I decided to do some quick research about the order of the letters in LGBTQ+ and why L was eventually placed before G. I struggled to find a definitive answer, but most sources credited the acknowledgement of sexism within the gay community as the primary reason.
I stumbled across this article, which was an interesting read and discusses the role of the AIDS crisis in the swapping of L and G.
This is really interesting- especially because this issue cannot really be applied to other social movements because the LGBT label covers so many groups. The only similar acronym I can think of is AAPI and I wonder if that has a similar history to it.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really cool to read in the context of our class discussions but also in a recent conversation I had with my mom. I was discussing readings I had done and she just off-handedly asked, oh is this the GLBT class? Immediately I asked her why she said it in that order as I had never realized she uses that form of the acronym. Despite my mom's habitual use of the acronym, I've always used LGBT which is a little weird since I would assume I would adopt her mannerisms and vernacular. Also, it's not like LGBTQ topics haven't been discussed in the past/growing up. I just thought this was very peculiar... because although I'm a younger generation and society now uses LGBTQ more often, it had never occured to me the difference until this class. Specifically, when I first opened Vicki Eaklor's book. My mom, however, knew exactly what I was referring to when I asked, mentioning how it used to only be gay rights and the term lesbian didn't exist. I just found this interaction very interesting, in terms of the AIDS epidemic and also my general introduction to this class.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of Laleh's comment, I'm also curious about whether the AAPI acronym has any history. I also know the acronym APIDA has been used to include Desi Americans. I remember discussing with a friend that they added the extra A to include Asian Americans or something, I can't quite remember. But it was in relation to the history/formation of the acronym.