As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I, like many of my fellows, am devastated by the results of the 2024 election. During the campaign, Donald Trump and the Republican Party promoted anti-LGBTQ+ policies. The Republican National Convention 2024 Platform made twenty promises to the American people, among them: (1) cutting federal funding for any school, pushing what it calls "radical gender ideology and other inappropriate sexual content" on American children, and (2) keeping men out of women's sports.
Despite the welfare and safety of the LGBTQ+ community being severely at risk, the American people overwhelmingly voted for Republican leadership. The GOP won the Presidency and took control of the Senate and House of Representatives. With certainty, the next four years will be very challenging for the LGBTQ+ community.
Let this be our wake-up call. What the 2024 election results tell us is that the methods and means we in the LGBTQ+ community have used to assert our rights and achieve equality have resulted in a backlash against our civil liberties, and our hard-earned progress is at risk. Thus, it is time to be introspective and reevaluate our approach. In that effort, however, we mustn't retreat from the defense of our fellow community members. Instead, we must remain united as a community and ensure no one is sacrificed on the altar of appeasement. It is important to remember that we fight for the equality of all LGBTQ+ people, and this must never be compromised.
As a starting point for this reassessment, let us reconsider how we brand ourselves and our movement, i.e., the "LGBTQ+" label. The rationale behind the label's origins has led to seemingly endless iterations, which become less credible and meaningful with each new variation. The time has come to retire this damaging identifier in favor of one that better suits and serves our community. I identify as a "Queer American," and I strongly encourage my fellow community members to use this identifier as well. Queer American provides recognition, is inclusive and unifying, concentrates our collective power, and helps non-members identify and empathize with us.
Some readers may strongly object to identifying as Queer. Perhaps you're triggered by the term's pejorative use or apprehensive about its historical association with radicalism. As someone who is part of Generation X, was raised in rural Louisiana, and served in the United States Navy under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," I, too, have suffered homophobia, including being called queer in a derogatory fashion. Therefore, I empathize with those of you who associate queer with trauma. But there is power in reclaiming a word once used to degrade. As for radicalism, I say, perhaps now more than ever, calls for radicalism to defend against the relentless attacks lodged against the Queer community by far-right conservatives.
Additionally, consider that queer does not have the same negative connotation among the Millennial and Z Generations, who have readily identified as Queer. These demographics should not be dismissed. According to a Gallup poll conducted on sexual orientation and gender identity in 2023, one in ten Millennials and one in five Gen Zers identify as members of the Queer community. As these generations reach adult age, the Queer community is projected to exceed 10 percent of America's adult population. So, to you, the reader who has an aversion to Queer, I ask you to withhold your skepticism and objectively consider the arguments provided below in favor of identifying as a Queer American.
Toronto Pride Parade.Shawn Goldberg/shutterstock
To those readers who strongly identify as gay, lesbian, etc., and not Queer, identifying as Queer may feel disingenuous. Let me provide you with an alternative paradigm that might alleviate your concern. Merriam-Webster defines "queer" as "relating to, or being a person whose sexual orientation is not heterosexual and/or whose gender identity is not cisgender." Thus, as a community, we are all Queer. Just as we are all a part of the LGBTQ+ community. How your queerness is expressed on an individual level is not mutually exclusive with being Queer, just as it is not mutually exclusive with identifying as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Our collective identity does not negate the authenticity of our individual identities.
While recognition and inclusivity are worthy aims, application to the community's label in this way leads to a label whose intentions are entirely subverted. The longer initialisms over the years have been justifiably criticized as confusing and unwieldy, sometimes referred to as "alphabet soup." Even many community members have mocked the label, calling it LGBTQWERTY, LGBTQXYZ, and the Alphabet Mafia. Consequently, venerable institutions choose instead to label the community with the nondescript "sexual and gender minorities" or "SMG." Still, other groups and organizations have shifted to using terms like "same gender loving" or "SGL" and "gender, sexual, and romantic minorities" or "GSRM." Others have forwarded their identification as Pride Community and/or Proud Americans.
Unfortunately, these groups fail to appreciate the threat of erasure such generic terms pose.
Despite its shortcomings, LGBTQ+ continues to be the generally accepted label for the Queer community. This label, however, omits people with sexual or gender identities that are not represented in the acronym but who otherwise share a common experience of being othered due to their sexuality and/or gender identities. Additionally, the acronym allows for the intentional exclusion of some letters and, with them, entire subgroups of the Queer community. Most importantly, the label focuses on the differences between its members rather than identifying the community as a whole.
In addition to the division and diminution created by the LGBTQ+ label, it also alienates us from non-members. Academic, medical, and scientific authors have long been criticized for using acronyms in their writings. Such uses make a subject less accessible to its readers, cause confusion and misunderstanding, and make otherwise interested parties feel othered and turned off. Those same criticisms are valid, too, in the context of labeling the Queer community with the acronym LGBTQ+. Many non-members of the community see the label as a confusing code whose understanding is intended only for its members and whose purpose is to exclude outsiders like themselves. The label acts as a barrier that isolates us from our larger community.
The label does not reference our status as Americans who share the same origins, values, and cultural context as our non-member, fellow Americans. The importance of this connection cannot be overstated. The United States of America proclaims in the Declaration of Independence, "All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." From this fundamental document, America's understanding of equality is derived and has expanded over time. America's promise of equality is what emboldens the Queer community to demand and fight for equality. America's promise of equality is what calls non-members to stand with the Queer community in demanding equality on our behalf. Equality is not a finite resource. The Queer community does not achieve equality at the expense of non-members; rather, it strengthens their civil rights. Queer rights are human rights. Queer rights are American rights.
"Queer American" resolves the issues caused by the LGBTQ+ label. It is inclusionary, unifies us by our shared experience, marshals our collective strength, and breaks down barriers between us and non-members. All subgroups of the Queer community—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, pangender, etc.—can unite behind a universal identity that is other than the majority. All of us who are not heterosexual and/or not cisgender are all Queer.
Aside from Queer, identifying as American reminds non-members that although our sexuality and/or gender may be different, we are fellow citizens, nonetheless. In this context, the Queer American experience is more closely analogous to other minority groups, such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, etc., whose civil rights movements have been more successful. Let us take note of their progress and join them as Americans in defining our community.
For all of these reasons, I identify as a Queer American. I implore my fellow community members to likewise unite and identify as Queer Americans so we can, together with the support of our allies, demand and ensure lasting equality for all members of the Queer community.
Jeff McMullen is a 17-year veteran of the multifamily housing industry and founder and chief executive officer of McMullen Multifamily, a multifamily housing property and asset management consulting and private equity investment firm. Jeff holds a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School, completed graduate-level coursework in Public Policy and Administration, and has a Bachelor of Arts in History. Jeff served honorably in the United States Navy as an aviation electronics technician. Jeff proudly identifies as a Queer American and champions diversity, equity, and inclusion. Jeff is a grateful resident of West Hollywood, CA.
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TERFs are totally missing the point of Sam Rockwell's 'White Lotus' monologue