Why do you use the term LGBT+? Isn’t it outdated? Why don’t you use LGBTQ / LGBTQIA etc?
Yeovil Diversity Project is a charity working with lots of different communities within the wider Yeovil constituency community. We sometimes refer to them as micro-communities but this doesn’t always mean they are small!
Our biggest drive is immortalised in our tag line – “Encouraging unity in Yeovil’s community“. This means bringing people together who might not usually meet or cross paths with each other. The acronym ‘LGBT’ has been used for many years and is often recognised even by those who do not have any familial or friendship-based links to the LGBT+ community. This makes it simple and clear for everyone to know what we are referring to.
Sometimes the conversation we are trying to have about building bridges between different communities and the things they have in common can be derailed by explaining what the more recent iterations of the acronym stand for (and occasionally having differences of opinions on that) and why, when letters have been added, that certain identities are still excluded…
We also keep accessibility at the forefront of what we do. A long string of letters can be a problem for people with Dyslexia or other tracking difficulties, as well as being difficult to remember (and therefore recognise) for those who have difficulty with memory and recall.
Sexuality and gender exist over such a wide spectrum that we will never have an efficient acronym that adequately and equally recognises all of the possible points on the graph. So as an organisation we have chosen to use the somewhat traditional LGBT acronym with the + sign addition as a way of acknowledging the rest of the community.