What Isn't in a name?

published January 13

You eat it, you try to spell your name in it, and it’s probably very high in sodium. Well, at least that’s one way of looking at Alphabet soup. Another way is through LGBTQIA; the far more wholesome alphabet soup that I‘m here to tell you about today. This mouthful of letters stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning, Intersex, and Allies.
I was asked recently why such a ridiculously long and inclusive acronym is used to define a group. Believe it or not -note my sarcasm here please- the homosexual community and all their affiliates are still considered a pretty touchy subject to many people. Insert one of my life philosophies: people are like ostriches. They think that if they bury their head in the sand, they aren’t susceptible to the world outside. But if the world comes and bites the ostrich in its big feathered butt, surprise! Hello world, I’m listening now.
So why go to such lengths to include Intersex, Allies, Transgendered, and Questioning into the mix? Another astute inquiry. The answer, simply, is that if you call a person out by name, their conditioned response is to answer back or look. If a person on the street was shouting, “Everyone come to the party,” you may simply ignore them. But if they said, “(Insert your name), come to the party!” Wouldn’t you look?
Earlier in the year one of my articles stated that you don’t have to be gay to come to the GSA Rainbow room. Put simply, you don’t have to be in the rainbow to enjoy the refracted light. The inclusion of “S” in Gay Straight Alliance is so that even those individuals who are not homosexual know that they are welcome any time. This message, I believe, is mirrored in this long list of letters of Alphabet soup.
It is no secret that with sensitive issues like homosexuality and the LGBTQIA vista, many people won’t get involved unless they’re called out directly (I refer to my ‘world biting the ostrich in the butt” metaphor again). The reason that we go to such lengths to be inclusive, even reaching out to straight Allies, people currently Questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation, and Transgendered peoples, is because the very point and basis for the GSA community is to include EVERYONE in the effort for a more humanizing world.
I know it’s still a mouthful, and sure, I’d rather say the Everybody Club rather than LGBTQIA, but calling out each individual by name is a more effective way of getting people involved with a movement that really shouldn’t –after all this time- need to be a ‘movement’ at all.
There is no real difference between a gay person and a straight person (or transgendered, or questioning, or bisexual). We just like different thing, and is that really so different at all? That is my 101 on why the LGBTQIA acronym is so inclusive. No matter who you love, you’re just a person, like everybody else.