With rampant misinformation, be sure to listen to how the LGBTQ+ community actually feels.
Pride Month is celebrated every June to honour a tipping point for liberation of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States, the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. These riots were led by trans women of color fighting against police brutality and discrimination at the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar.
Since New York State (and others) made it illegal to serve alcohol to a suspected gay person until 1966, many gay establishments would operate without a liquor license. This left them vulnerable for raids and police brutality. On June 28, 1969, one of these raids began, but the crowd outside began to fight back. Protests continued for 6 days.
This uprising did not start nor end the gay rights movement, but it led to numerous gay rights organizations and the first pride marches across the country, which now occur worldwide annually as well.
Busting Myths About the LGBTQ+ community
Being trans is not a mental illness.
In the DSM-5, the American Psychiatric Association changed "gender identity disorder" in favour of "gender dysphoria." Gender dysphoria refers to a state of emotional distress caused by how someone’s body or the gender they were assigned at birth conflicts with their gender identity. Trans people may experience dysphoria to varying extents - ranging from severely to barely present - it is not necessary to be present to be trans.
This change acknowledges that there is nothing wrong with being trans, and that living as one's authentic self is actually the treatment to the medical condition.
Major medical organizations agree that letting someone transition without social stigma is the main treatment for gender dysphoria.
Note that there is not one way to transition, nor is there any way that makes anymore more or less valid; everyone is on their own journey to being their most authentic selves.
Even sex is not as binary as transphobes preach that "basic biology" makes it out to be, intersex people have always existed.
'Intersex' describes people born with sex traits that do not fit into binary medical definitions of male or female. This means having genitals, chromosomes, or reproductive organs that don't fit into a male/female sex binary. Being intersex can present in about 40 different ways and it may be evident at birth, childhood, later in adulthood, or even never.
For example, a person who is intersex may have ovarian and testicular tissue (ovotestes). This encompasses having genitals associated with being assigned male at birth (AMAB), while also being born with internal reproductive anatomy or hormone levels more associated with being assigned female at birth (AFAB). Around 2% of people worldwide have intersex traits.
Being intersex is less rare than you think. Around 2% of the global population is believed to have intersex traits, which is comparable to the number of people born with red hair.
"Non-binary" is not a third gender.
Some people incorrectly assume people identifying as non-binary introduces a gender trinary, as they consider non-binary to be a third gender. However, non-binary refers to any gender identity that isn't solely male or female, as these are binary identities.
Some gender identities that fall under the non-binary umbrella include:
Genderfluid -- gender identity is not fixed, it is fluid, or changing
Bigender -- experience of having 2 gender identities
Pangender -- identify with the entire gender spectrum
Agender -- lacking a gender or being gender neutral
Demiboy -- person who feels their gender identity partially identifies with a masculine identity (regardless of assigned gender at birth) but is not wholly binary
Demigirl -- person who feels their gender identity partially identifies with a feminine identity but is not wholly binary
Note: Non-binary people may use any pronouns (as they do not equal gender) and can have varying gender expressions (they do not owe you androgyny).
There is not one singular way to be genderfluid.
Genderfluid identities fall under the non-binary umbrella (which falls under the trans umbrella, as this refers to all identities that do not correspond with the sex that one was assigned at birth).
Genderfluid people share the fact that they do not have a fixed gender identity, but the specifics vary. Genderfluid people may differ in terms of:
How frequently their gender identity changes
How many different genders they identify as
The pronouns they use and how often they change
Their gender expression
Gender and sexuality are separate, so a genderfluid person may identify as any sexuality.
Some asexuals do have/want sex and/or experience sexual and/or romantic attraction.
Sexual Orientation
Asexual: Does not experience any sexual attraction
Greysexual: Experience sexual attraction to a very little extent
Demisexual: Does not experience sexual attraction unless a strong emotional has been formed
Romantic Orientation
Aromantic: Does not experience any romantic attraction
Greyromantic: Experience romantic attraction to a very little extent
Demiromantic: Does not experience romantic attraction unless a strong emotional has been formed
As for sex, having a desire for sex and experiencing sexual attraction are two different things. Some asexual people may be sex-repulsed, but not all are.
Lesbians do not have to spend time dating men to be confident in their identity.
At the same time, a lesbian who comes out after having dated many men does not make them any less valid either. Whether they knew their identity earlier or not, they were very likely to have experienced compulsory heterosexuality (also known as 'comp het').
'Comphet' refers to the patriarchal and heteronormative societal pressures to engage in heterosexual relationships. It can be experienced by people of any gender, but affects woman more significantly due to the widespread misogyny that causes the identities of women to be defined by their relationships to men.
Whether someone comes out earlier or later in life, their identity is not any less valid, especially as visibility increases, making more and more people realize that our current heteronormative society is due for a shift towards a more inclusive one.
The concept of bisexuality is not transphobic or exclusionary.
Bisexual people identify as bisexual because they experience sexual and/or romantic attraction to two or more genders, so this is not constricted to the gender binary (and may or may not include all possible genders), and thus includes non-binary folks.
Commonly used definitions like this just acknowledge that gender does play a role, as pansexuality refers to attraction regardless of sex or gender identity.
Additionally, identifying as bisexual has nothing to do with how you feel about trans people - a trans woman is a woman and a trans man is a man, so they are included in this definition as well. Cis and trans are adjectives that describe a gender identity, not a gender on their own.
Attraction to different genders is not necessarily equal, but it will differ for every bisexual person. Preferences can change over time as well.
Nothing about pansexuality is inherently biphobic.
Confusion regarding various sexualities exist even within the LGBTQ+ community, as some share more in common with each other, the language we use is constantly evolving, along with the fact that people may use slightly different definitions.
Pansexuality is just a newer term that some people feel better describes their identity. As mentioned on the previous slide, bisexuality encompasses attraction to more than 1 gender, but not necessarily all genders (but it can be!).
Meanwhile, pansexuality refers to attraction to all genders. Additionally, both of these identities are inclusive of trans identities.
Some people don't like using labels and prefer to identify using umbrella terms like queer, but this doesn't make those who prefer more specific labels any less valid.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2022). Intersex. Retrieved from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16324-intersex#:~:text=People%20who%20are%20intersex%20have,later%20in%20adulthood%20or%20never.
Gender Spectrum. (n.d.). Understanding gender. Retrieved from https://genderspectrum.org/articles/understanding-gender
History.com. (2017). Stonewall riots. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots
Medical News Today. (2022). What does it mean to be genderfluid? Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/genderfluid
Metrakos, S. (2023). What is comphet and how to overcome it. Retrieved from https://healthnews.com/mental-health/self-care-and-therapy/what-is-comphet/
Vox. (n.d.). Transgender people: 10 common myths. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/5/13/17938088/transgender-people-rights-myths
World Population Review. (2023). Intersex people by country 2023. Retrieved from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/intersex-people-by-country
Zwickl, S., Wong, A., & Ginger, A. (2021). Dispelling the myths about transgender people. Retrieved from https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/dispelling-the-myths-about-transgender-people
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