The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The Q+ stands for queer or questioning and the plus represents the many more people in this community. The LGBTQ+ is a community of humans alike that we all know of, though many are uneducated or uninformed about the community. There is also an issue concerning those that think negatively towards this community; those who refuse to treat it’s members like fellow humans or belittle them. One example of this is shown through the use of pronouns. What are pronouns you may ask? Pronouns are the words that an individual prefers to identify as that should be used when speaking about that person. Gender pronouns are commonly talked about and thought about throughout the youth of this community. The most common pronouns are she/her, he/him, and they/them. Some individuals use pronouns that are mixes of she/they, he/they, or they identify as gender fluid which means they would feel comfortable being called any of pronouns. Gender is what we identify as on the inside and should be taken seriously, everyone’s feelings are valid.

Many LGBTQ+ youth have a difficult time finding who they are, so the thought of gender identity is hard and long lasting. Many people who are on the outside of the LGBTQ+ community often do not discuss these topics because they feel comfortable being cis-gendered people. Note that gender is a social construct that people typically describe in terms of femininity and masculinity. In Western cultures, people associate femininity with women and masculinity with men, but this social construction varies across cultures. Gender is not neatly divided along the binary lines of “man” and “woman.”

A person’s sex and gender identity do not have to be the same. It is important to know the difference between them. Again, a person’s gender is how they identify internally so they often express this externally as well. The respectful thing to do when meeting someone that may or may not be a part of this community is to ask them for their pronouns or what they identify as. Or if you can’t ask or don’t feel comfortable, you could simply refer to them as I just did, with they/them pronouns. This gives them the freedom to correct you if they wish.

The sharing or display of pronouns in social media profiles has become increasingly common. Pronouns are not indicative of a person’s sexual orientation, so naturally, not everyone who shares or displays their pronouns identify as LGBTQ+. Some straight, cisgender people may share or display their pronouns as well, to show to others that they will respect everyone’s pronouns. On another topic, the LGBTQ+ community has a nickname that originated from popular social media outlet, TikTok. This is a funny nickname that many of the community love: The Alphabet Mafia. Who thought of this? I do not know but it sure is funny!