From LGBT to LGBTQIA+: The evolving recognition of identity

HISTORY & CULTURE

- In the 1990s, lesbian, gay, and bisexual activists adopted the acronym LGB to describe their community—a term that has since expanded to be more inclusive. This was largely made possible by the work of people like these activists participating in a 1975 Pride parade in Boston.

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Here’s a look at how that evolution has happened—and why it’s all but certain the term will continue to change.

How lesbianism got its name

The L was the first character in the LGBTQ acronym to be created, out of all the other letters. The phrase had for many years been linked to the poetry of Sappho, a Lesbos-born ancient Greek woman who wrote about same-gender love.

The 17th century is when the phrase was first used to refer to same-gender affection. However, its contemporary usage first appeared in the 1890s, when it was used in a number of psychology and sexuality books as well as an English-language medical dictionary. It became more and more common as time went on, and women who secretly and later proudly adored other women adopted it.

The dawn of “homosexuality” and “bisexuality”

The first person to attempt to categorize his own group was a German lawyer and writer named Karl Heinrich Ulrichs who may or may not have identified as gay. He referred to males who were attracted to men as "Urning" as early as 1862. He wrote, "We Urnings form a particular class of human gender. "We are a third sex, our own gender."

However, a phrase created by Austrian-Hungarian journalist Karoly Maria Kertbeny quickly took its position. The Prussian government considered amending its constitution in 1869 to prohibit males from engaging in same-gender sexual behavior.

The Prussian minister of justice received a passionate, anonymous open letter from Kertbeny in response, calling the proposed legislation "shocking nonsense" and using the term "homosexuality," which he had previously coined in a personal letter to Ulrichs. He also created the terms heterosexual and bisexual, which describe individuals who are drawn to people of the same gender but different sexual orientations.

In his letter, Kertbeny stressed that same-gender attraction was innate and disputed common beliefs that it was wrong and harmful. The terms were ultimately embraced by pioneering gay rights organizations and psychologists working in the expanding field.

Gay: Reclaiming a slur

Activists also began using other terms like social variant, deviant, and “homophile,” which means “same love,” in an effort to sidestep commonly used slurs, emphasize the loving relationships of same-gender relationships, and protest discriminatory laws. These words were used “as the means whereby individuals could make sense of their own experiences, their active-undergoing of being homosexual in a homophobic environment,” writes sociologist J. Todd Ormsbee.

A long-used epithet, "gay," was reclaimed by advocates in the late 1960s. Same-gender sexual activity and attraction were generally prohibited throughout the 20th century, and this and other epithets that were used to denigrate LGBTQ+ people were common. Though its beginnings are hazy, "gay" was ultimately accepted by men who disobeyed convention by publicly expressing same-gender love.

Activists also started using other words like social variant, deviant, and "homophile," which means "same love," in an effort to sidestep commonly used slurs, highlight the loving relationships of same-gender relationships, and protest discriminatory laws. According to sociologist J. Todd Ormsbee, these words were used as a way for people to make meaning of their own experiences, including the active experience of being homosexual in a homophobic environment.

By 1980, "gay" had supplanted these other terms for men who are attracted to males, according to essayist Edmund White. Because it is "one of the few words that does not refer explicitly to sexual activity," according to White, its popularity is increasing. Both men who adore men and people who show same-gender preference or gender divergence are referred to by this phrase.

“Transgender” becomes part of LGBT.

The LGB acronym became widely used in the 1990s as a result of the strong ties that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people have in both everyday life and liberation activism. (lesbian, gay and bisexual).

Another word, "transgender," which is now a part of the modern acronym, took longer to gain acceptance. Despite the fact that transgender people have always existed, the term didn't appear until the 1960s. The phrase was first used in a psychology textbook in 1965, according to historians. Transfeminine advocates like Virginia Prince popularized it by promoting the idea that sex and gender are two distinct concepts. "Transgender" became more and more accepted as a part of the larger LGBT rights movement, and it was widely used by the 2000s, taking the place of other terms that made fun of or undervalued trans people.

-Transgender people have fought harder for acceptance; it took until the 2000s for them to be generally accepted as members of the larger LGBT community. And they still encounter significant challenges, as evidenced by this photo from October 2019 showing protesters blocking the street in front of the U.S. Supreme Court during hearings on whether laws prohibiting sex discrimination in the workplace apply to gay and transgender persons. Their argument eventually won out.

How “queer” became mainstream.

Q was most recently introduced to the acronym. It has been in use since at least the 1910s and was once used as a slur to isolate individuals from a heteronormative community. But starting in the 1990s, the homosexual rights movement began to use the term "queer" more frequently. It "can be read as both pejorative and honorific," according to linguist Gregory Coles, depending on the speaker's identity and purpose. Most academics view the use of "queer" as a reclaiming. 

("We are everywhere:" How rural queer communities connect through storytelling.)

An unfinished evolution

The term has recently added extensions that aim to include even more of the community. LGBTQ is sometimes followed by a plus sign, which stands for a broad range of gender identifications and sexual identities, or the letters I ("intersex") and A ("asexual").

The acronym has its detractors, particularly those who contend that no single word can ever fully capture the range of gender and sexual expression. The phrase "gender and sexual minority" has recently been adopted by a number of academic and governmental groups, including the National Institutes of Health, in an effort to be even more inclusive.

The terminology used to define gender expression and sexual identity will undoubtedly continue to change.

In a 2020 report, a group from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine stated that "no term is perfect or completely inclusive. The ability to articulate oneself and make personal and romantic decisions in a variety of ways is what makes being an individual so beautiful.