Roger-Luc Chayer (Image : Meta AI / Gay Globe)
An International Movement to Rethink the LGBT Acronym
For several months now, there has been an international movement proposing a reflection on a possible “slimming cure” of the various versions of the LGBT acronym — LGBTQ+, LGBTQ2SA+, etc. The longest ever recorded to represent our communities is LGBTQQIAAP2S+, which means:
- L – Lesbian
- G – Gay
- B – Bisexual
- T – Transgender / Transsexual
- Q – Queer
- Q – Questioning
- I – Intersex
- A – Asexual
- A – Ally (or sometimes Aromantic, depending on the versions)
- P – Pansexual
- 2S – Two-Spirit (or “bispiritual,” a term from the Indigenous cultures of North America)
- + – Inclusivity of other identities not mentioned
It’s starting to get long, and let’s admit it, few people know exactly the meaning of each letter in the acronym. The problem, according to groups wishing to open debate on the relevance of some of these associations, is that an attempt was made to cast too wide a net without anyone really knowing who had the idea to add so many letters, mixing sexual orientations with psychological or spiritual questions — concepts that gay men at the start of the movement for the recognition of their rights in the 1970s actively tried to avoid.
Homosexuality in Medical Dictionaries Before the 1980s
Before the 1980s, homosexuality was considered a disease in medical dictionaries and manuals because it was interpreted through the prism of psychiatry and the morality of the time. The medical sciences of the 19th and 20th centuries relied on pathological models of human behavior, influenced by prevailing social values, notably religious and patriarchal ones.
Psychiatrists saw relationships between people of the same sex as a deviation from the reproductive and social norm, and classified them among “sexual perversions” or “personality disorders.” This approach was reinforced by Freudian psychoanalysis and by medical institutions seeking to categorize behaviors according to criteria of normality.
It took the activism of gay and lesbian movements in the 1960s and 1970s, scientific research, and social pressure to change this view. The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1973, followed by other institutions in subsequent years. But medical dictionaries, often updated more slowly, continued to reflect the old conception into the 1980s.
In Canada, France, and Great Britain
Canada
In Canada, the evolution followed that of the United States, because North American medical manuals were largely the same. After homosexuality was removed from the DSM in 1973, Canadian psychiatric associations gradually adopted the same position during the 1970s–1980s.
However, several Canadian medical dictionaries and clinical guides continued to mention it as a “sexual deviation” until the early 1980s, simply out of editorial inertia.
Legally, the decriminalization of homosexuality had already taken place in 1969, following reform led by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, but medical and social perception took about another decade to change.
France
French psychiatry long maintained the classification of homosexuality as a disease. It appeared in medical manuals and dictionaries until its official removal in 1981, after a decision by the Ministry of Health following pressure from associations such as the Groupe de Libération Homosexuelle (GLH) and the Association d’Aide aux Malades Homosexuels (AAMH).
On June 12, 1981, the Ministry officially announced that homosexuality would no longer be considered a mental illness in France. This date marks an important symbolic break, especially as it coincided with François Mitterrand’s coming to power and a more open climate regarding individual freedoms.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom evolved more gradually. Male homosexuality was partially decriminalized in 1967 (in England and Wales), but British medical institutions retained the psychiatric classification longer.
The British Medical Association and major medical journals ceased using the term “disorder” for homosexuality at the end of the 1970s, after the change in the American DSM. However, the National Health Service (NHS) continued offering “corrective therapies” into the 1990s, especially under religious or conservative psychiatric influence.
And a Few Years Later, the Festival of Additions Began!
The addition of the letters B (Bisexual) and T (Transgender / Transsexual) to the LGBT acronym was done gradually between the late 1980s and early 1990s, depending on the regions and environments. No one really knows by what mechanisms letter after letter was added to an acronym which originally designated a sexual orientation: the love and culture of same‑sex people.
Gradually, everything began to be mixed: cultures, beliefs, and even pathologies. Gay and lesbian identities were associated with medical or psychological conditions without ever — of course — asking their opinion.
What to Think of All This in 2025?
Since the reflection was launched in the United States, it seemed important to us at Gay Globe to question the true meaning of our communities of sexual orientations. The first observation, as editor of a media group directly concerned by the matter: certain adjustments could — and should — be considered.
The B – Bisexuality seems logical as it is here a well‑defined and documented sexual orientation.
We have, moreover, already begun, for about two months, to reduce the use of the term LGBTQ+, by removing the letter Q and the + sign, because in reality, they mean very little.
The letter Q designates the word Queer and/or Questioning, which already encompasses gay and lesbian communities with Queer. As for the term Questioning, which no one knew until now, let us allow people to make their identity before including them in our community; it is the least we can do.
As for the + sign, which means inclusivity of other unmentioned identities, this goes frankly too far and is of no utility or relevance to what we represent.
Other Adjustments Could Be Made with the Letters T, I, A, A, A, P, and 2S
- I – Intersex refers to a variety of biological conditions in which a person is born with sexual characteristics (chromosomes, gonads, hormones, or genital organs) that do not strictly correspond to the typical medical definitions of “male” or “female.”
- A – Asexual refers to a person who feels little or no sexual attraction to other people.
- A – Aromantic refers to a person who feels little or no romantic attraction to others. This means that aromanticism concerns the absence or low presence of the desire for a romantic relationship, and not sexual attraction. On this point, there seems to be no consensus.
- A – Ally would have some relevance to designate people sympathetic to gay and lesbian communities, but again, it is not necessarily about these people’s sexual orientation.
- P – Pansexual refers to a person whose sexual or romantic attraction does not depend on the gender or sex of the other. So here we are indeed not talking about sexual orientation…
- 2S – Two-Spirit is a term used mainly by certain Indigenous communities of North America to designate people who embody both masculine and feminine roles, or who have a gender identity and/or sexual orientation different from the binary norm. Two-Spirit is not limited to a sexual orientation or a specific gender identity — it is a cultural and spiritual identity that encompasses these aspects. In practice, nothing to do again with gay and lesbian identities.
Finally, the question of T, which designates Transgender — and sometimes also Transsexual. Transgender identity (T) is not considered a disease in modern medicine, but in DSM‑5 (2013), the term used is “gender dysphoria,” which does not designate the identity itself, but the distress or suffering that some transgender people may feel facing the discordance between their gender identity and their body or social environment.
What surprises me greatly when I think about it is that T is used to designate a group of people more or less distant from gay and lesbian orientations, whereas this same T could serve to pay tribute to Travestis who were often the first to fight for the respect of gay and lesbian rights. Their absence in any version of acronyms is, in my view, a historical error.
An Open Debate
The debate continues and will probably never find a resolution, but it is by explaining more clearly the meaning of this amalgam of letters that each person can decide to which group — or groups — they wish to identify.
You can share your opinion on the matter in the comments at the bottom of this article, below the advertisement. What do you think?
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