brand logo

'LGBTQQIP2SAA': Is the acronym becoming an alphabet soup?

30 May 2021

By Denver David   The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 declares: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Therefore, people of different sexual orientations or gender identities must also enjoy equal rights. Not special rights. The social and political gay liberation movements of the 60s have gaily metamorphosed into LGBTQQIP2SAA, now standing for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer, Intersex, Pansexual, Two-spirit (2S), Androgynous, and Asexual, becoming a ridiculous alphabet soup reflecting less respect and more absurdity. The simple “gay” was replaced by LGB in the 1980s and became LGBT in the 1990s. The first three letters (LGB) refer to sexual orientation. The “T” seems to refer to issues of gender identity. The acronym has been growing steadily ever since. The 2020 study “Mapping LGBTIQ identities in Sri Lanka” provides very interesting insights when the data is analysed rationally. The results show that 12% between the ages of 18-65 of the total population identify themselves as “LGBTIQ+”. Of which a huge 8% identified as bisexual, 0.5% as gay, 0.5% as lesbian, 1% as transgender and 2% as other. Looking closely, it is obvious that just 1% (0.5 + 0.5) make up those that identify as gay and lesbian, propped up by the rest of the letters in this acronym. It is well known that bisexuals face hostility or biphobia from their own so-called LGBTIQ community and are shut out from the club. They are looked upon with confusion or even scorn. What seems to prevail is a deeply stigmatising label that bisexuality isn’t a valid sexual orientation, but rather a “phase”. Three different types of bisexuality have been identified. The heterosexual-leaning type, the homosexual-leaning type, and the varied type who experience sexual attraction to one gender and emotional attraction to another.  Can there be such a thing as a “LGBTQI++ person”? Can such multiple identities included in the acronym represent a community?  For instance, can gay men and lesbians, whether taken separately or together, constitute a community? The only thing they share seems to be their attraction to people of the same sex. Why is there such a label if people no longer want labels? Labels are part of the problem. Each of us kills a part of ourselves when we limit our existence and conform to a label. Labels separate communities. We must transcend labels and not waste time trying to defend, perfect, or glamourise them. Once a label is established, a hierarchy is quickly created to function, rule, and dominate. Being gay or lesbian doesn’t mean you are a saint. Because there is also talk about the exclusivity of the club, and privilege. The people who don’t experience harassment and discrimination could be the sort of people who obliviously dole out those same things on others. Ellen DeGeneres (the openly lesbian talk show celebrity) recently faced serious allegations of workplace misconduct and had to apologise to her viewers and employees. Could there exist an Ellen or Allen in Sri Lanka too? Dr. Chamindra Weerawardhana’s recent article, “Fascist Pretences and Progressive Slumber”, also spurred me to write this piece. She writes about receiving a screenshot of a disturbing message sent from a highly regarded figure in a well-funded LGBTQI+ rights organisation in Sri Lanka that relates to (among other things) having fun with their sisters in rural areas.  She continues to say that if such a message was sent out by an activist of similar standing in a country with advanced rights discourses, it would be grounds to pursue funding withdrawals, donor distancing, and calls for management resignations that would adversely impact those who made such a statement and their organisation.  She also states that Sri Lankan LGBTQI+ spaces are among the most transphobic spaces she has come across, where trans people, especially trans women, are at the bottom of the pile with power structures and hierarchies that would make discerning rights activists cringe. There may also exist a risk that the acronym can become a brand for the privileged to nurture, market, and possess. The baton is not seen to have been passed down. Let’s all hope that there are no vested interests, or an agenda to wield control and not let go.  Advocates and activists periodically get themselves interviewed by journalists, or are featured in the Colombo talk show circuit to inter alia talk about being oppressed, marginalised, and stigmatised. They dissect the Penal Code, bash the Brits, and squeal for their rights of privacy in their bedrooms. But, do we hear them talk about the discrimination faced by the trans and bisexual people from this “community”? The answer is no.  In my opinion, publicity must centre around urging people to show love, compassion, and acceptance to people with different sexual orientations and identities, because they too have equal rights and human rights. Importantly, activists must avoid using stigmatising language like “marginalised”, “discriminated”, and “oppressed” – because there are vulnerable people out there who could be affected while alone. So, could this be a situation that is being blown up to attract more attention, hype, funding, and confusion? It would be extremely difficult for these advocates and activists to get whatever law that is now in effect to be annulled without also having a dialogue with all religious leaders first. But we don’t see this being addressed.  Importantly, whatever they do should not be seen to be Colombo-centric. There could be hundreds of rural people struggling with their orientations and identities. We need to find them, and reach out to them too, and offer acceptance, love, and compassion. Not take advantage of them. And by the way, why is there no acronym for the Sinhala and Tamil-speaking communities? That’s what we must be looking at nationally. But no, we won’t because of Western funding and dictates. I was so happy to read of “Jaffna Sangam”, a Tamil-speaking “LGBTQI+ community” initiated with the intention of decentralising the ownership of this “movement” that they say is centralised in Colombo amongst a primarily English-speaking audience. Since 2017, they have been doing incredible work and interestingly have also reached out beyond the “community” to other public spaces and are proactively engaged in social service, literary, and the arts, which give them positive visibility and acceptance. Do our activists address age-old issues in the gay community? I don’t think so. In India, the Lakshya Trust is building a fully equipped retirement home for those who have decided to live alone without family support, heterosexual marriage, or same-sex partners in their lives. A library, music therapy, community kitchen, recreation facilities, and a medical centre are included. They are even getting offers from younger gay men to adopt older men. Now these are really great stories for any well-funded organisation here to think about!  Lakshya holds regular workshops for the Police, who are now co-operating and understanding the gay community better and even participates in their events. That's the way to go – educating over bashing. Interestingly, in India, parents of gay children are coming together with friends and relatives to form organisations that counsel their counterparts and help them in understanding, embracing, and accepting the gay community.  The Buggery Act of 1533 passed during the reign of King Henry VIII, referred to the act of sodomy. The Act did not only target sex between men, it also applied to sodomy between men and women and a person with an animal. Convictions between men for sodomy were the most common and were punishable by death. The last two men to be executed in Britain for buggery were James Pratt and John Smith in 1835. In 1965. the House of Lords decriminalised male homosexual acts (lesbian acts had never been illegal). In 2017, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (SC) made a pronouncement and established new case law by saying that it would be inappropriate to impose custodial sentences on people who were accused of engaging in homosexual sex, thereby de facto setting the law legally dormant. In SC appeal 32/11, the court acknowledged “contemporary thinking that consensual sex between adults should not be policed by the State nor should it be grounds for criminalisation”. Being intimate with someone of the same sex doesn’t always mean you’re gay, just like being intimate with someone of the opposite sex doesn’t always mean you’re straight – it means you fall somewhere in the beautiful, fluid spectrum of sexuality. A humansexual. So, will the acronym continue to grow until the only person not represented in the list is a straight, monogamous man?    (The writer is an advocate of humanism with more than 25 years of experience in low-profile volunteerism focused on offering emotional empowerment, support, and hope to the despairing. He enjoys offering perspectives that act as a catalyst to ignite change)


More News..