LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM

ep2_qec.mp3

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What does queer mean?

[MUSIC]

Hello and welcome to episode two of Queer Enough Club.

I'm Gretta, or G, and I'm the creator and host.

Okay, I'm really excited about today's episode,

which we are looking at queer acronyms,

and how we ended up with so many.

But first, let's look at our queer definition.

[MUSIC]

Definitions are randomly pulled from the Queen's English,

the LGBTQIA+ dictionary of Lingo and colloquial phrases by Chloe O. Davis.

Today, the word is four points, which is an idiom,

an emphatic phrase used to acknowledge something or someone highly exceptional.

Want more info?

Think, scoring big points for a job well done.

A used case example?

I have been watching old episodes of Noah's Ark all day.

I forgot season two went for points like that.

Why is this so my life?

Usage note, the term originated in ballroom culture

and is commonly used in the larger queer and trans people of color,

QTPOC community.

[MUSIC]

Our deep dive today is something that actually makes me really insecure,

especially when I'm talking to other people within the queer community.

And that is how to reference the queer community.

It feels like there's always a new acronym that I'm hearing about,

and that makes me, of course, really worried that I'm not using the right acronym

to connect to people and respect people.

So today, I want to look at some of the most common ones where they came from,

and really I'm looking for an answer of, is there one that is most right?

So first, we have LGBT, which is probably the most well known of all the acronyms

this debuted back in the mid: 1980

and move away from the often derogatory-laced, homosexual.

And originally, it actually began as just LGBT and the transgender T came in later.

So when we look at the L in LGBT, that actually comes first for a really...

I don't want to say touching reason, but it is touching. It's really an honor.

So back in the: 1980

of all identities. And because of this, the acronym was widely known as GLBT.

Now during the AIDS crisis, solidarity was built between gay men and lesbian women

because many healthcare workers refused to be in the same room with AIDS patients.

So lesbians became the primary caretakers, nurses, and blood donors to gay men

and other people who were suffering from AIDS.

So this shift to LGBT was really to honor lesbians for being so important during that crisis

and I didn't know that. And of course, it will not surprise you that we will be doing a whole episode on the AIDS epidemic

because I'm the first to admit. Other than knowing it really happened and it ended up being very homophobic,

I don't know much more than that. But that is really why we have the L in the front and that...

That really is so powerful. As sad as it is that it had to happen.

Next we have the G, which is prominent partially because gay is an adjective used to describe people

who have physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to people of the same gender.

Historically, the word gay was most used to refer to men who are attracted to men,

but now it's really used for all kinds of people in and out of that context.

The B stands for bisexual. While the etymology of the word suggests that individuals who identify as bisexual are attracted to two genders by meaning two,

it's key to remember that many of these words were created before we really had an understanding of how gender worked.

So because of this, some people may prefer pansexual. The group P effects pan means all.

And some use the term pansexual to describe their attraction to more than one gender.

It's kind of saying, "I am attracted to all genders versus I'm attracted to any gender, I guess."

It does sound like bisexuality and pansexuality are sometimes used interchangeably,

but it's really best to listen to what other people are using and what feels best for them because no two people are alike.

And I will tell you that while doing this research, I felt immensely connected to the word pansexual while I was reading about it.

I've never really understood what it meant. I just kind of, you know, there are so many.

I haven't looked into it at this point. I had a brief understanding and that was it.

But I really have always struggled with the implication that "buy" does mean to. I do have OCD. I live with OCD.

And sometimes there are certain things that are just harder for me to go of. It feels like the P under my mattress.

I don't know. I don't know if I'm quite ready to say, you know, "I am pansexual."

As opposed to bisexual, I'll be honest. I use the term queer more often than not.

But hearing and learning about what pansexuality is defined as "give me a sense of home."

We'll see where it takes me. Okay.

Going back to the acronym LGBT, we've got the T for transgender, which is sometimes shortened to trans.

And that is an umbrella term for anyone whose gender identity does not match the sex that they were assigned in birth.

Transgender is an adjective not a noun, so don't ever say that someone is a transgender.

I will tell you, I've made this mistake before. You are not alone if you've ever done it.

And the best we can do is move forward. I did not know that transgender was an adjective, so the more you know,

right, that's kind of the theme behind the whole podcast.

In early: 2000

The "Q" is probably one of the most confusing to allies of the LGBT community and potentially within the community.

I guess there's no real official agreement as to what the "Q" stands for.

It sometimes understood as questioning, meaning people who are still exploring their sexual and gender identity.

However, it looks like it's most often understood as queer.

A word that was once a slur, queer meaning "odd" or "unusual" but is now a reclaimed word of empowerment when used within the community.

While the LGBTQ acronym has been the new standard for several years, it's really not uncommon we're seeing even more now. LGBTQIA+

The "I" stands for "Inner Sex" which we touched on in the last episode, which is not actually descriptive of sexual orientation or gender identity,

rather individuals who are born with variations of anatomical sex characteristics that do not fit within binary definitions of male or female bodies.

The "A" much like the "Q" can stand for a couple of different things depending on whom you ask.

Some people recognize it as allies. I would argue more often than not. It is allies who think it stands for allies, but most people do recognize it as as sexual, which is often abbreviated to ACE.

Those people have little to no sexual attraction to others regardless of their gender expression.

Lately, within the last year or two, I'm seeing LGBTQIA+2S+

The 2S stands for "Two Spirit" according to kidshelpphone.ca, "Two Spirit" is an important term within some indigenous cultures and for some indigenous people,

meaning a person with both a feminine and masculine spirit living in the same body.

This is often used to describe sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or spiritual identity.

On Wikipedia, they state that there are over 25 variations of LGBT with another 9 alternatives.

writing this, which is August: 2025

That is something to consider. When I say that they have 9 alternatives, I saw, you know, just one example, was SGMY, Sexual and Gender Minority Youth.

I would like to dive into more of those. I don't want to say obscure, but lesser known in the future.

There were a couple on Wikipedia that I came across that I wanted to share.

The first one. Okay, are we ready? LGBTQFAGPBDSM is an acronym that stands for "Let's be in gay by sexual transgender/transactual queer questioning/flexual asexual genderfuck polyamorous/bondage/discipline/submission/masochism."

t Wesselayn University in the: 2000

With the you standing for undefined, unlabeled, or unsure, and the rest of the letters are just LGBTQIA rearranged.

So I really like queer-t-bag. I might have to use that one more often. A lot of people think initially that it might be a slur because I think it ends with a name-bag.

But when I was looking through Reddit, it seemed like most people really liked it. And then one or two people just didn't like it because they think there's too many acronyms, which, you know, fair, I think it's really hard to make an acronym that is all encompassing of every single facet of non-heterosexuality.

I should say non-sysgender heterosexuality. So when it comes to the word queer replacing these acronyms, there does seem to be a debate because the historical use, kind of like I mentioned earlier, was a little more offensive than not.

I came across a paper by Dennis Scheller-Bolt titled "LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQ, F-A-G-P-B-D-S-M" or just "queer."

We are "quitical remarks on an acronym in Slavonic and Non-Slavonic Languages" that kind of seemed like it was in existence to tackle this subject.

I'm going to read word for word the abstract. The paper critically examines the usage and implications of the acronym, LGBT, within the context of queer identities in Slavonic and Non-Slavonic languages.

It argues that while LGBT has gained widespread recognition, it fails to adequately represent the diverse spectrum of queer identities, thus contradicting the fundamental ethos of queerness.

Utilizing semantic analysis and linguistic frameworks, the author advocates for a broader acceptance of the term "queer" as a more inclusive reference that aligns with contemporary understandings of non-heteronormative identities.

changes in meaning since the: 1980

So, I'm going to be honest that after that, the paper started to get real technical.

And I wasn't always confident, I understood what I was reading, but if you are interested in reading, it will be linked in the show notes. You can purchase it to read it offline, otherwise if you just keep scrolling, there is a free version of it to read on the web.

Another interesting nugget is that while doing my research, I came across a term I'd never actually heard before, and I really liked, and it was called "Rainbow Community."

It looks like this isn't super broadly used, but there were a handful of organizations that used it throughout their website or hinted at it in their titles.

So, one was Rainbow Community Center, and another one was Rainbow Youth Project.

Aside from that, many of the articles that came up using Rainbow Community were from India.

So, I'd really like to spend some time in the future looking into if that is a term that's really common over in India, and it just hasn't made its way over here.

But, you know, I think at a time like this, community is feeling extra important, and it's so reminiscent of Gilbert Baker's initial moment when he decided to do a rainbow.

Right? I'm just really looking out over the people. It was a rainbow community.

So, did I get my answer that there is one right word? No. It's even more complicated than I thought.

What I'm gonna strive for is to let go of the idea that there is a right or a wrong, and just really try to go with what feels the most natural.

I will probably be sticking with queer, and then I think I'm gonna try to get more comfortable with the term gay over arching again with my OCD that is just some like.

When I say gay, I often do connect it to that older meaning that it's just gay men, but it really does seem like gay is just a term for the people more and more.

And then I do use LGBTQIA+ a lot, however I do want to make sure that if I'm going to go with that, I make sure to include to us, because I do really want to be respectful and inclusive, but that is kind of right the whole issue or the whole debate.

I should say about the acronym in general.

Now, I have no doubt this will continue to shift over the years, and who knows? Maybe a new word or a new concise way to reference this group of people will pop up in the next few years. We really don't know.

Last call today is a book I listened to a year or so ago, and it is untamed by Glen and Doyle.

I have heard about this book a lot within the queer community. It sounds like this is a book that a lot of people read when they take their first steps within the queer community.

I really love listening to it because Glen and Doyle did read her own audiobook, so if you don't know who Doyle is, you may recognize the name of her wife, Abby Wombach.

Yes, the soccer player, Abby Wombach.

Untamed follows Doyle's journey from meeting Wombach to really falling in love with each other and going from being a Christian blogger to, I mean, she's essentially a queer activist at this point.

She does have three children that she co-parents, and even though I am actually child-free by choice, listening to how Glen and approach is being a mom and raising people in the world,

I think it's just a lot of faith and humanity listening to that book and I really highly recommend it. I would like to read more of Doyle's work as time allows.

So we'll see if we get another one in here in the future.

Sources for today. We've got the center CV dot org.

GSRC dot Princeton dot edu Wikipedia dot org. I'm really trying to avoid listing Wikipedia directly, but I did mention I I lig literally looked at the list of acronyms from Wikipedia, so I feel like I have to call that out.

We've got academia dot edu ap a dot org national academies dot org LGBTQIA to us dot org.

We'll call phone dot CA and then again, because this was a book, I did just link book shop for untamed by Glen and Doyle.

To learn more about myself or the project, head to the website queerinofclub.com.

QEC is on Instagram, TikTok, Neptune and Blue Sky at Queer Enough Club, and you can email me directly at hello at Queer Enough Club dot com.

Lastly, if you like what you heard, please leave a review. And you know, welcome to the club.

[MUSIC]

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