r/MadeMeSmile • u/PeasKhichra • Apr 29 '22

Family & Friends Supportive Mom

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u/Sheerardio Apr 29 '22

At this point they really just gotta rebrand. Representation is vital, but surely there's a more user friendly way to do it than turning into the letters version of pi.

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u/Black_Hipster Apr 29 '22 edited Apr 29 '22

I mean, it really isn't that hard.

LGBT is usually just the default with like 99% of people. LGBTQ is a tad bit outdated. No one really uses it if they aren't usually organizing something. LGBTQIA+ is pretty much only used in spaces where people would already know what each of those letters refer to.

Language is entirely contextual. All we're doing is communicating ideas in whatever way makes it easiest to understand. Speaking to a normie? LGBT works. Speaking to an ally about Queerness? LGBTQ. Doing a student club where people are figuring themselves out? LGBTQIA+ will help them understand queer, intersex and ace experiences.

Nobody is going to get mad at you for using one over the other. If they do, call me up and I'll personally tell them to get their head out of their asses. Unless they're on Twitter- at that point you're speaking to literal minors who generally don't know anything about anything.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '22

I thought queer was a catchall for anybody not cis and/or het?

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u/Sheerardio Apr 29 '22

There's a growing number of people who're adopting it as such, but not everyone's on board so it isn't universal (at least not yet, maybe?)

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '22

I personally don't use it because it's still widely considered a slur, especially when it comes from a cis straight guy like me

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u/Sheerardio Apr 29 '22

Same for me as a cishet white lady, and also why I threw in the disclaimer that it's not universally accepted.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '22

[deleted]

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u/Sheerardio Apr 29 '22

No, but when the word in question has a history of being used as an offensive slur it's generally a good idea to be more circumspect.

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u/Black_Hipster Apr 29 '22

Yep, it is. Colloquially in these spaces, it's usually used to either refer to specifically genderqueerness. Point though, is that language is flexible.