Introduction to the LGBTQIA+ Community
Welcome to the 21-Day Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) Equity Challenge, and to the start of LGBTQ History Month! We celebrate LGBTQ History Month every October to commemorate the first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979 as well as National Coming Out Day every October 11.
Over the next 21 days, we’ll journey together to deepen our knowledge of LGBTQIA+ concepts and build our tools to better support LGBTQIA+ equity.
While topics like transgender athletes participating in sports and using chosen pronouns may seem relatively new to some of us, there has never been a world in which LGBTQIA+ people have not existed. Throughout history and around the world, communities have recognized, revered, and welcomed people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. In the United States, approximately 7% of people identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, 1.6% identify as transgender or non-binary, 1.7% of people have an intersex trait, about 1% identify as asexual, and more than 90% of Americans know someone who identifies as LGBTQIA+.
Moving forward, we’ll learn more about the different identities that make up the LGBTQIA+ community, explore key moments in LGBTQIA+ history, unpack how oppression impacts LGBTQIA+ people, and how this shows up for LGBTQIA+ people today. We’ll end our equity challenge with a focus on how we can use our knowledge, care, and influence to foster more inclusive spaces and communities.
A note on language: labels and vocabulary for all communities, the LGBTQIA+ community included, is ever-evolving. This challenge seeks to use inclusive and up-to-date language wherever possible. For example, we’ll explore the history of the word “queer” and we’ll also use it as a reclaimed, honoring, and celebratory term to refer to people across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum who may not fit sex, gender, and sexual orientation norms.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Read:
- Anna Brown, Key findings about LGBTQ+ Americans, Pew Research Center (June 23, 2023). [5 min read]
- Timothy W. Jones, Reviled, reclaimed and respected: the history of the word ‘queer’, The Conversation (January 18, 2023). [10 min read]
Connect:
Get to know your South Central Michigan and state-wide LGBTQIA+ resource:
- OutFront Kalamazoo (Kalamazoo, MI)
- Battle Creek Pride (Battle Creek, MI)
- Jackson Pride Center (Jackson, MI)
- Salus Center (Lansing, MI)
- Transgender Michigan (Statewide)
- Equality Michigan (Statewide)
Reflect:
Journal your thoughts on these questions:
- In what way(s) will you commit to stretching yourself along your personal and professional equity journey?
- We all have a relationship to gender and sexuality. When did you have an awareness of your own identities?