Because lots of transsexual people (present company included) dislike the word transgender, while at the same time there has been a heavy push by LGB(t) organizations to make transgender the only official word. Since the two sides just can’t agree, the wildcard asterisk was used to cover both words at one go. By now, the simple little word trans has become the most popularly (albeit not officially) used word, so the asterisk can be retired, I think. Everybody’s used to hearing “trans,” and it’s by far the most accepted expression among trans people themselves.
I certainly appreciate the ability to leave it off but I never know if I’m writing for an audience that will have someone ready to bite my head off because without the asterisk I’m lumping them in with those annoying (whichever they don’t identify as) and don’t I know, blah blah, damn cisgender queers always misidentifying trans people, blah blah blah. (Which is the furthest thing from what I’m trying to do.) It’s happened a few too many times for me to feel ready to let it go just yet. Soon, but not quite yet.
And can I just blow you a big kiss, Johanna for LGB(t)? I mean, for using it. I hate that it’s necessary, but I love when people note it. (I personally feel like most organizations are more GLbt and would be just as happy to just be GL.)
At the school I work at the club is called BiGALA: Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Ally Alliance.
I’m just glad to see that gays and bisexuals have put aside their differences and are making common cause with lettuce and tomatoes.
OK. I definitely feel just plain “trans” is the safest expression all around. I never see anyone really objecting to it, while each of the other terms can be problematic here and there. For people who want to avoid t-words altogether, I’ve seen some using the phrase “woman of (operational) history”-- umm, way too many syllables…
Personally, I just go with no descriptor but woman in my everyday life. My private medical history is actually nobody’s business, a very small select number of healthcare providers excepted.
Oh, you know it. Back atcha, sis! I wish I could take credit for the typographic sarcasm… I’ve seen that appear in forums like Pam’s House Blend and Questioning Transphobia in the past year, but I don’t know who first thought of it. Big props to you for discovering the most effective, accurate, and meaningful use yet for the formatting options we have here.
See this Wiki article for names of the various student organizations at the local University of Minnesota over the years. In the 42 years since it was founded, there have been 8 years where the name(s) was changed, and something like 16 different names.
Now, here I think I get it: using enough vowels to make it a pronounceable acronym. “BiGLT” maybe tried to go that route, but didn’t get all the way there. Because it was designed by committee? :smack:
“1969: Fight Repression of Erotic Expression (FREE).” LOL that is so 1960s New Left groovy! How nostalgic! “In the sunshine of your lo-o-o-ve…”
The unusual thing about “BiGLT” is how it expanded off of its college campus and is now being used by straight non-college people in WV like my GF’s friend. It’s always interesting when local culture persists somehow despite national mass media flooding our brains 24/7.
OK, this is getting eerie. First thing I thought when I read the OP was ‘sandwich’; then, reading Frylock’s quite understandable puzzlement, the lumberjack song immediately sprang to mind…
I love that so so much. I might have to get t-shirts made.
It seemed that most of the gays I’ve known call it the GLBT community and the lesbians call it the LGBT community. Sometimes the Q is thrown in at the end standing for either queer or questioning. (There used to be a group around the Twin Cities that held contra dances called “LezBeGay and Dance”. There’s something overly cutesy about that name that makes me twinge.)
Actually, it’s more representative of Nixon-era repression & censorship. Any name that was more specific & accurate (like any mention of the words gay, lesbian, or homosexual) was absolutely forbidden by the University Administration, as I understand it.