NEW YORK — LGBTQ, the initialism which currently encompasses those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning, is set to increase its letters more than two-fold by the year 2016, so say some prominent queer-activists.
Originally founded in the 1980s as “LGB,” the initials eventually added “T” in the early nineties and the increasingly popular “Q” in the last decade. Now, many believe that serious letter expansions are on the way.
“The original three worked well for us in the old days but, at that time, we were really just trying to avoid being called other three-letter words” explained Carol Krantz, a Brooklyn queer-rights activist. “Now that we’re getting more accepted, though, we’ve got a chance to really complicate this term.”
Although it’s unclear what the letters will represent, possible expansions that have been floated around include “I,” “W,” “R,” “P,” another “Q,” a third “Q,” and “H.”
“Of course we’d love to get a “Z” or an “X” involved but those are probably more long-term projects,” Krantz said as she searched for more colours to add to her rainbow flag. “Ideally, I’d like to see it eventually be a 30 or 32 letter-word that includes all people but getting to 12 is a good step, it shows that we mean business.”
With their sights on 2016, Krantz and the few other people who are with her on her quest to make LGBTQIWRPQQH a reality, have serious hopes that someday they will have a term that truly incorporates all people, hopefully without ever having to resort to just calling them “people.”
… a ‘silent’ Z