Most people in the summertime really don’t want to dwell on important issues, let alone hear more about the presidential race. With that in mind, I bring up the small issue of who our community actually is. If you’re asking yourself why I’m asking, it’s really very simple: Many others are as well. They really want to know what is the correct way to describe us in news stories. And we should help them with this. Consider this: The two most popular ways to describe our community is LGBT or GLBT. Then there is LGBTQ, LGBTQQ, LGBTQI … you get the idea.
With that I offer my humble opinion: Four letters of the alphabet are enough. After all, one of the Q’s is more a political statement, while the other one will eventually decide where he or she falls under one of the other four letters. He or she might even decide none of the letters apply and become an ally. Oh, did I forget LGBT allies? We cannot adopt every letter in the alphabet and what it might stand for, no matter how much we might care for that issue.
So that leaves us with LGBT or GLBT. And with those two, I squarely come down on the side of LGBT, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Why the L before the G, you may ask. Because of public relations, both outside of and within our community.
Women in our community often feel shoved to the side or overshadowed by gay men. This would be one way to show our respect for their efforts and admit that they are full partners in the fight for equality. It would also say that we men understand and support the war against sexism.
Putting the L first would mean that, in a news report, people’s first thought would be lesbians rather than men and, to a great deal of heterosexual America, lesbians are more acceptable. Let’s be real here: The right wing did a great job of portraying gay men in a poor light during the early years of our fight for equality. On the other hand, they almost completely ignored lesbians. Was it lesbian phobia; or just plain sexism? Either way, it now works to our advantage.
So in this election year, I urge you, when you go to the voting both, to cast your ballot; vote for LGBT. Oh that’s right, it’s not on the ballot. Maybe the good folks at Victory Fund can do it in one of their Gay Politics Report questions. Or not.
Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. He can be reached at [email protected] .