Editing LGBTQ (term)

{{Short description|Initialism for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer"}}
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[[File:Gay flag.svg|thumb|261x261px|A six-band [[Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)|rainbow flag]] representing the [[LGBTQ community]]]]
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'''''{{dfn|LGBTQ}}''''' or '''''LGBTQ+''''', also commonly '''''LGBT'''''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of LGBT |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/LGBT |access-date=26 September 2024 |website=Merriam-Webster |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Chloe O. |title=The Queens' English: The Young Readers' LGBTQIA+ Dictionary of Lingo and Colloquial Phrases |date=2024 |publisher=Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers |isbn=978-1-6659-2686-7 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=259}}</ref> ('''''LGBT+''''') or '''''LGBTQIA''''' ('''''LGBTQIA+'''''), is an [[Acronym|initialism]] for [[lesbian]], [[Gay men|gay]], [[bisexual]], [[transgender]], [[queer]] or [[Questioning (sexuality and gender)|questioning]], [[intersex]] and [[Asexuality|asexual]], [[Aromanticism|aromantic]], or [[agender]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of LGBTQIA |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/LGBTQIA |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> It is an [[umbrella term]], originating in the [[United States]], broadly referring to all [[Sexual orientation|sexualities]], [[romantic orientation]]s, [[sex characteristics]], and [[gender identities]] that are [[Non-heterosexual|not heterosexual]], [[heteroromantic]], [[cisgender]], or [[endosex]].<ref name="The Handbook of Lesb" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Sam J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrhhDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22allocishet%22&pg=PT219 |title=Uncanny Magazine Issue 23: July/August 2018 |last2=Szpara |first2=K. M. |last3=Kalaw |first3=R. K. |last4=Sjunneson-Henry |first4=Elsa |last5=Rustad |first5=A. Merc |last6=Bolander |first6=Brooke |last7=Hvide |first7=Brit E. B. |last8=Bledsoe |first8=Alex |last9=Kowal |first9=Mary Robinette |date=3 July 2018 |publisher=Uncanny Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Parent|first1=Mike C.|last2=DeBlaere|first2=Cirleen|last3=Moradi|first3=Bonnie|date=June 2013|title=Approaches to Research on Intersectionality: Perspectives on Gender, LGBT, and Racial/Ethnic Identities|journal=Sex Roles|volume=68|issue=11–12|pages=639–645|doi=10.1007/s11199-013-0283-2|s2cid=144285021}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

<!-- This is an intentionally hypersimplified history, based on the NatGeo article. The decades overlap substantially. Save the details for the body. -Roxy -->In the 1990s, gay, lesbian, and bisexual activists adopted the initialism ''LGB''. Terminology eventually shifted to ''LGBT'', as transgender people gained recognition. Around that time, some activists began to [[Reappropriation|reclaim]] the term ''[[queer]]'', seeing it as a more radical and inclusive umbrella term, though others reject it, due to its history as a [[pejorative]]. In recognition of this, the 2010s saw the adoption of ''LGBTQ'', and other more inclusive variants.

Some versions of the term add a [[plus sign]] (+) to represent additional identities not captured by the letters within the initialism. Many further variants exist which add additional identities, such as ''LGBTQA'' (for [[aromantic]], [[agender]], [[Asexuality|asexual]], or [[Straight ally|allies]]) and ''2SLGBTQ'' (for [[two-spirit]]), ''LGBTQQ'' (for queer and questioning), or, rarely, the letters ordered differently, as in ''GLBT'' and ''GLBTQ''.

[[LGBTQ people]] collectively form the [[LGBTQ community]], though not all LGBTQ people participate in or consider themselves part of a broader community. These labels are not universally agreed upon by everyone that they are intended to include. For example, some [[intersex]] people prefer to be included in this grouping, while others do not. Various alternative umbrella terms exist across various cultures, including ''queer''; [[same-gender loving]] (SGL); and [[gender, sexual and romantic minorities]] (GSRM).

== History ==
{{Further|Terminology of homosexuality}}
[[File:Homosexual.jpg|thumb|right|First use of the words Monosexual, Homosexual, and Heterosexual in a letter written on 6 May 1868]]

The first widely used term, ''[[homosexual]]'', now a term used primarily in scientific contexts, has at times carried negative connotations in the United States.<ref name=glaad>[https://www.glaad.org/reference/style Media Reference Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227131845/https://www.glaad.org/reference/style |date=27 December 2019}} (citing AP, [[The Washington Post|Washington Post]] style guides), [[GLAAD]]. Retrieved 23 December 2019.</ref> ''[[Gay]]'' became a popular term in the 1970s.<ref name="The Social Studies C">{{cite book |last=Ross |first=E. Wayne |title=The Social Studies Curriculum: Purposes, Problems, and Possibilities |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7914-6909-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4qFMqjxte9IC |access-date=2 July 2015 |archive-date=19 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619085357/https://books.google.com/books?id=4qFMqjxte9IC |url-status=live}}</ref>

As lesbians forged more public identities, the phrase ''gay and lesbian'' became more common.<ref name="Gay Pride Nee"/> A dispute as to whether the primary focus of their political aims should be [[feminism]] or [[gay rights]] led to the dissolution of some lesbian organizations, including [[Daughters of Bilitis]], which was founded by [[Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqt4krhmQrwC&dq=daughters+of+bilitis+founder&pg=PA394 |title=Rebels, Rubyfruit, and Rhinestones: Queering Space in the Stonewall South - James Thomas Sears - Google Books |isbn=9780813529646 |access-date=2 May 2022 |last1=Sears |first1=James Thomas |year=2001 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |archive-date=14 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514161912/https://books.google.com/books?id=wqt4krhmQrwC&dq=daughters+of+bilitis+founder&pg=PA394 |url-status=live}}</ref> but disbanded in 1970 following disputes over which goal should take precedence.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Esterberg | first1 = Kristen | year = 1994 | title = From Accommodation to Liberation: A Social Movement Analysis of Lesbians in the Homophile Movement | journal = Gender and Society | volume = 8 | issue = 3| pages = 424–443 |doi=10.1177/089124394008003008 | s2cid = 144795512}}</ref> As equality was a priority for [[lesbian feminism|lesbian feminists]], disparity of roles between men and women or [[butch and femme]] were viewed as [[patriarchy|patriarchal]]. Lesbian feminists eschewed [[gender role]] play that had been pervasive in bars as well as the perceived [[chauvinism]] of [[gay men]]; many lesbian feminists refused to work with gay men or take up their causes.<ref>Faderman, Lillian (1991). ''Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth Century America'', Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0-14-017122-3}}, p. 210–211.</ref>

Lesbians who held the [[essentialism|essentialist]] view that they had been born homosexual and used the descriptor ''lesbian'' to define sexual attraction often considered the [[Feminist separatism|separatist]] opinions of lesbian-feminists to be detrimental to the cause of gay rights.<ref>Faderman (1991), p. 217–218.</ref> Bisexual and transgender people also sought recognition as legitimate categories within the larger minority community.<ref name="Gay Pride Nee">{{cite news | last=Swain | first=Keith W. | title=Gay Pride Needs New Direction | newspaper=[[Denver Post]] | date=21 June 2007 | url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6198394?source=rss | access-date=5 July 2008 | archive-date=21 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421235751/http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6198394?source=rss | url-status=live}}</ref>

In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, after the elation of change following group action in the 1969 [[Stonewall riots]] in [[New York City]], some gays and lesbians became less accepting of [[bisexual]] or [[transgender]] people.<ref name="Transgender Subjectivities">{{cite book |last1=Leli |first1=Ubaldo |first2=Jack |last2=Drescher |title=Transgender Subjectivities: A Clinician's Guide |publisher=Haworth Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7890-2576-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiJryCzrZmYC |access-date=2 July 2015 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906145439/https://books.google.com/books?id=QiJryCzrZmYC |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend">{{cite book |last1=Alexander |first1=Jonathan |first2=Karen |last2=Yescavage |title=Bisexuality and Transgenderism: InterSEXions of The Others |publisher=Haworth Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-56023-287-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2SOe4igsrbgC |access-date=2 July 2015 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906150516/https://books.google.com/books?id=2SOe4igsrbgC |url-status=live}}</ref> Critics{{like whom?|date=September 2018}} said that transgender people were acting out [[stereotypes]], and bisexuals were simply gay men or lesbian women who were afraid to [[coming out|come out]] and be honest about their identity.<ref name="Transgender Subjectivities"/> Each community has struggled to develop its own identity including whether, and how, to align with other [[gender]] and sexuality-based communities, at times excluding other subgroups; these conflicts continue to this day.<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend"/> LGBTQ activists and artists have created posters to raise consciousness about the issue since the movement began.<ref name="Exhibition Guide">{{cite web|url=http://www.politicalgraphics.org/out-of-the-closet|website=[[Center for the Study of Political Graphics]]|access-date=1 October 2016|title=Out of the Closet and Into the Streets|archive-date=2 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002103737/http://www.politicalgraphics.org/out-of-the-closet|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Palco BolognaPride08.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|LGBT publications, [[pride parade]]s, and related events, such as this stage at [[Bologna]] Pride 2008 in Italy, increasingly drop the ''LGBT'' initialism instead of regularly adding new letters and dealing with issues of placement of those letters within the new title<ref>Cahill, Sean, and Bryan Kim-Butler. "Policy priorities for the LGBT community: Pride Survey 2006." New York, NY: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (2006).</ref>]]
From about 1988, activists began to use the initialism ''LGBT'' in the United States.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PiglAQAAIAAJ Research, policy and practice: Annual meeting] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619085339/https://books.google.com/books?id=PiglAQAAIAAJ |date=19 June 2019}}, American Educational Research Association Verlag AERA, 1988.</ref> Not until the 1990s within the movement did gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people gain equal respect.<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend"/> This spurred some organizations to adopt new names, as the [[GLBT Historical Society]] did in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.glbthistory.org/timeline |title=Our History |last=Koskovich |first=Gerard |website=The GLBT Historical Society |access-date=7 January 2022 |archive-date=7 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107212644/https://www.glbthistory.org/timeline |url-status=live}}</ref> Although the LGBT community has seen much controversy regarding universal acceptance of different member groups (bisexual and transgender individuals, in particular, have sometimes been [[Social exclusion|marginalized]] by the larger LGBT community), the term ''LGBT'' has been a positive symbol of [[Social inclusion|inclusion]].<ref name="The Handbook of Lesb">{{cite book |last=Shankle |first=Michael D. |title=The Handbook of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Public Health: A Practitioner's Guide To Service |publisher=Haworth Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-56023-496-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pUUyLSKD5voC |access-date=2 July 2015 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906170653/https://books.google.com/books?id=pUUyLSKD5voC |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend"/>

Beginning in the 1990s, the term ''[[queer]]'' was beginning to be adopted by the community to support gay-pride and [[Reappropriation|reclaim]] the term from its earlier pejorative use as scholars have shown. The field of study of the LGBTQ community is called [[queer studies]], in recognition of this reclamation and used as an umbrella term for the wider community as the academic response to the Stonewall riots. The initialism LGBT eventually evolved to LGBTQ in recognition of the community's reclamation of the term.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/from-lgbt-to-lgbtqia-the-evolving-recognition-of-identity/|title=From LGBT to LGBTQIA+: The Evolving Recognition of Identity|date=19 October 2021|access-date=6 September 2024|website=[[National Geographic]]}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/queer.php|title=How the word 'queer' was adopted by the LGBTQ community|date=22 January 2019|access-date=6 September 2024|website=[[CJR]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100358567|title=Queer Studies - Oxford Reference|access-date=6 September 2024|website=[[Oxford Reference]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rd.com/article/what-does-lgbtq-stand-for/|title=What Does LGBTQ Stand For?|date=17 July 2024|access-date=6 September 2024|website=[[Reader's Digest]]}}</ref>

In 2016, [[GLAAD]]'s Media Reference Guide states that ''LGBTQ'' is the preferred initialism, being more inclusive of younger members of the communities who [[Reappropriation|embrace]] ''[[queer]]'' as a self-descriptor.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|last1=Ring|first1=Trudy|title=Expanding the Acronym: GLAAD Adds the Q to LGBT|url=http://www.advocate.com/media/2016/10/26/expanding-acronym-glaad-adds-q-lgbt|publisher=Advocate|access-date=30 October 2016|date=26 October 2016|archive-date=14 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514161913/https://www.advocate.com/media/2016/10/26/expanding-acronym-glaad-adds-q-lgbt|url-status=live}}</ref> Some people consider ''queer'' to be a derogatory term originating in [[hate speech]] and reject it, especially among older members of the community.<ref name="Nadal-2017">{{cite book |last=Nadal |first=Kevin |title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVYoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1384 |access-date=3 January 2019 |date=15 April 2017 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, California |isbn=978-1-4833-8427-6 |page=1384 |oclc=994139871 |archive-date=19 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619085340/https://books.google.com/books?id=lVYoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1384 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Variants ==
{{see also|List of LGBTQ acronyms}}

[[File:Plaza de Mayo LGBT.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|2010 [[pride parade]] in [[Plaza de Mayo]], [[Buenos Aires]], which used the LGBTIQ initialism<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marchadelorgullo.org.ar/|title=Marcha del Orgullo LGBTIQ|language=es|publisher=Comisión Organizadora de la Marcha (C.O.M.O)|access-date=2 December 2016|archive-date=8 October 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021008094404/http://www.marchadelorgullo.org.ar/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Many variants of the term ''LGBT'' exist, such as the more inclusive '''''{{dfn|LGBT+}}''''',<ref>{{Cite web |title=LGBT+ |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lgbt+ |access-date=26 September 2024 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en}}</ref> and variations that change the order of the letters or include additional letters. At least some of the components of sexuality (regarding hetero, bi, straight), and also [[gender identity|gender]] are stated to be on different [[human sexuality spectrum|spectrums of sexuality]].<ref>{{cite web |title=LGBT+ mental health |url=https://www.rethink.org/advice-and-information/living-with-mental-illness/wellbeing-physical-health/lgbtplus-mental-health/ |access-date=29 March 2022 |website=LGBT+ mental health |archive-date=24 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224214757/https://www.rethink.org/advice-and-information/living-with-mental-illness/wellbeing-physical-health/lgbtplus-mental-health/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="udayton.edu">{{cite web|url=http://news.trust.org/item/20190426194739-w5zag/|title=Armenia's LGBT+ community still waits for change one year after revolution|last=Vikhrov|first=Natalie|date=26 April 2019|website=Thomson Reuters Foundation|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224103611/http://news.trust.org/item/20190426194739-w5zag/|url-status=live}}</ref> Other common variants also exist, such as '''''LGBTQIA''''', with the ''I'' standing for [[intersex]] and the ''A'' standing for [[Asexuality|asexual]], [[aromantic]], or [[agender]],<ref name="MW-2024">{{Cite web |title=Definition of LGBTQIA |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/LGBTQIA |access-date=17 February 2024 |website=Merriam-Webster}}</ref><ref name="glaadA">{{cite web|url=https://www.glaad.org/blog/asexual-agender-aromantic|title=A is for Asexual, Agender, Aromantic|date=11 February 2015|website=glaad|access-date=28 March 2023|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326211810/https://www.glaad.org/blog/asexual-agender-aromantic|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Kuykendall-2016">{{cite web|last=Kuykendall|first=Emily|title=What the A in LGBTQIA+ Stands For|url=http://www.buddy-project.org/articles/asexual-aromantic|url-status=dead|date=20 June 2016|access-date=21 May 2021|website=Buddy Project|quote=The A in LGBTQIA+ stands for asexual, aromantic, and agender ... .|archive-date=21 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521215113/http://www.buddy-project.org/articles/asexual-aromantic}}</ref> and '''''LGBTQIA+''''', where "the '+' represents those who are part of the community, but for whom LGBTQ does not accurately capture or reflect their identity".<ref name="UNCW">{{cite web |title=LGBTQIA+ |url=https://uncw.edu/lgbtqia/facstaff-resources/lgbtqia.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503035352/https://uncw.edu/lgbtqia/facstaff-resources/lgbtqia.html |archive-date=3 May 2023 |access-date=31 August 2021 |website=[[University of North Carolina, Wilmington]]}}</ref> Longer initialisms have been criticized as confusing or unwieldy,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://qz.com/quartzy/1303522/the-new-rainbow-pride-flag-is-a-design-disaster-but-a-triumph-for-lgbtq-inclusiveness/ |title=The new rainbow pride flag is a design disaster—but a triumph for LGBTQ inclusiveness |publisher=Quartz |date=12 June 2018 |access-date=7 July 2020 |archive-date=28 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628214003/https://qz.com/quartzy/1303522/the-new-rainbow-pride-flag-is-a-design-disaster-but-a-triumph-for-lgbtq-inclusiveness/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Coming to terms with terms|url=http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/9-24-2019/Coming-to-terms-with-terms/|access-date=25 June 2020|website=www.oakpark.com|date=24 September 2019|archive-date=29 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629054846/https://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/9-24-2019/Coming-to-terms-with-terms/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Oli|date=4 December 2019|title=The challenge of generosity|url=https://oliverarditi.com/2019/12/04/the-challenge-of-generosity/|access-date=25 June 2020|website=Oliver Arditi|archive-date=28 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628115531/https://oliverarditi.com/2019/12/04/the-challenge-of-generosity/|url-status=live}}</ref> sometimes being referred to as "[[alphabet soup (linguistics)|alphabet soup]]",<ref name="DeMarco2012">{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-demarco/no-more-alphabet-soup_b_1527958.html |title=No More Alphabet Soup |work=The Huffington Post |date=18 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203014445/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-demarco/no-more-alphabet-soup_b_1527958.html |archive-date= 3 February 2015 |url-status=live |first1=Linda |last1=DeMarco |first2=Sylvain |last2=Bruni |orig-year=1st pub. 18 May 2012 |id=1527958}}</ref> and mocked with labels such as {{Wt|en|LGBTQWERTY}}, {{Wt|en|LGBTQXYZ}}, and {{Wt|en|alphabet mafia}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Radio 4 is becoming a parody of itself |url=https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/01/06/radio-4-is-becoming-a-parody-of-itself/ |access-date=4 October 2023 |website=Spiked |quote=One of the most dynamic cultural events of past year was not any of the LGBTQWERTY 're-imaginings' so beloved of Radio 4's fawning arts coverage... |date=6 January 2023 |first=Julie |last=Burchill}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2022 |title='Klanned Parenthood': Bailey's running mate's old social media posts surface |url=https://wgntv.com/news/klanned-parenthood-baileys-running-mates-old-social-media-posts-surface/ |access-date=4 October 2023 |website=WGN-TV |quote="Just say no! The LGBTQXYZ agenda is aggressively trying to repurpose classic stories and films. How can a godmother be genderless? Satan is a liar!" Trussell posted in 2020 about actor Billy Porter playing a genderless fairy godmother.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Seitzer |first=Helen |title=The Diffusion of Workplace Antidiscrimination Regulations for the LGBTQ+ Community |date=2022 |work=Networks and Geographies of Global Social Policy Diffusion |series=Global Dynamics of Social Policy |pages=227–253 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-83403-6_9 |isbn=978-3-030-83402-9 |s2cid=244654734 |quote=The public confusion over acronyms and pronouns goes so far that people ironically label the LGBTQ+ community "alphabet mafia" on social media platforms|doi-access=free}}</ref> The implication that the initialism refers to a single community is also controversial.<ref name="Counseling Lesbian, G">{{cite book |last1=Finnegan |first1=Dana G. |first2 = Emily B. |last2=McNally |title=Counseling Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Substance Abusers: Dual Identities |publisher=Haworth Press |year=2002|isbn= 978-1-56023-925-3 |url =https://archive.org/details/counselinglesbia2002finn |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Although identical in meaning, ''LGBT'' may have a more [[feminist]] connotation than ''{{dfn|GLBT}}'' as it places the "L" (for "lesbian") first.<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend" /> ''LGBT'' may also include additional Qs for "[[queer]]" or "[[questioning (sexuality and gender)|questioning]]" (sometimes abbreviated with a question mark and sometimes used to mean anybody not literally L, G, B or T) producing the variants ''LGBTQ'' and ''{{dfn|LGBTQQ}}''.<ref name="In-Between Bodies">{{cite book | last=Bloodsworth-Lugo | first=Mary K. | title=In-Between Bodies: Sexual Difference, Race, and Sexuality | publisher=SUNY Press | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-7914-7221-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ph74JKY_5dwC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906145702/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ph74JKY_5dwC | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Girls' Violence">{{cite book | last1=Alder | first1=Christine | first2=Anne | last2=Worrall | title=Girls' Violence: Myths and Realities | publisher=SUNY Press | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-7914-6110-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0ye93mW0eUC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906153055/https://books.google.com/books?id=O0ye93mW0eUC | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Advocacy Research in">{{cite book | last1=Cherland | first1=Meredith Rogers | first2=Helen J. | last2=Harper | title=Advocacy Research in Literacy Education: Seeking Higher Ground | publisher=Routledge | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-8058-5056-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ct_5Cf1aH0kC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906154218/https://books.google.com/books?id=ct_5Cf1aH0kC | url-status=live}}</ref> The order of the letters has not been standardized; in addition to the variations between the positions of the initial "L" or "G", the mentioned, less common letters, if used, may appear in almost any order.<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend" /> In [[Hebrew]] and [[Peninsular Spanish]], ''LGTB'' ({{lang|he|להט"ב}}) is used, that is, reversing the letters "B" and "T".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wdg.co.il/%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%94-%D7%94%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%90%D7%94-%D7%9C%D7%A4%D7%A0%D7%99-%D7%94%D7%94-%D7%94%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A9-%D7%A9%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%90-%D7%90%D7%AA-%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%A9%D7%99-%D7%94/|title=למה ה'ל' באה לפני ה'ה'? האיש שהמציא את ראשי התיבות 'להט"ב' מסביר|first=רעות|last=נגר|date=20 October 2017|website=wdg.co.il}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fundeu.es/recomendacion/lgtb-en-mayusculas-1074/ |title=LGTB, en mayúsculas |date=22 September 2011 |access-date=19 December 2021 |archive-date=19 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219162045/https://www.fundeu.es/recomendacion/lgtb-en-mayusculas-1074/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
Variant terms do not typically represent political differences within the community, but arise simply from the preferences of individuals and groups.<ref name="Narrative Therapy">{{cite book | last1=Brown | first1=Catrina | first2=Tod | last2=Augusta-Scott | title=Narrative Therapy: Making Meaning, Making Lives | publisher=Sage Publications Inc | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-4129-0988-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=STMieEKGGikC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906165342/https://books.google.com/books?id=STMieEKGGikC | url-status=live}}</ref>

The terms ''[[pansexual]]'', ''omnisexual'', ''[[sexual fluidity|fluid]]'' and ''queer-identified'' are regarded as falling under the umbrella term ''bisexual'' (and therefore are considered a part of the [[bisexual community]]). Some use ''LGBT+'' to mean "LGBT and related communities".<ref name="udayton.edu" /> Other variants may have a "U" for "unsure"; a "C" for "curious"; another "T" for "[[transvestism|transvestite]]"; a "TS", "2S", or "2" for "[[two-spirit]]" persons; or an "SA" for "[[straight allies]]".<ref name="Oberlin">{{cite book | last1=Lebaron | first1=Sarah | first2=Jessica | last2=Pecsenye | first3=Becerra | last3=Roland | first4=Jon | last4=Skindzier | title=Oberlin College: Oberlin, Ohio | publisher=College Prowler, Inc | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-59658-092-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T3RFabY6chcC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906160313/https://books.google.com/books?id=T3RFabY6chcC | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Teaching about Asian">{{cite book | last1=Chen | first1=Edith Wen-Chu | first2=Glenn | last2=Omatsu | title=Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans: Effective Activities, Strategies, and Assignments for Classrooms and Communities (Critical Perspectives on Asian Pacific Americans) | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-7425-5338-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JqLOnyU081kC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906152229/https://books.google.com/books?id=JqLOnyU081kC | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="After Revolution: M">{{cite book | last=Babb | first=Florence E. | title=After Revolution: Mapping Gender and Cultural Politics in Neoliberal Nicaragua | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=2001|isbn= 978-0-292-70900-3| url = https://archive.org/details/afterrevolution00flor| url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Gay and Lesbian Righ">{{cite book | last=Padilla | first=Yolanda C. | title=Gay and Lesbian Rights Organizing: Community-based Strategies | publisher=Haworth Press | year=2003 | isbn=978-1-56023-275-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DN2KGHnYN0EC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906172637/https://books.google.com/books?id=DN2KGHnYN0EC | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="From Hate Crimes t">{{cite book | last1=Swigonski | first1=Mary E. | first2=Robin S. | last2=Mama | first3=Kelly | last3=Ward | first4=Matthew | last4=Shepard | title=From Hate Crimes to Human Rights: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard | publisher=Haworth Press | year=2001 | isbn=978-1-56023-257-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fzp9QP0h6bAC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906152612/https://books.google.com/books?id=fzp9QP0h6bAC | url-status=live}}</ref> The inclusion of straight allies in the LGBT initialism has proven controversial, as many straight allies have been accused of using LGBT advocacy to gain popularity and status in recent years,<ref name="Becker2006">{{cite journal|last=Becker|first=Ron|title=Gay-Themed Television and the Slumpy Class: The Affordable, Multicultural Politics of the Gay Nineties|journal=Television & New Media|date=2006|volume=7|pages=184–215|doi=10.1177/1527476403255830|issue=2|s2cid=145717408|issn=1527-4764}}</ref> and various LGBT activists have criticised the heteronormative worldview of certain straight allies.<ref name="DeTurk2011">{{cite journal|last=DeTurk|first=Sara|title=Allies in Action: The Communicative Experiences of People Who Challenge Social Injustice on Behalf of Others|journal=Communication Quarterly|date=2011|volume=59|issue=5|pages=569–590|doi=10.1080/01463373.2011.614209|issn=0146-3373|doi-access=free}}</ref> Some may also add a "P" for "[[polyamorous]]" or "[[pangender]]", an "H" for "[[HIV|HIV-affected]]", or an "O" for "other".<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend" /><ref name="Peace Kills">{{cite book | last=O'Rourke | first=P. J. | title=Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism | publisher=Grove Press | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-8021-4198-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IqivmWcKYZEC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=9 July 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709191755/https://books.google.com/books?id=IqivmWcKYZEC | url-status=live}}</ref> The initialism ''{{dfn|LGBTIH}}'' has seen use in [[India]] to encompass the [[Hijra (South Asia)|hijra]] [[third gender]] identity and the related subculture.<ref name="Pune Mirror">{{cite web|last1=Gurjar|first1=Kaumudi|title=Maiden stage act by city's LGBT face gets censor's chop|url=http://www.punemirror.in/pune/cover-story/Maiden-stage-act-by-citys-LGBT-face-gets-censors-chop/articleshow/45312884.cms|website=punemirror.in|publisher=Pune Mirror|access-date=22 December 2014|archive-date=28 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528092821/http://www.punemirror.in/pune/cover-story/Maiden-stage-act-by-citys-LGBT-face-gets-censors-chop/articleshow/45312884.cms|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="GayLeeds">{{cite web|last1=McCusker|first1=Ros|title=Gay Leeds&nbsp;— Your comprehensive guide to all things gay in Leeds|url=http://www.gayleeds.com/editors/article/_LGB-or-LGBT-or-LGBTQ-or-What/|website=gayleeds.com|access-date=22 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109003322/http://www.gayleeds.com/editors/article/_LGB-or-LGBT-or-LGBTQ-or-What/|archive-date=9 January 2015}}</ref>

Adding the term ''allies'' to the initialism has sparked controversy,<ref name="ISD">{{cite web|last1=Kelly|first1=Morgan|title=Adding 'allies' to LGBT acronym sparks controversy|url=http://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/article_50e5e8f6-5edc-11e4-a17f-f77a797314c5.html|website=iowastatedaily.com|publisher=Iowa State Daily|access-date=29 December 2014|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305001010/http://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/article_50e5e8f6-5edc-11e4-a17f-f77a797314c5.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="equinox">{{cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/equinox-gyms-pride-video-the-lgbtqalphabet-leaves-out-important-letter-63252|title=Why People Are Upset About Equinox Gym's Pride Video|date=8 June 2017|access-date=28 March 2023|website=Bustle|archive-date=10 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810223928/https://www.bustle.com/p/equinox-gyms-pride-video-the-lgbtqalphabet-leaves-out-important-letter-63252|url-status=live}}</ref> with some seeing the inclusion of ally in place of asexual/aromantic/agender as a form of [[LGBT erasure]].<ref name="glaadA" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/matthews-place/why-the-a-doesnt-stand-for-ally-b31395c06150|title=Why the A doesn't stand for Ally|date=19 May 2020|access-date=28 March 2023|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326211811/https://medium.com/matthews-place/why-the-a-doesnt-stand-for-ally-b31395c06150|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Maroon1">{{cite web|last1=Richard |first1=Katherine |title=Column: "A" stands for asexuals and not allies |url=http://www.loyolamaroon.com/2.6713/column-a-stands-for-asexuals-and-not-allies-1.2833151 |website=loyolamaroon.com |publisher=The Maroon |access-date=29 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206150654/http://www.loyolamaroon.com/2.6713/column-a-stands-for-asexuals-and-not-allies-1.2833151 |archive-date= 6 December 2013 |quote=That "A" is not for allies[,] [t]hat "A" is for asexuals. [...] Much like bisexuality, asexuality suffers from erasure. |url-status=dead}}</ref> There is also the [[acronym]] ''{{dfn|QUILTBAG}}'' (queer and questioning, unsure, intersex, lesbian, transgender and two-spirit, bisexual, asexual and aromantic, and gay and genderqueer).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apex-magazine.com/reaching-into-the-quiltbag-the-evolving-world-of-queer-speculative-fiction/|title=Reaching into the QUILTBAG: The Evolving World of Queer Speculative Fiction|work=Apex Magazine|access-date=6 October 2014|date=6 March 2012|archive-date=9 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009003519/http://www.apex-magazine.com/reaching-into-the-quiltbag-the-evolving-world-of-queer-speculative-fiction/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{anchor|LGBTIQA+}} Similarly ''{{dfn|LGBTIQA+}}'' stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, asexual and many other terms (such as non-binary and pansexual)".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/support/wellbeing/lgbtiqa-services/what-lgbtiqa-means|title=What does LGBTIQA+ mean|last=University|first=La Trobe|website=www.latrobe.edu.au|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-date=13 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013093334/https://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/support/wellbeing/lgbtiqa-services/what-lgbtiqa-means|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=LGBTIQA+ glossary of common terms |url=https://aifs.gov.au/resources/resource-sheets/lgbtiqa-glossary-common-terms |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=aifs.gov.au |archive-date=9 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209130116/https://aifs.gov.au/resources/resource-sheets/lgbtiqa-glossary-common-terms |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{As of|2025}}, the [[Government of Canada|Government of Canada's]] official term is ''2SLGBTQI+'', with the first two characters standing for [[two-spirit]].<ref name=WAGE>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Women and Gender Equality |date=19 August 2020 |title=2SLGBTQI+ terminology – Glossary and common acronyms |url=https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en/free-to-be-me/2slgbtqi-plus-glossary.html |access-date=18 July 2023 |website=women-gender-equality.canada.ca}}</ref> Trudeau's new initialism was criticized by some social media users.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trudeau criticized for upgrading "LGBTQ+ to 2SLGBTQI+" |url=https://www.albawaba.com/node/trudeau-criticized-upgrading-lgbtqi-2slgbtqi-1520669 |access-date=18 July 2023 |website=[[Al Bawaba]]}}</ref> For some [[First Nations in Canada|indigenous people]], ''two-spirit'' invokes a combination of identities, including sexual, gender, cultural, and spiritual.<ref name="Antony-2022">{{cite book |editor1=Jessica Antony |editor2=Wayne Antony |editor3=Les Samuelson |author1=Jessica Antony |author2=Wayne Antony |date=2022 |title=Power and Resistance, 7th ed.: Critical Thinking About Canadian Social Issues |publisher=Fernwood Publishing |location=Halifax |page=389 |isbn=978-1-77363-539-2 |oclc=1288193829 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=an52EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA389 |access-date=5 January 2023 |archive-date=5 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105085721/https://books.google.com/books?id=an52EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA389 |url-status=live}}</ref> The government formerly used ''LGBTQ2''.<ref name=WAGE /> Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]] was also criticized{{Why|date=April 2025}} for using the ''2SLGBTQQIA+'' initialism.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Nick |date=8 October 2021 |title=Justin Trudeau mocked for using 2SLGBTQQIA+ acronym for sexual identities |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/10/08/justin-trudeau-mocked-using-2slgbtqqia-acronym-sexual-identities/ |access-date=18 July 2023 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Charlie |date=17 July 2023 |title=Justin Trudeau mocked for using extended LGBT acronym |newspaper=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/justin-trudeau-mocked-for-using-extended-lgbt-acronym-3ll2vlfzm |access-date=18 July 2023 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> 

=== Transgender inclusion ===
The term ''[[trans*]]'' has been adopted by some groups as a more inclusive alternative to "transgender", where ''trans'' (without the asterisk) has been used to describe [[trans men]] and [[trans women]], while ''trans*'' covers all non-cisgender ([[genderqueer]]) identities, including transgender, transsexual, transvestite, genderqueer, [[genderfluid]], [[non-binary]], [[genderfuck]], genderless, agender, non-gendered, third gender, two-spirit, [[bigender]], and trans man and trans woman.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/01/10/trans_what_does_it_mean_and_where_did_it_come_from.html |title=What Does Trans* Mean, and Where Did It Come From?' |first=Hugh |last=Ryan |date=10 January 2014 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |access-date=21 May 2014 |archive-date=21 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521104711/http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/01/10/trans_what_does_it_mean_and_where_did_it_come_from.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://vadenprd.stanford.edu/special-topics/lgbtq-health/glossary |title=Glossary of Transgender Terms |date=14 February 2014 |work=Vaden Health Center Stanford University |access-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521105407/http://vadenprd.stanford.edu/special-topics/lgbtq-health/glossary |archive-date=21 May 2014}}</ref> Likewise, the term ''[[transsexual]]'' commonly falls under the umbrella term ''transgender'', but some transsexual people object to this.<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend" />

=== Intersex inclusion ===
{{main|Intersex and LGBTQ}}
Those who add [[intersex]] people to LGBT groups or organizations may use the extended initialism '''''{{dfn|LGBTI}}''''',<ref>William L. Maurice, Marjorie A. Bowman, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HX9HAAAAMAAJ Sexual medicine in primary care] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906150820/https://books.google.com/books?id=HX9HAAAAMAAJ |date=6 September 2015}}, Mosby Year Book, 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-8151-2797-0}}</ref><ref name="Challenging Lesbian Nor"/> or '''''{{dfn|LGBTIQ}}'''''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/trans-women-march-for-their-rights-in-conservative-indonesia/4894550.html|title=Trans Women March for Their Rights in Conservative Indonesia|last=Siddharta|first=Amanda|date=28 April 2019|website=VOA|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-date=28 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428120725/https://www.voanews.com/a/trans-women-march-for-their-rights-in-conservative-indonesia/4894550.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The relationship of [[intersex]] to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans, and queer communities is complex,<ref>{{cite web |last=Dreger |first=Alice |title=Reasons to Add and Reasons NOT to Add "I" (Intersex) to LGBT in Healthcare |date=4 May 2015 |access-date=8 May 2021 |url=https://www.aamc.org/download/431576/data/reasonsdeck.pdf |publisher=[[Association of American Medical Colleges]] |archive-date=9 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609230211/https://www.aamc.org/download/431576/data/reasonsdeck.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> but intersex people are often added to the LGBT category to create an LGBTI community. Some [[intersex]] people prefer the initialism ''LGBTI'', while others would rather that they not be included as part of the term.<ref name="Challenging Lesbian Nor">{{cite book | last=Aragon | first=Angela Pattatuchi | title=Challenging Lesbian Norms: Intersex, Transgender, Intersectional, and Queer Perspectives | publisher=Haworth Press | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-56023-645-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=usruybRjfMUC | access-date=5 July 2008 | archive-date=22 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122110205/http://books.google.com/books?id=usruybRjfMUC | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fenway Guide">{{cite book |last1=Makadon |first1=Harvey J. |first2=Kenneth H. |last2=Mayer |first3=Jennifer |last3=Potter |first4=Hilary |last4=Goldhammer |title=The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health |publisher=ACP Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-930513-95-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsRwtwb-He8C |access-date=2 July 2015 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906161311/https://books.google.com/books?id=VsRwtwb-He8C |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Emi Koyama]] describes how inclusion of intersex in ''LGBTI'' can fail to address intersex-specific human rights issues, including creating false impressions "that intersex people's rights are protected" by laws protecting LGBT people, and failing to acknowledge that many [[intersex]] people are not LGBT.<ref>{{cite web| last = Koyama| first = Emi| title = Adding the "I": Does Intersex Belong in the LGBT Movement?| work = Intersex Initiative| url = http://www.intersexinitiative.org/articles/lgbti.html| access-date = 18 May 2016| archive-date = 17 May 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160517075057/http://www.intersexinitiative.org/articles/lgbti.html| url-status = dead}}</ref>

=== Asexual, aromantic and agender inclusion ===
{{main|Asexuality|Aromanticism|Agender}}

In the early 2010s, [[asexuality]] and [[aromanticism]] started gaining wider recognition. Around 2015, they were included in the expanded initialism '''''LGBTQIA''''', with the A standing for ''asexual'', ''aromantic'', commonly grouped together as ''[[wikt:a-spec|a-spec]]'' along with ''[[agender]]''.<ref name="glaadA" /><ref name="Kuykendall-2016" />

Some people have mistakenly claimed the A stands for [[Straight ally|"ally"]], but allies are not a marginalized group and mentions of A for ally have regularly sparked controversy as a form of [[LGBT erasure]].<ref name="ISD" /><ref name="equinox" />

== Criticism ==
The initialisms ''LGBT'' or ''GLBT'' are not agreed to by everyone that they encompass.<ref name="Counseling Lesbian, G" /> For example, some argue that [[transgender]] and [[transsexual]] causes are not the same as that of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people.<ref name="Coming Out in Christi">{{cite book | last=Wilcox | first=Melissa M. | title=Coming Out in Christianity: Religion, Identity, and Community | publisher=Indiana University Press | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-253-21619-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjdhpMnHEIMC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906172731/https://books.google.com/books?id=yjdhpMnHEIMC | url-status=live}}</ref> This argument centers on the idea that being transgender or transsexual has to do more with gender identity, or a person's understanding of being or not being a man or a woman irrespective of their sexual orientation.<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend"/> LGB issues can be seen as a matter of [[sexual orientation]] or attraction.<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend"/> These distinctions have been made in the context of political action in which LGB goals, such as [[same-sex marriage]] legislation and [[human rights]] work (which may not include transgender and intersex people), may be perceived to differ from transgender and transsexual goals.<ref name="Bisexuality and Transgend"/>

A belief in "lesbian and gay separatism" (not to be confused with the related "[[lesbian separatism]]") holds that lesbians and gay men form (or should form) a community distinct and separate from other groups normally included in the LGBTQ sphere.<ref name="Gays/Justice">{{cite book | last=Mohr | first=Richard D. | title=Gays/Justice: A Study of Ethics, Society, and Law | publisher=Columbia University Press | year=1988 | isbn=978-0-231-06735-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfUw8Zl0kPEC | access-date=5 July 2008 | archive-date=19 June 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619085713/https://books.google.com/books?id=dfUw8Zl0kPEC | url-status=live}}</ref> While not always appearing in sufficient numbers or organization to be called a [[social movement|movement]], separatists are a significant, vocal, and active element within many parts of the LGBT community.<ref name="Sexual Identities, Queer Politi"/><ref name="Gays/Justice"/><ref name="Gay and Lesbian Polit">{{cite book | last=Blasius | first=Mark | title=Gay and Lesbian Politics: Sexuality and the Emergence of a New Ethic | publisher=Temple University Press | year=1994 | isbn=978-1-56639-173-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89C9DGEertsC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906162432/https://books.google.com/books?id=89C9DGEertsC | url-status=live}}</ref> In some cases separatists will deny the existence or right to equality of bisexual orientations and of transsexuality,<ref name="Sexual Identities, Queer Politi" /> sometimes leading to public [[biphobia]] and [[transphobia]].<ref name="Sexual Identities, Queer Politi" /><ref name="Gays/Justice"/> In contrasts to separatists, [[Peter Tatchell]] of the LGBT human rights group [[OutRage!]] argues that to separate the transgender movement from the LGB would be "political madness", stating that:<ref name="LGB but Why T?">{{cite web|last1=Tatchell|first1=Peter|title=LGB - but why T?|url=http://www.mother-ship.com/blog/lgbt-lesbian-gay-bisexual-but-why-transgender-1721|website=mother-ship.com|publisher=Mothership Blog|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703020520/http://www.mother-ship.com/blog/lgbt-lesbian-gay-bisexual-but-why-transgender-1721|archive-date=3 July 2009|date=24 June 2009|quote=To try and separate the LGB from the T, and from women, is political madness. Queers are, like transgender people, gender deviant. We don't conform to traditional heterosexist assumptions of male and female behaviour, in that we have sexual and emotional relationships with the same sex. We should celebrate our discordance with mainstream straight norms. The right to be different is a fundamental human right. The idea that we should conform to straight expectations is demeaning and insulting.|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<blockquote>Queers are, like transgender people, gender deviant. We don't conform to traditional heterosexist assumptions of male and female behaviour, in that we have sexual and emotional relationships with the same sex. We should celebrate our discordance with mainstream straight norms.</blockquote>

The portrayal of an all-encompassing "LGBT community" or "LGB community" is also disliked by some lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.<ref name="That's Revolting">{{cite book | last=Sycamore | first=Matt Bernstein | title=That's Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation | publisher=Soft Skull Press | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-932360-56-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4moAP04OpPIC | access-date=5 July 2008 | archive-date=22 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122123638/http://books.google.com/books?id=4moAP04OpPIC | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Political Edge">{{cite book | last=Carlsson | first=Chris | title=The Political Edge | publisher=City Lights Books | year=2005|isbn=978-1-931404-05-1|url = https://archive.org/details/politicaledge00carl
| url-access=registration |access-date=5 July 2008}}</ref> Some do not subscribe to or approve of the [[LGBT rights|political and social solidarity, and visibility and human rights campaigning]] that normally goes with it, including [[LGBT pride]] marches and events.<ref name="That's Revolting"/><ref name="The Political Edge"/> Some of them believe that grouping together people with non-heterosexual orientations perpetuates the myth that being gay/lesbian/bi/asexual/pansexual/etc. makes a person deficiently different from other people.<ref name="That's Revolting"/> These people are often less visible compared to more mainstream gay or LGBT activists.<ref name="That's Revolting"/><ref name="The Political Edge"/> Since this faction is difficult to distinguish from the heterosexual majority, it is common for people to assume all LGBT people support LGBT liberation and the visibility of LGBT people in society, including the right to live one's life differently from the majority.<ref name="That's Revolting"/><ref name="The Political Edge"/><ref name="Class Matters: Cr">{{cite book | last=Leondar-Wright | first=Betsy | title=Class Matters: Cross-Class Alliance Building for Middle-Class Activists | publisher=New Society Publishers | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-86571-523-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aD4yphfHBWMC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906155708/https://books.google.com/books?id=aD4yphfHBWMC | url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1996 book ''Anti-Gay'', a collection of essays edited by [[Mark Simpson (journalist)|Mark Simpson]], the concept of a 'one-size-fits-all' identity based on [[LGBT stereotypes]] is criticized for suppressing the individuality of LGBT people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marksimpson.com/pages/anti_gay.html |title=Anti-Gay |publisher=Marksimpson.com |access-date=23 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927113556/http://www.marksimpson.com/pages/anti_gay.html |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref>

{{Anchor|Drop the T<!--redirect target-->}}Writing in the [[BBC News Magazine]] in 2014, [[Julie Bindel]] questions whether the various gender groupings now, "bracketed together[,] ... share the same issues, values and goals?" Bindel refers to a number of possible new initialisms for differing combinations and concludes that it may be time for the alliances to either be reformed or go their "separate ways".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28130472|title=Viewpoint: Should gay men and lesbians be bracketed together?|author=Julie Bindel|date=2 July 2014|work=[[BBC News Magazine]]|access-date=4 July 2014|author-link=Julie Bindel|archive-date=3 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703195331/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28130472|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015, the slogan "'''Drop the T'''" was coined to encourage [[LGBT rights organization|LGBT organizations]] to stop support of [[transgender]] people as they say that sexual orientation, LGB, does not share similarity with gender identity, the T. The campaign has been condemned by many [[List of LGBT-related organizations and conferences|LGBT groups]] as [[transphobia|transphobic]].<ref name=adv>{{cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/06/lgbt-groups-respond-petition-asking-drop-t|title=LGBT Groups Respond to Petition Asking to 'Drop the T'|date=6 November 2015|website=www.advocate.com|access-date=1 June 2019|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517163841/https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/06/lgbt-groups-respond-petition-asking-drop-t|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/11/12/drop-the-t-counter-petition-surpases-original/|title=Signatures for 'Drop The T' counter-petition surpass original - PinkNews · PinkNews|website=www.pinknews.co.uk|date=12 November 2015|access-date=1 June 2019|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517163842/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/11/12/drop-the-t-counter-petition-surpases-original/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/drop-the-t-petition-backlash|title=Why More Than 1,000 People Have Signed a Petition to Drop the "T" From LGBT|website=Teen Vogue|date=9 November 2015|access-date=1 June 2019|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517163840/https://www.teenvogue.com/story/drop-the-t-petition-backlash|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gay-transphobia-2015-styl_b_8546278|title=Gay Transphobia, 2015 Style|first1=Dana|last1=Beyer|date=12 November 2015|website=HuffPost|access-date=1 June 2019|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517172713/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gay-transphobia-2015-styl_b_8546278|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Alternatives ==

=== Queer ===
{{Main|Queer}}

Many have expressed desire for an [[umbrella term]] to replace existing initialisms.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Sexual Identities, Queer Politi">{{cite book | last=Atkins | first=Dawn | title=Looking Queer: Body Image and Identity in Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender Communities | publisher=Haworth Press | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-7890-0463-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rd31TPHaxdEC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906162509/https://books.google.com/books?id=Rd31TPHaxdEC | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Glossary of Terms |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=HRC |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Queer]]'' gained popularity as an umbrella-term for sexual and gender minorities in the 21st century.<ref name="Worthen-2023">{{Cite journal |last=Worthen |first=Meredith G. F. |date=1 February 2023 |title=Queer identities in the 21st century: Reclamation and stigma |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22002330 |journal=Current Opinion in Psychology |volume=49 |pages=101512 |doi=10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101512 |pmid=36463589 |s2cid=253377540 |issn=2352-250X}}</ref> The term remains controversial, particularly among older LGBT people, who perceive it as offensive due to its historical usage as a [[Pejorative|slur]],<ref name="Worthen-2023" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=McHanon |first=Mary |date=23 May 2024 |title=Is "Queer" a Derogatory Word? |url=https://www.languagehumanities.org/is-queer-a-derogatory-word.htm |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Language & Humanities}}</ref> as well as those who wish to dissociate themselves from [[queer radicalism]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gamson |first=Joshua |date=1995 |title=Must Identity Movements Self-Destruct? A Queer Dilemma |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3096854 |journal=Social Problems |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=390–407 |doi=10.1525/sp.1995.42.3.03x0104z |jstor=3096854 |issn=0037-7791}}</ref> and those who see it as amorphous and trendy.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ayoub |first1=Phillip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hlHBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT137 |title=LGBT Activism and the Making of Europe: A Rainbow Europe? |last2=Paternotte |first2=David |date=20 October 2014 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-39176-6}}</ref> Some younger people feel ''queer'' is a more politically charged, more powerful term than ''LGBT''.<ref name="Forging Gay Identities">{{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Elizabeth A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnYy6hSdocAC |title=Forging Gay Identities: Organizing Sexuality in San Francisco, 1950–1994 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-226-02694-7 |access-date=5 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122141703/http://books.google.com/books?id=jnYy6hSdocAC |archive-date=22 November 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="It's Your World">{{cite book | last=Halpin | first=Mikki | title=It's Your World—If You Don't Like It, Change It: Activism for Teenagers | publisher=Simon and Schuster | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-689-87448-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ud3Zzo2-VMsC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906152241/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ud3Zzo2-VMsC | url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2018 U.S. study, about 1 in 5 LGBTQ people identified as "queer".<ref name="Worthen-2023" />

=== Sexual and gender minorities ===
{{main|Sexual and gender minorities}}
In academic and professional contexts, ''sexual and gender minorities'' (''SGM'') is sometimes used as an alternative to ''LGBTQ'' to include individuals who may not self-identify as LGBTQ (such as [[men who have sex with men]], [[women who have sex with women]], and some individuals with differences or [[disorders of sex development]]).<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.edi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/EDI_Public_files/sgm-strategic-plan.pdf | title=NIH FY 2016-2020 - Strategic Plan to Advance Research on the Health and Well-being of Sexual and Gender Minorities | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318075832/https://www.edi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/EDI_Public_files/sgm-strategic-plan.pdf | archive-date=2021-03-18 }}</ref> A UK government paper favors ''SGM'' because initials like ''LGBTQ'' stand for terms that, especially outside the [[Global North]], are "not necessarily inclusive of local understandings and terms used to describe sexual and gender minorities".<ref>{{Citation|title=Gender and Strategic Communications in Conflict and Stabilisation Contexts|date=January 2020|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/866351/How_to_Guide_on_Gender_and_Strategic_Communication_in_Conflict_and_Stabilisation_Contexts_-_January_2020_-_Stabilisation_Unit.pdf|publisher=HM Government|access-date=23 November 2020|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101050719/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/866351/How_to_Guide_on_Gender_and_Strategic_Communication_in_Conflict_and_Stabilisation_Contexts_-_January_2020_-_Stabilisation_Unit.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Gender, sexual and romantic minorities'' (''GSRM'') includes individuals of a minority [[romantic orientation]] such as [[aromanticism]].<ref>{{Citation|last1=Choudhuri|first1=Devika Dibya|title=Multiplicity of LGBTQ+ Identities, Intersections, and Complexities|date=2019-09-20|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429447297-1|work=Rethinking LGBTQIA Students and Collegiate Contexts|pages=3–16|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-429-44729-7|access-date=2021-06-09|last2=Curley|first2=Kate|doi=10.4324/9780429447297-1|s2cid=210355997|archive-date=2023-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323053831/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429447297-1/multiplicity-lgbtq-identities-intersections-complexities-devika-dibya-choudhuri-kate-curley|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Lapointe|first=Alicia|title=Postgay|date=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpTvDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA205|work=Critical Concepts in Queer Studies and Education: An International Guide for the Twenty-First Century|pages=205–218|editor-last=Rodriguez|editor-first=Nelson M.|series=Queer Studies and Education|place=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US|language=en|doi=10.1057/978-1-137-55425-3_21|isbn=978-1-137-55425-3|access-date=2021-06-09|editor2-last=Martino|editor2-first=Wayne J.|editor3-last=Ingrey|editor3-first=Jennifer C.|editor4-last=Brockenbrough|editor4-first=Edward|archive-date=2023-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323053845/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-55425-3_21|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Further umbrella terms ===
Other rare umbrella terms are [[Gender and Sexual Diversity|Gender and Sexual Diversities]] (GSD),<ref>[http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/02/25/organisation-proposes-replacing-the-limiting-term-lgbt-with-more-inclusive-gsd/ Organisation proposes replacing the 'limiting' term LGBT with 'more inclusive' GSD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616231332/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/02/25/organisation-proposes-replacing-the-limiting-term-lgbt-with-more-inclusive-gsd/ |date=16 June 2018}}, 25 February 2013.</ref> MOGII (Marginalized Orientations, Gender Identities, and Intersex) and MOGAI (Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments and Intersex).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/gender-and-sexual-diversities-gsd-lgbt-label-_n_2758908.html|title='Gender And Sexual Diversities,' Or GSD, Should Replace 'LGBT,' Say London Therapists|date=25 February 2013|newspaper=The Huffington Post|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=12 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012080406/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/gender-and-sexual-diversities-gsd-lgbt-label-_n_2758908.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dal.ca/news/2014/08/01/pride-on-the-prowl.html|title=Pride on the prowl|work=Dalhousie News|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=9 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009094232/http://www.dal.ca/news/2014/08/01/pride-on-the-prowl.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

''SGL'' ([[same-gender loving]]) is sometimes favored among gay male [[African American]]s as a way of distinguishing themselves from what they regard as [[white people|white]]-dominated LGBT communities.<ref name="The Politics of Gay Rights">{{cite book | last1=Rimmerman | first1=Craig A. | first2=Kenneth D. | last2=Wald | first3=Clyde | last3=Wilcox | title=The Politics of Gay Rights | publisher=University of Chicago Press | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-4129-0988-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AlErV-3RpDEC | access-date=2 July 2015 | archive-date=6 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906163312/https://books.google.com/books?id=AlErV-3RpDEC | url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Clinical ===

In public health settings, ''MSM'' ("[[men who have sex with men]]") is clinically used to describe men who have sex with other men without referring to their sexual orientation, with ''WSW'' ("[[women who have sex with women]]") also used as an analogous term.<ref>Young, R M & Meyer, I H (2005) The Trouble with "MSM" and "WSW": Erasure of the Sexual-Minority Person in Public Health Discourse American Journal of Public Health July 2005 Vol. 95 No. 7.</ref><ref>Glick, M Muzyka, B C Salkin, L M Lurie, D (1994) Necrotizing [[Periodontitis|ulcerative periodontitis]]: a marker for immune deterioration and a predictor for the diagnosis of [[AIDS]] Journal of Periodontology 1994 65 p. 393–397.</ref>

=== MVPFAFF ===

MVPFAFF is an abbreviation for {{Lang|haw|[[Māhū]]}}, [[Vakasalewalewa|Vakasalewa]], {{lang|tpi|[[Palopa]]|italic=no}}, [[Fa'afafine]], {{Lang|rar|[[Akava'ine]]}}, [[Fakaleitī]] (Leiti), and [[Fakafifine]]. This term was developed by [[Phylesha Brown-Acton]] in 2010 at the Asia Pacific Games Human Rights Conference.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Brown-Acton|first=Phylesha|date=25 February 2020|title=Hands and feet: A reflection on Polynesian navigation—a Niue Fakafifine community practitioner perspective in Aotearoa-New Zealand|url=https://www.tekaharoa.com/index.php/tekaharoa/article/view/298|journal=Te Kaharoa|volume=15|issue=1|doi=10.24135/tekaharoa.v15i1.298|s2cid=226134097|issn=1178-6035|access-date=2 October 2021|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205208/https://www.tekaharoa.com/index.php/tekaharoa/article/view/298|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> This refers to those in the rainbow [[Pacific Islander]] community, who may or may not identify with the LGBTQ initialism.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rainbow|url=https://www.leva.co.nz/our-work/suicide-prevention/finding-help/support-services/rainbow/|access-date=2 October 2021|website=Le Va|archive-date=2 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002023943/https://www.leva.co.nz/our-work/suicide-prevention/finding-help/support-services/rainbow/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|LGBTQ}}
* [[LGBTQ music]]
* [[Androphilia and gynephilia]]
* [[Gender and sexual diversity]]
* [[LGBTQ symbols]]
* {{Lang|mi|[[Takatāpui]]}} – the [[Māori language]] equivalent of LGBT

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|LGBT}}
{{wiktionary|LGBT|QUILTBAG}}
{{Wikiquote|LGBT}}
* [http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ Archives] of [[glbtq.com]], the GLBTQ encyclopedia
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081010152330/http://directory.lgbtcenters.org/ Directory of U.S. and international LGBT Community Centers] (archived 10 October 2008)
* [http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/index.aspx American Psychological Association's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns Office]

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{{LGBTQ|state=expanded}}
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[[Category:1990s neologisms]]
[[Category:LGBTQ| ]]
[[Category:LGBTQ terminology|*]]
[[Category:Initialisms]]
[[Category:Queer]]