[davidflas]

Let me start by saying that this thread is not intended to pass judgement about and express any opinion about anyone's lifestyle. I am simply trying to understand the commonly held definition of some words, ok? No pol lounge, please! Ok, so my question is: I attend the local state university graduate school. The university has a club for LGTBQ people. Let me see if I know what each letter stands for:
L = lesbian = women who are attracted exclusively to other women
G = gay = men who are attracted exclusively to other men
T = transsexual = people who have had, or intend to have gender reassignment surgery and = transgendered = people who present themselves as a member of the opposite gender but have not changed physically from the way they were born
B = bisexual = people who are attracted to their own gender and to the opposite gender
Q = queer = ?

What defines a queer person that has not already been covered by the other terms?

[ort888]

The Q stands for Quincy Jones. Yes, he's only one guy, but he wanted to join.

[Waragainstsleep]

Most universities have such a society or group but I never saw the Q before either. Maybe it stands for Quagmire = people who'll go after anything that moves/used to move when it was alive/conscious.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

Maybe it stands for Quagmire = people who'll go after anything that moves/used to move when it was alive/conscious.

Uhm, yeah, Ali G taught us a long time ago that those are Trisexual.

-t

[ort888]

Maybe it's a LGBTBBQ

Seriously though... the term used around here is LGBT. I've never seen it with a Q.

...in doubly seriousness...

From Wikipedia

The term LGBT is intended to emphasize a diversity of "sexuality and gender identity-based cultures" and is sometimes used to refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual instead of exclusively to people who are homosexual, bisexual, or transgender.[2][3] To recognize this inclusion, a popular variant adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer and are questioning their sexual identity (e.g., "LGBTQ" or "GLBTQ", recorded since 1996[4]).

[davidflas]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Maybe it's a LGBTBBQ

Seriously though... the term used around here is LGBT. I've never seen it with a Q.

Yes, that's what I'm used to seeing as well, just looking for theories about why this group uses the Q. Being a long time member of this forum, I am really liking the LGBTBBQ idea though. Late edit: Thanks ORT for finding that wikipedia entry, I guess your google-foo is stronger than mine.

[Demonhood]

It's generally LGBTQIA around here. Defined - LGBTQIA Glossary — UC Davis LGBT Resource Center

Q is generally just a catchall, far as I can tell.

[davidflas]

Originally Posted by Demonhood 

It's generally LGBTQIA around here. Defined - LGBTQIA Glossary — UC Davis LGBT Resource Center

Q is generally just a catchall, far as I can tell.

Thanks for that link, I learned a lot of new words reading it.

[reader50]

They are obviously discriminating against Eunuchs.

[turtle777]

That's pretty gay of them.

-t

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by ort888 

The Q stands for Quincy Jones. Yes, he's only one guy, but he wanted to join.

Heh

Quincy Jones has great powers...

[ort888]

[nonhuman]

In addition to a campus LGBTQ group, my school (Carleton College) also had a Q & A House*: Queers & Allies, for both people who are not straight (Queers) and straight people who support gay-rights, &c. (Allies).

* Carleton has a system of interest-based housing instead of a greek system. For example there's a Language house where students studying various languages have the option to live (and a smaller house dedicated to a specific language that changes each year), Casa del Sol, the Latin/Hispanic house, Sci-Fi House (where ort888's Q would be quite welcome) WA house (women's awareness), and one of the years that I was there they managed to pull together enough interest to have a Fish house, which was Christian themed. I don't know how many houses there are total, but probably in the neighborhood of 15 to 20.

[Doofy]

I smell discrimination against petrosexuals.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

I smell discrimination against petrosexuals.

Rocks or oil? Actually, you'd probably want the two together now that I think about it.

[Laminar]

Or pets?

[Doofy]

I have no idea. I'm watching Mexican dwarf wrestling and it's clouding my judgement.

[iM@k]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Maybe it's a LGBTBBQ

Sounds hot, sweet, and sticky.

Originally Posted by ort888 

Hmm, I always did think his outfits were a wee bit flamboyant.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

I smell discrimination against petrosexuals.

Someone watches Top Gear.

[Kerrigan]

What about people who are considered queerbait?

[finboy]

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

Most universities have such a society or group but I never saw the Q before either. Maybe it stands for Quagmire = people who'll go after anything that moves/used to move when it was alive/conscious.

It's Q for QUESTIONING. AKA "fresh meat."

The full term THESE DAYS is LGBTQIA, where the I is for intersex, and the A is for asexual. I can't see how anyone who would identify as ASEXUAL could stand to hang around with a bunch of folks whose self-identities are built on their sexual practices, but that's how the acronym goes together.

[Salty]

I don't think anyone's using I and A. Asexual people rarely tend to hang around with people who's sexuality is a big deal for them, since it's kinda the opposite. (It happens but you're more likely to see just about anything else other than an Asexual person)

Q means Queer not questioning. Sometimes F gets thrown in for fluid, but again generally not in the letters.

Most of the time people are satisfied with GLBT or LGBT, (It's LGBT if a lesbian is saying it, or a gay man who's very interested in not pissing off lesbians. There's more of us, I don't know why we shouldn't get top billing.) In Manitoba because we have a lot of Aboriginal people, combined with a lot of white guilt from the social activists you get a lot of GLBTTQ*, the second T meaning "Two-Spirit" which is funny because I've yet to meet an Aboriginal person who identified as Two-Spirit. (It's kinda like gay, but kinda not. Most of the aboriginal guys that I've met either identified as gay, or were just total sluts that didn't like labels.)

I should also mention T stands for Transgender, not Transexual, or Transgendered (the ed makes it offensive ... that confused me at first, I kinda get why, they see Transgender as a way of being, or an identity, the ed makes it seem as if it was something that happened or took place.) Also if you wish to be kind to a transgender person, use whatever personal pronoun (he or she) they choose. Avoid calling them an it, it's kinda rude. If you can't do that, then that probably shows a character flaw in your own self ... so just shut up then.

[ghporter]

Q is indeed for "questioning" in most texts, though it has been adapted to mean "queer" by people who felt the other letters didn't adequately represent them. I think both fit pretty well. Someone who doesn't feel they fit in under conventional identities probably feels quite odd, "queer" in the classic sense of the world.

I think there is far too much "let's make new pigeon holes" going on in this discussion, and in the "not conventional sexual identity" community. I think that "pretty much straight," "pretty much not straight," and "somewhere else" covers all the bases really well, and allows people to be themselves without applying external expectations for behavior, dress, appearance, etc. I see far too many people adopt stereotypical dress and behavior patterns to fit their perceptions of their sexual identities to believe that they are actually expressing something about themselves rather than "what's expected of them."

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

I think there is far too much "let's make new pigeon holes" going on in this discussion, and in the "not conventional sexual identity" community.

Amen. If ye olde flamboyants want to be taken seriously, they should lump in with the straights and join the chess club. By making a club about whatever it is they like to put their willies in, they're specifically making the point that they're different and want to be treated differently.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Q is indeed for "questioning" in most texts, though it has been adapted to mean "queer" by people who felt the other letters didn't adequately represent them.

Right, I thought queer came later.

I was thinking that all we have to do is add an S and we'd include everybody. LGBTQIAS. Why people need little letters to describe themselves I'll never understand, unless it's about power over others. I think just about everyone I hang out with gives not one crap about which one of those letters applies to you.

It's disturbing that mainstream society is telling people that they have to identify by race, or by sexual activity, or by something other than their own track record of performance and ability. Civil rights have come so far in this country, only to be pushed back by a group of people who want to celebrate victimhood. Trust me, there are plenty of "victims" of all different letters.

[Salty]

I think part of the reasons for the little letters is because people feel safer in groups, even if those groups are bloody small. I think also a lot of queer folks spent a huge portion of their life not knowing what they were, and wishing someone could tell them. Thus the need to be able to state plainly and emphatically that they are THIS.

That said I think the whole alphabet soup thing is terrible branding. I much prefer the term queer when lumping more than one sexual orientation or minority together. The fact is I don't share that much with a Trans person aside from a sense of solidarity with their separation from the broader heteronormative world.