The Alphabet Soup of Gender Identity

While I was doing the research for yesterday's post updating Der Furor's war on "gender ideology extremism," Mike pointed out another aspect of the issue that I hadn't thought about before, embodied in the question 

What is the longest LGBT acronym possible nowadays? 

It's an interesting question, and it relates to one of the reasons I believe Kamala Harris and the Democrats lost the presidential election: an over-emphasis on topics of gender identity inclusivity with which many Americans were uncomfortable. 

The term "LGBTQ+" is everywhere, and most of us probably can't define the gender identity terms it embodies. But as Mike helpfully pointed out, "LGBTQ+" doesn't even begin to address the entire spectrum of sexual and gender identity terms floating around out there ... as it happens, there are at least 109* (I didn't count them myself, but Mike did), and you can read about all of them here if you wish. 

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 60s, there were boys and girls. I vaguely understood that there were boys and girls who were ... well ... a little different, but it wasn't something that affected me, or that I thought very much about. The first time I personally faced the reality of the difference was when I was a 29 year old Air Force officer living in the American Arms, the single officers' hotel in Wiesbaden, Germany. I was attracted to a young woman of the same rank who was one of my neighbors, and spent weeks unsuccessfully trying to get a date with her. Eventually, a mutual female friend took me aside and gently let me know that while this woman liked me, she wasn't really interested in relationships with men.

I had finally come face to face with the "L."

Over the years since, I've met scores of people I came to know were lesbian, gay, or bisexual. As I noted in an earlier post, I have been "hit on" by other men, but dealt with it by simply telling them I'm not interested ... much as a certain lady in Wiesbaden let me know years ago. 

My point is simply that we've let ourselves get too wrapped around an unnecessarily painful axle. Like I said above, I think an over-emphasis on worshipping at the festooned altar of overly complicated gender identities helped cost the Democrats the 2024 election by harping on a topic that alienated too many voters who would otherwise have voted for Harris and Walz.

Regardless of which of the 109** different gender identities you identify with, you have to live in a world alongside the other 108. Deal with it. Quietly. We'll all be happier.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* At the moment, and subject to change.

** And counting.