-the LGBTQIAbcdefgwxyz people-
When I was growing up (this already makes me sound old), sexuality was simple. You identified as gay, straight or bisexual. I remember when I’d get checked out of school early by my mom and she would take me to my dental appointment. Afterwards, she’d take me to Checkers for food and I’d get home in just enough time to catch the 2nd leg of The Ricki Lake show. Although her show brought awareness to black and gay culture, there were some pretty toxic issues that were frequently addressed. Ricki loved her gays, so it was no surprise to see a show topic plastered in the corner of the television screen around her self-titled talk show logo that reads, “Get It Straight! I Don’t Want Gays Around My Kids” or “I’ve Decided….I’m No Longer Gay”. Don’t get me wrong, these were conversations that needed to be had and heard by audiences of all competencies. Maybe not by a kid in 5th grade, but we’ll get back to me in a minute. I understand the theory of change and I’m fully aware that by no means are we living in a time where complexities are at an all time low. But no matter how many times I travel back in time in my head through the conduit of nostalgia, I don’t get how we went from “gay/straight/bi” to:
Lesbian – a woman who is attracted to other women
Gay – men who are attracted to men
Bisexual – the attraction to more than one gender
Transsexual – a person who emotionally and psychologically feels that they belong to the opposite sex
Queer – a person who identifies outside of cisgender, heterosexual or allosexual
Intersexual – a person who has the anatomy of various chromosomes and genitals
Ally – a person who is a member or supporter of a dominant group who works to end oppression in their personal or professional life by advocating for the suppressed population
Asexual – someone who does not experience sexual attraction or a desire for sex
Heterosexual – a sexual orientation where a person feels physically, sexually and emotionally attracted to someone of the opposite gender
Pansexual – relating to sexual desire or attraction that is not limited to people of a particular gender, identity or orientation.
Allosexual – someone who has sexual attraction and desires sex (the converse of asexuality)
Monosexual – the attraction to one gender (also see gay, straight, bi)
Polysexual – to be attracted to many different genders, but not all genders
Graysexual – someone who has conditional sex, depending on the person
Demisexual – conditional sexual attraction, usually with someone the person knows very well
Homosexual – *see gay and lesbian
When it comes to sexuality in the LGBT community, I encourage everyone to be who they are without regret. As time propels, change is in partnership. But sometimes I think as a human race, we attempt to dissect what it means to define a meaning, slap a label on it, solidify it with definition and distribute it to the general public to see if it’ll stick and study the personalities of those who identify with it. While it’s okay to experiment, it’s important to remember that we’re not an experiment. Love and like as you please, and within reason.
-kp
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