What do you think of when you hear LGBTQ+?

The contemporary Lgbtqxyz etc etc appears to be a million miles away from the gay pride events I used to frequent in my youth where we were just normal people enjoying a social event. Nothing performative, nothing weird, just everyday people who happened to be gay or friends/relatives of them.

Today is a local Pride event. It's being led by the obligatory man in a skimpy dress with a side of dancing middle aged, overweight cross dressing men. If the photos are anything to go by it looks like a unicorn vomited a rainbow over a bunch of performative social misfits.

Fair game to them as long as they aren't harming anyone else but LGB it isn't.

Women generally don't challenge because they're afraid of the reaction. Your friends should not take that as acceptance for men to use women's spaces. The law has been clarified.

I think

"I thought the aim was all people being equal, so why is a chunk of the population wanting to set themselves apart"

I await my flaming.

I swear it was LGBTQIA+ where the scales dropped from people's eyes about just how fucking ridiculous it was getting. It did mine.

The trans lobby blew their own foot off.

I don't know how I got here, but I roll my eyes and groan internally.

I am a massive lgb supporter, but something has changed with the whole movement.

I usually roll my eyes and state that it’s only LGB as the T is nothing to do with sexuality so shouldn’t be included!

TLDR: the rhetoric in the media and online feels unsafe and is being seen in real life when they aren't in our little bubble.

Trans people want to force everybody else to believe lies (because mammals cannot change sex)
The pushback is because trans identifying males are trampling on the rights of others.
Compelling children to lie that their obviously male teacher is a woman
is NOT acceptable.
Its that simple.

What do I think of it?

Im going to be very honest here and my first thoughts are usually - not fucking well again, for god sake change the subject. And no, I don’t you/this thread. I mean in my day to day life where I’m just sick to the back teeth of hearing about it.

And I would agree with this If I see “LGB” by itself, I think of the original lesbian, gay and bi causes

But as for the rest of it, I am just so well and truly over it.

Nobody gives a shit where anybody goes to the loo and I really can't see anyone 'challenging' any of my mates for going where they please.

I bet some women do give a shit but they’re often scared to speak up. People should use the toilets that correspond with their sex and anyone not doing that is wrong.

I don't think of anything really because it's become almost meaningless. For example I'm honestly not exaggerating when I say that most of the teens girls I know have gone through a phase of identifying as one of the relevant letters for a bit, and they have almost always come out the other side a year or two later.

So how do you feel about the vitriol thrown at lesbians who refuse to include males in their sexuality? Lesbians got thrown out of pride marches for saying a lesbian was a female homosexual . The head of stonewall referred to them as “sexual racists”. How do you feel about the meaning of lesbian being defined to include straight males?

It makes me feel very awkward and i'm a happily married Lesbian. It feels like I'm being lumped in with a lot of very odd, attention seeking people, just because happen to have a wife. Nothing to do with identity.

I think the focus is on trans people because this is where the biggest fight currently is. People are a lot more accepting of gay people than they used to be. Not denying that there is still homophobia but I mean it used to be illegal which is crazy. We have gay relationships represented on tv, children books that include gay relationships, and gay parents are having children (this is even represented in the media on made in Chelsea). I feel like trans people don't have this level of acceptance and representation yet.

Maybe this person just want to remain neutral rather than being anti-trans. They might not oppose trans people but they might also not want to advocate either. I feel like it is a bit of a political issue at the moment and they might just prefer to stay out of it.

Well luckily where I am we're in a bit of a bubble. Nobody gives a shit where anybody goes to the loo and I really can't see anyone 'challenging' any of my mates for going where they please. Plenty of inclusive groups for people to join and day to day, feeling safe and well. They feel unsafe when they go outside of the community. A fair few have been rejected and ostracised by their family, and of course the online discourse combined with the major u turn that the government is doing in now trying to score brownie points with the right has made for a nervous time.

On a train trip recently for example a good friend of mine sat opposite a mother and child, and the mum looked them up and down, muttered 'disgusting' and whisked the child away to another table. She wasn't wearing a frilly frock or whatever you're imagining, just jeans and a t-shirt with a pride pin. She's gorgeous and it made me sad to see her sad.

TLDR: the rhetoric in the media and online feels unsafe and is being seen in real life when they aren't in our little bubble.

‘Intersex’ is an incorrect definition of people who have physical, chromosomal or hormone abnormalities. It has nothing to do with sexual preference or attraction.
To borrow a phrase from the 🏳️‍🌈 manual ‘educate yourself’.

Excellent summary.

Absolutely the trans community has hijacked the LGB community. Every lesbian I know is sick of it, whilst a frustrating number of gay men seem to be fine with it.

@ilovesooty I'm guessing you now realise you had misinterpreted my post by your radio silence

I think people would be right to be suspicious about what these groups could encompass

I think of Fred Sergeant being attacked by TRAs.

At one point I and A were added for intersex and asexual, but then whoever decides these things thought that (a) it was getting all too long-winded and (b) there might be even more groups who'd like to hitch their wagon, so the + covers anyone else who might feel they're aligned on the basis of not being heteronormative.

I think of the full rainbow & my amazing friends across it. Ally all the way!

Lesbian - female attracted to female
Gay - male attracted to male
Bisexual - male or female attracted to both
Heterosexual - male or female attracted to the opposite sex

There are no other sexualities among humans.

"Heteronormative" reflects the reality that 93% of the population are 'straight'
and without straight sex, the species dies out

All of the identity stuff has greatly undermined tolerance of different sexualities

I think of the gay weddings I've been too, the long standing lesbian friends I have, of campaigning against section 28

and then I think of the privileged they/theming Emma corrin type ppl of this world and wonder how it came to pass that ultra privileged straight ppl decided they were oppressed and belonged under this umbrella

and I wonder how middle aged straight men transitioning in their later life after marriage, children and a career became the most vulnerable ppl ever in the history of everything because they decided to present as female

and I think the world has gone barking mad

It is really upsetting to see how the actions of trans rights activists have damaged goodwill amongst natural allies. So it is especially important to keep being an ally - supporting the wider movement regardless of what trans activists do.

Bad actors will use any discord to amplify division and row back on hard won rights for LGB people. You can make a positive impact wherever you have influence.