there.

I am transgender. That means I was born with female genitalia and socialised as a woman. My brain had other ideas.

Before I came out, I was attracted to women. Being ‘female’ that made me a lesbian.

Now I’m transitioning to male, I’m still attracted to women, so that makes me heterosexual.

If I was attracted to men, I’d be gay.

See how that works? See how you can be transgender and gay, or lesbian, or straight, or bisexual? One does not equal the other.

Sexuality and gender and not the same thing and are independent of one another.

Add that to the fact that a lot of people in the LGB circles aren’t that tolerant of the T and you start to wonder just why we insist on being included.

Why it's time to remove the T from LGBT

An umbrella term that shouldn’t catch-all (Picture: AP/David Goldman)

I get why it was included in the first place. Sort of.

An inclusion measure for marginalised people, many of whom had their roots in the LGB communities.

But when talking about issues that concern sexuality why is transgender included?

Yes, the fight for equality for LGB people is still ongoing but the transgender fight is completely different and is only just beginning.

It’s time we stopped pretending otherwise.

[Library]

From an article.......

 

I hate the term LGBT.

It’s the confusion the term causes.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual are all sexualities, so you’d be forgiven for thinking transgender is as well.

Forms ask you if you’re heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or transgender.

But it’s not a sexuality. It’s a gender. It makes no more sense being included with LGB than if you were to add ‘female’ in there.

I am transgender. That means I was born with female genitalia and socialised as a woman. My brain had other ideas.

Before I came out, I was attracted to women. Being ‘female’ that made me a lesbian.

Now I’m transitioning to male, I’m still attracted to women, so that makes me heterosexual.

If I was attracted to men, I’d be gay.

See how that works? See how you can be transgender and gay, or lesbian, or straight, or bisexual? One does not equal the other.

Sexuality and gender and not the same thing and are independent of one another.

Add that to the fact that a lot of people in the LGB circles aren’t that tolerant of the T and you start to wonder just why we insist on being included.

Why it's time to remove the T from LGBT

An umbrella term that shouldn’t catch-all (Picture: AP/David Goldman)

I get why it was included in the first place. Sort of.

An inclusion measure for marginalised people, many of whom had their roots in the LGB communities.

But when talking about issues that concern sexuality why is transgender included?

Yes, the fight for equality for LGB people is still ongoing but the transgender fight is completely different and is only just beginning.

It’s time we stopped pretending otherwise.

 

I have to agree with the sentiments expressed here: being transgender is nothing to do with sexuality, and is possibly the main reason why the term transgender is in common use rather than the term transsexual. When I transitioned way back it infuriated me to be described as transsexual and I, along with many others, campaigned for the change to transgender for the reasons highlighted above.

 

A bit off topic for the original question, perhaps.

 

---------- Post added 29-05-2015 at 09:20 ----------

 

is the LGBT lifestyle generally accepted now - it seems to me that society has come a long way towards this. If not, what else needs to be done?

 

What exactly is a LGBT lifestyle? style. Are you suggesting that all LGBT people have the same lifestyle? Do all heterosexual people have the same lifestyle?

 

I can't really speak for LGB, but I have quite a lot of experience of being T and of knowing others.

 

From personal experience of over 20 years I would say that the tolerance of transgender people has increased considerably in recent years, probably because there are more of us about now and more who are open about being transgender. When I transitioned no-one in the company had encountered it before, and neither had the local area union rep. My GP hadn't come across it either. I know from discussion groups and forums how much greater is the awareness these days,which certainly makes life easier.

 

Having said that, there is still plenty of intolerance and misunderstanding around. Late last year a transwoman in Carlisle committed suicide because of the incessant bullying she was subjected to, and the case of Lucy Meadows is still fresh in the memory. Things are a lot better for transgender people than they used to be, but there is still quite a way to go.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Library

[harvey19]

If talking about groups why not use the phrase homosexual and bisexual ?

I think transgender is a separate issue.

Just a random thought.

[tzijlstra]

The day a kid can tell their class, a right back can tell their football-club, a member of a boyband can tell their fans that they are gay and not get dismissive/stupid reactions is when we have acceptance. It isn't far off, but far enough to still require attention.

[Mister M]

The day a kid can tell their class, a right back can tell their football-club, a member of a boyband can tell their fans that they are gay and not get dismissive/stupid reactions is when we have acceptance. It isn't far off, but far enough to still require attention.

 

This.

 

As per this thread: http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1214020 I think what is frustrating for me as a gay adult is that only until a few years ago many teachers were 'complaining' about Section 28 inhibiting them from taking a proactive stance in school to prevent LGBT students getting grief.

 

But Section 28 was about restricting Local Authorities from publishing material with the intention of promoting homosexuality. Thankfully that was repealed in 2003, but it served its political purpose, which of course was what the act was really about.

 

I think if some adults have a problem with being LGBT, and lets face it, there will be members of boybands & football teams that are gay, then I suspect some children will too. After all, the pressures faced by children with regards to not fitting in feel greater than when you're an adult.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Mister M

[hyper]

The day a kid can tell their class, a right back can tell their football-club, a member of a boyband can tell their fans that they are gay and not get dismissive/stupid reactions is when we have acceptance. It isn't far off, but far enough to still require attention.

Mmmm ... I'm not quite sure if you have good examples

 

A the school example. - You will find that the modern schoolkid (evil bully types excepted) accepts all differernces without prejudice - race, disability, sexual orientation etc. But when a kid is angry, he will lash out with what he thinks hurts the most, which for some will be sexual orientation. Which is why most teenagers say they hate their parents in times of anger. Neither are deepfelt meaning, just poking at nerves in the heat of anger.

 

B the football team. I'd be more worried for him if he didn't get "stupid" reactions. I belong to a sports club and everyone (or everyone who is part of the gang) gets the mickey taken. Be you tall, short, bald, toothless, fat, poor eyesight etc etc. It's part of the banter. If you aren't subject to any of that, like I say, you are a bit of an outsider

 

C the boyband. The adverse reaction is because it spoils the dreams of thousands of impressionable schoolgirls, all hoping to one day be the band member's bride

[Alcoblog]

I think LGBT is just a patronising acronym attempt aimed at those who don't know or understand. Packaging peoples sexuality into tidy little compartments is to me, banal.

So far as I'm concerned, no one is 'all male' or 'all female' (representing 100% score in either gender). By the way, I'm talking mental being, not physical appearance here.

 

To me, people sit quite comfortably anywhere along these parameters, just as nature intended. Nothing is 'right' or 'wrong' apart from to those who're too ignorant to entertain the fact.

 

Personally, I reckon I'm about 75% male and 25% female ... I'm happy with this. 100% male would be bad.

I think a 'female' trait (from observation) is empathy (mother instincts?) over male 'aggression' (hunter-gatherer?). Thankfully, I've adopted the female side.

 

What does that make me ... 'man-woman'? I don't think so. I'm pretty much like most other people I know.

It's when you get to around the 50-50 mix that I think things would naturally get confusing, although, once again, perfectly natural.

 

It's society that's wrong here, not nature. The more we come to understand, the less there'll be a fascination to classify.

 

Just to add ... the above are my own personal thoughts, nothing that I've read as such.

[Mister M]

Mmmm ... I'm not quite sure if you have good examples

 

A the school example. - You will find that the modern schoolkid (evil bully types excepted) accepts all differernces without prejudice - race, disability, sexual orientation etc. But when a kid is angry, he will lash out with what he thinks hurts the most, which for some will be sexual orientation. Which is why most teenagers say they hate their parents in times of anger. Neither are deepfelt meaning, just poking at nerves in the heat of anger.

 

B the football team. I'd be more worried for him if he didn't get "stupid" reactions. I belong to a sports club and everyone (or everyone who is part of the gang) gets the mickey taken. Be you tall, short, bald, toothless, fat, poor eyesight etc etc. It's part of the banter. If you aren't subject to any of that, like I say, you are a bit of an outsider

 

C the boyband. The adverse reaction is because it spoils the dreams of thousands of impressionable schoolgirls, all hoping to one day be the band member's bride

 

In example A: Most kids understand that you don't call an Asian kid a '****' or a black person as a '******', even in anger. So why the difference with gay people?

In example B: There is a difference between harmless 'banter' and vindictiveness. Most people can understand this.

In example C: So gay should stay in the closet so they don't dash the hopes of a school girl who has a crush

[hyper]

In example A: Most kids understand that you don't call an Asian kid a '****' or a black person as a '******', even in anger. So why the difference with gay people?

In example B: There is a difference between harmless 'banter' and vindictiveness. Most people can understand this.

In example C: So gay should stay in the closet so they don't dash the hopes of a school girl who has a crush

Admittedly, I'm shooting from the hip, as you do in conversations, so am not claiming to be absolutely correct, but trying to answer each one

 

A- the racist comment. Kids don't go there, because racism is a category A offence along with violence in schools and carries the penalty of isolation/exclusion. Now maybe, so should sexuality related abuse??

 

B- I'm not sure the "stupid/dismissive" reactions of the football team have to be vindictive or abusive. It could be just banter. The difficulty in doing it is not knowing how the subject of the 'joke' takes it. But if it grates, there is no harm in saying ... hang on lads ... not funny.

 

c - no the gay boyband member shouldn't stay in the closet. He should stand for who he is . But he has to expect his biggest fan base will lose their interest in him. And loss of interest means less sales revenues. Maybe he has to be more proactive and change his appeal to a different demographic.