Why does "L" come first in "LGBTQ+"?

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 “LGBTQ+” stands for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer/questioning” and the “plus” refers to many other gender and sexual identities. For a long time however, the acronym was “GLBT”, and the change to “LGBT” is significant.


In the early gay rights movement, gay men dominated the discourse – perhaps for obvious reasons given that men had more political voice and greater access to public spheres. However, this meant that, while generally being a much safer and more inclusive community, the movement also had undercurrents of the same patriarchal and sexist thinking which plagues all other communities. Most early gay right campaigns ignored women and those of other genders. There was a lack of spaces curated for lesbians compared to those created for gay men, and lesbians often experienced harassment if they tried to enter these spaces. Even as gay men began to slowly gain some (albeit limited and problematic) recognition in the media and public life, lesbians (and of course trans people even more so) remained overlooked and underappreciated – despite the fact that it was a woman, Stormé DeLarverie, who began the historic Stonewall riot which is widely regarded as a turning point in LGBTQ+ history.

The push to change the order of the acronym came in the 1980s when the rise of feminist movements. A bigger catalyst, however, was the global AIDs crisis. For example, in the USA by 1995, 1 in 9 gay men had been diagnosed with AIDS, 1 in 15 had died, and 10% of men aged 25-44 who identified as gay had died. Given the widespread misinformation about AIDS, many were reluctant to care for the affected, scared that they would contract the disease and using it to further demonise the gay community. Lesbians, largely unaffected, thus took on the burden of caring for gay men in their hours of need, and campaigned to educate the world. This clear show of solidarity between lesbians and gay men marked the start of a closer bond between the two groups. In recognition of their service, and as a commitment to eradicating the prejudices which had historically existed within the community, a successful push was launched to put lesbians first in the acronym. #lgbthistorymonth

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