@IND1A
I wonder why the OPs management are not supporting all the lesbian gay and bi staff who do not want to share communal toilets with the opposite sex?
What about those who object for religious or cultural reasons ?
The management and the OP don’t sound very kind or inclusive to me.
There is always a clear hierarchy of
who gets included, isn't there.
You even see that with the OP's acronym, "LGBTQ", which is most likely the one she's heard at her workplace, where Q probably stands for queer.
It's a fashionable term. For people under 25 who identify that way, and for straight allies old enough to know better, who don't know because they didn't give a fig for LGB back then. It's revealing. I would never be presumptuous enough to term a gay man my own age or older as part of the "queer community".
But this puts it better.
extract
A few years ago I was at a party with some acquaintances when the lively discussion turned political. I have always enjoyed a good natured debate, and many topics were covered with enthusiasm, the drinks flowing. As the evening got later an LGBT issue was brought up. I can’t remember exactly what it was about, but one of the men I was with, a young bisexual who was a student, gestured at me, “We have two queer people here!”
[...]
I very much dislike the word. Firstly due to its historic connotations as a slur, and secondly, the word’s meaning. For a group where a large part of the activism has centred on normalisation, the idea of labelling ourselves as odd, weird and unusual didn’t seem a great strategy.
I was curious to see how others felt, and posted the question on my local LGBT forum, which at the time had an active membership. I had at least forty responses and there was an interesting split between ages, generally late 20s and above hating the word, and believing it to a be a slur. This was especially prevalent among older gay men. But what was especially notable was the group that liked and ‘identified’ with the label queer had a particular political learning. They were the people that embraced the extra letters being added to LGBTQIA+. To them, queer represented inclusivity, in a way the terms gay, lesbian, and bisexual did not.
Taking it offline I later discussed it with a gay Conservative in his late 40s from the pub. His response was unequivocal. Not only was it a slur, but the most offensive insult from when he was younger. Nothing was worse than being called queer and he utterly detests it.
Now, on an individual level, people can call themselves what they like, such are the benefits of living in a free society. But there has been a shift over the last few years. Queer was becoming mainstream. The acronym LGBTQ is now seen more often than not. Queer is being used on large radio stations, in the media, and on television. It seems to be completely taken for granted that not only has the term been completely reclaimed, but it’s a free for all. Anyone can now use it to describe the collective. The queer community.
And lesbians and gay men were not asked. A slur can only be reclaimed at the consent of the target, and large numbers do not consent.
Continues: lesbianandgaynews.com/2021/02/cj-liberte-its-time-to-get-the-queer-out/