A question, fellow CoSonauts: today for the first time I encountered the acronym Q+ as a stand-in for LGBTQ (and all of its extended variations).
Have you encountered this?
How does it feel to you?
Considering how many people object to being called queer, it doesn't seem like it'd catch on.
I like SGM, sexual and gender minorities. It's used in sociology and has some traction in England, but hasn't caught on in the US.
@tyghebright Oh, I could get on board with SGM!
Most of the LGBTQ+ people I share life with are okay with queer, but you're right -- that is a regional and not universally-accepted thing.
@sumpnlikefaith @tyghebright As a married, heterosexual, and biological male that acronym doesn't affect me much. That said, when an acronym (!), which is already used as shorthand for a longer phrase, keeps growing then something is fundamentally wrong with it. People can call themselves whatever they like but I like @tyghebright's suggestion of SGM. It's simple and resolves the issue cleanly. The difficulty in being adopted in the US probably lies in the tacit admission of being a minority.
@sumpnlikefaith @tyghebright That's actually what I'm talking about. The minority label is seen as a stigma as you have demonstrated.
The truth is they would still be a minority if the government was neutral or even favorable. There's broad support in the US for LGBTQ but actual members of that label are far fewer than a majority. The actual majority is heterosexuals which it must be and which must remain to maintain our national population.
@danielbsmith @tyghebright Hmmm, I'm not concerned about the national population being alarmingly affected by LGBTQ+ people.
For one thing, many SGM (I'm taking it for a test-drive) folks are starting families and having children. 🙂
Further, I don't think a reduction in population is the end of the world. While our global economy is predicated on perpetual population growth, that seems unsustainable. So we need to fix the system -- global population shrinkage seems inevitable.
@danielbsmith @tyghebright
I don't think there is any doubt about LGBTQ+ people's minority status, considering the way US politicians keep drafting legislation targeting them. :-/
And pockets of Canada are joining suit. Blech.