Being ‘Woke’ to LGBTQIA+ is a Muddle
Using language from New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center website, I summarize the following information:
LGBTQIA+ is an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more. These terms are used to describe a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
That abbreviation breaks down as follows:
LESBIAN
A woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay or as gay women.
GAY
Describes people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex. Sometimes lesbian is the preferred term for women.
BISEXUAL
A person who can form enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or more than one gender. People may experience this attraction in differing ways and degrees over their lifetime. Bisexual people need not have had specific sexual experiences to be bisexual; they need not have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual.
TRANSGENDER
An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. People under the transgender umbrella may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms— including transgender or nonbinary. Some transgender people are prescribed hormones by their doctors to bring their bodies into alignment with their gender identity. Some undergo surgery as well. But not all transgender people can or will take those steps, and a transgender identity is not dependent upon physical appearance or medical procedures.
QUEER
An adjective used by some people whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual or straight. This umbrella term includes people who have nonbinary, gender-fluid, or gender nonconforming identities. Once considered a pejorative term, queer has been reclaimed by some LGBTQIA+ people to describe themselves; however, it is not a universally accepted term even within the LGBTQIA+ community.
QUESTIONING
Sometimes, when the Q is seen at the end of LGBT, it can also mean questioning. This term describes someone who is questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.
INTERSEX
An adjective used to describe a person with one or more innate sex characteristics, including genitals, internal reproductive organs, and chromosomes, that fall outside of traditional conceptions of male or female bodies. Do not confuse having an intersex trait with being transgender. Intersex people are assigned a sex at birth — either male or female — and that decision by medical providers and parents may not match the gender identity of the child. Not all intersex folks identify as being part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
ASEXUAL
The adjective describes a person who does not experience sexual attraction. Sometimes shortened to “ace,” it is an umbrella term that can also include people who are demisexual, meaning they do experience some sexual attraction; graysexual, meaning those who may not fit the strictest definition of the word asexual; and aromantic, meaning they experience little to no romantic attraction and/or has little to no desire to form romantic relationships.
+PLUS
The ‘plus’ is used to signify all of the gender identities and sexual orientations that words cannot yet fully describe.
I’m guessing the +Plus is where the term ‘non-Binary’ fits.
A non-Binary gender identity is not specifically mentioned in the eight-letter acronym: We hear the term a lot but few of us know what it is. Frankly, nobody does. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is different from their assigned sex, but some non-binary people do not consider themselves transgender.
From Wikipedia: Non-binary people may identify as an intermediate or separate third gender identify with more than one gender, no gender or have a fluctuating gender identity (genderfluid). Being non-binary is also not the same as being intersex; most intersex people identify as either male or female. A third gender – or unlimited genders? Confused? So am I.
With all the news, references and support for LGBTQIA+ by reporters, pundits, politicos and those occupying “the high moral ground,” we must be dealing with a very large number of people in this country whose sexual orientation is other than straight – male or female. Right?
According to The Williams Institute (the UCLA Law School of Law gender research), an estimated 3.5% of the US adult population identifies as LGB, 0.3% of U.S. adults identify as transgender.
While the estimates of the LGBTQIA+ numbers are just that – estimated, it’s obvious the numbers and percentages are small. In the case of transgenders, it’s not even one-half of a percent.
So, why so much news coverage and political narratives on this tiny minority, especially the transgenders? If they make up less than ½ of 1%, why do we have public K-12 schools wanting to teach our kindergarten children they may be transgender and/or for that matter, about sexual ‘identity’ and sexual preferences at all? The accusations that fly around are that these people are discriminated against, and non-straight oppression has a long history in the US.
I don’t know about you, but I could care less about another person’s sexual preferences or whether they identify with any people identified in the long acronym – or not. I have a hard time just remembering what it the acronym stands for. I’m supposed to believe all of them have been and are oppressed and vilified and that we need ‘equity’ to involve them in general societal participation. It’s not important, any more than skin color or ethnicity. I don’t wear masculinity on my sleeve. Why is it important for gays and transgenders and bisexuals to be recognized and fit into one or more other categories?
I can understand why women and girls are sensitive and uncomfortable when biological males are in the bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms – and competing with them in sports. Does anyone care about the sensitivities of straight females?
This whole LGBTQIA+ thing is not productive – and a meaningless distraction.
**************
Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
https://gaycenter.org/about/lgbtq/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_demographics_of_the_United_States
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/how-many-people-lgbt/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-binary_gender
SPIDER Bites
Trivia question of the week: What is the name of Bruce Wayne’s butler? (Last week’s answer: Saffron)
NASA is ecstatic about the Artemis I – Orion capsule mission to the moon which successfully concluded a week ago. Plans for the manned Artemis II moon flight in 2024 are now in full swing.
So what else in new? The illegal border crossings continue to climb. Biden’s plan to drop Title 42 this week – which allows Border Patrol to turn back illegals before they can file claims for ‘asylum,’ has some estimating the numbers will increase from the current ‘off the charts’ numbers of 7,000+/day to 12-18,000/day.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency ‘king’ and head of the now debunked FTX crypto hedge fund, was arrested at his estate in the Bahamas last Monday. Three agencies of the U.S. government – the DOJ, the SEC, and the CFTC charged Bankman-Fried with a host of financial crimes on Tuesday, alleging he intentionally deceived customers and investors to enrich himself and others, while playing a central role in the company’s multibillion-dollar, fraudulent scheme. He also allegedly made campaign donations that exceeded federal limits to a host of politicians, including our President’s. Life in prison is too light a sentence for this crook. It should at least include hard labor with bread and water.
The WH made a big to-do about signing the recently passed bill to make gay and mixed marriage legally recognized. I don’t know why it’s such a big deal as SCOTUS handled these issues a long time ago.
Gee, inflation dropped to 7.1% year over year in November. The CPI showed soaring food and rent costs yet again while gas prices declined. As expected, the Fed raised interest rates another .5%, now totaling 4.25% for the year. The series “A Rock and a Hard Place” continues – as the economy slows.
Our Florida legislature concluded a 3-day special session to address the home insurance debacle residents have been dealing with. Many insurers have left the state due to heavy losses. Homeowners insurance is 3 times more costly in Florida than the national average – with hurricane damage claims. It just goes with the territory of living here with all the wonderful weather enjoyed.
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in CA apparently achieved a partial breakthrough in nuclear fusion – the way the sun produces energy. They’ve produced more energy in a fusion reaction than it took to ignite. The extreme pressure and heat to push hydrogen atoms into each other with such force to produce helium and lots of energy has been extremely difficult to recreate and control – but if in fact it were to happen it would be perfect energy on earth with no radioactive waste nor any emissions. Let’s think about putting all the money being spent on solar and wind research into fusion. It makes a lot more sense as the payoff would make everything else passé.
Paul Noel, a research scientist at the University of Alabama/Huntsville until 2014, reports “The glaciers are not melting. They are not retreating and are in fact advancing. Greenland is gaining between 400 Gigatons and 500 Gigatons of ice a year. This is the NET GAIN.”
