What is the LGBTQ+ community?

Acceptance • Education • Awareness

Written by Maggie 

LGBTQ+ is an acronym that encompasses many different identities. But it isn’t just a combination of letters. It’s also a community of people. Anyone who doesn’t identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth or isn’t solely attracted to the opposite gender of themselves is a part of this community. Let’s break down the letters! L stands for Lesbian. A Lesbian is someone who isn't a man and is only attracted to people who aren’t men. G stands for Gay. Gay is a term that most commonly refers to people who aren’t women and are solely attracted to non-women, but it can also be used as an umbrella term to represent anyone who is attracted to the same sex as themself. B is for Bisexual. Someone who is Bisexual is attracted to two or more genders. T stands for Transgender. A transgender person is someone who doesn’t identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth. The Q in LGBTQ+ is Queer. Queer is yet another umbrella term! Some people will use this label if they don’t feel represented by any other label, some people will use it if they aren’t quite sure what label represents them yet, but it is a word that anyone within the community can identify with if it’s what they feel validated by. This brings me now to the “+” that’s at the end of the acronym. It represents all of the identities that can’t be encompassed by the L, G, B, T, or Q. There are many other labels that are more newly developed, such as Pansexual, Non-binary, Intersex, and many others that have not been added into the acronym for the sake of keeping it memorable and simple, but the plus should not be ignored. The identities that come after the well-known acronym are completely valid and just as important.