A Useful Primer on Intersex People and the Queer Community

[+ quoththeraven]

I use the term "queer" because as the Twitter thread demonstrates, LGBT and even LGBTQ (if Q stands for queer and not questioning) don't include intersex people and the terms that do are long and unwieldy (that's my conclusion, not the author's).

 

 

Intersex conditions can be associated with or cause medical issues but aren't a disorder in and of themselves and occur consistently, naturally and regularly. Intersex people are not freaks.

 

How we view intersex people also has a bearing on how we view trans and enby (nonbinary) people. It seems to me that accepting people's gender identity and pronouns not only is basic consideration (how would you feel if your friends and family constantly got your name and pronouns wrong) but is pretty much mandatory if you expect the same consideration from society at large for same-sex sexual attraction.

 

Furthermore, the existence of intersex people complicates, if not entirely negates, our binary construct of gender, as there are people with female genitals and XY (i.e., genetically considered male) genes. That's kind of a kick in the teeth to all that neat line-drawing.

Edited May 20, 2018 by quoththeraven

[maninsoma]

Maybe the super long acronym needs two Qs, then, since I have always understood the Q to refer to "questioning" and not "queer." I agree that the more identities that got added to that acronym the more unwieldy it became. An acronym should be a short-hand way to say something. If you have to say LGBTQQIAA (and maybe there are other letters I'm forgetting) it's probably easier to simply remember and say all the words in full.

[TruthBTold]

I simply do not use the "Q" (if it is "questioning"). Call me an old fuddy duddy. If you are questioning, I imagine, you have fucked both genders and just can't decide which one you like better. For fairness sake you will continue to fuck both (you're stupid if you do not) until you commit one way or the other. Four initials are more than enough.

[+ quoththeraven]

I prefer using one umbrella term for everyone who is not exclusively heterosexual.

[+ sniper]

The purpose of pronouns is to be less specific, not more. I think it makes more sense to just use a single pronoun for everyone and dispense with having them gendered at all. Particularly when some people seem to want a different pronoun depending on the day, which seems like an unreasonable expectation of people who can't read minds.