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Comment by pyrocat | Hacker News Reader

LGB at least. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BKgdvjmFK4c/TwN5PxXVH1I/AAAAAAAAAr...

Just LG I think many people would say, actually.

I've come to the point where I think the acronym is silly. I think right now we are up to "LGBTQIAPK". I may be a little out of date on that.

The fact is, some of the issues between the groups in the acronym are shared and some aren't. At one point in time, banding together for them was probably useful if not necessary. Today I think each group would be better going it alone, as they all have very unique concerns.

Our shared problem is patriarchy and gender roles. "Why would a man take the inferior role" is behind phobia of gay men and trans women. "Don't let a woman get out of her place, as a sex object for men" is behind phobia of lesbians and trans men. Banding together makes sense.

With the exception of T in sports, unless they compete in their "old" gender. Men and women's bodies are different due to chemical reasons, not just looks. Transgender operations only change the looks, not the chemical reality underneath.

So the outcome of that is obvious : either disallow people to choose gender in sports, or live with the knowledge that all female records will be broken by (ex-)men in no time whatsoever.

The actual scientists, who aren't bigots, have concluded that trans women have no testosterone advantage. After a year or two, a trans woman on testosterone blockers and estrogen (or surgery and estrogen) has the musculature of a woman. Bone mass doesn't change, but that's a disadvantage - more weight to lug around. This is why the olympics and other sporting bodies allow trans women to compete as women.

Actually, the latest version is just "GSM" (Gender and Sexual Minorities), because the practice of just adding more and more minorities to a long list is silly. The more you list, the more exclusionary it is to the ones you leave off, and yet something like LGBTQIAPK is a acronym-salad so extreme as to be self parodying.

Just say GSM at leave it at that; it includes every minority group from the LGBTQIAPK by definition, and all the others we might think up in the future.

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