Tuesday 26 February 2013

LGBT: LGBT -> GSD


Above is a headline on Huffington Post today. Pink Therapy, a London-based therapy group believe that the term LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender [also Q for queer/questioning]) should be changed to GSD (Gender and Sexual Diversities).

In the video (below), two directors for Pink Therapy, Dominic Davies and Pamela Gawler-Wright, say that it is time to change this label in order to allow other diversities and groups into the 'spectrum' because too many are still currently excluded. In this 'excluded' bracket, they name swingers, members of the polyamorous community, and those within the BDSM community.

Continued...


Firstly, I have to totally disagree with the idea of changing it. At the rate it's going, it'll be an umbrella big enough to fit anybody in there that isn't strictly hetrosexual and who doesn't engage in the most vanilla of sexual activities. Like your nipples played with? Let's find an area for that. People who identify as swingers do not/have not had to go through the same historical struggles that many LGBT people have gone through in the past few decades, and even longer. I have no issue with the lifestyle that is swinging, but the point is, is that it's a lifestyle choice. Being gay, or lesbian, bisexual or transgendered or queer is not. By renaming it GSD, is that not simply including everybody?

Now I understand that this is a proposal by a couple of people; and I'm sure that there are others out there who believe that the term 'LGBTQ'(etc) is dated, but I HIGHLY doubt that it will change anytime soon. The historical weight that it holds is far too great to simply disregard it like that.

Just have a read of some of the comments below the articles on the Huff, and see what you think. The majority of comments seem to be strongly against the idea, but the Poll on the page show that a larger percentage support it.

Watch the video below:

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