“Can We Stop Saying Allies Are A Part Of The LGBT Community.” Criticism Follow After Someone On Twitter Tried To Rearrange The LGBT+ Acronym

A Twitter user decided to rewrite the LGBT+ acronym, and it very much didn’t go down well. The user, Unicorn March, unveiled their new acronym, explaining that they wanted a “pronounceable” version and coming up with QTIPAL+.

Pronounced “cutie pal”, the first three letters stand for queer or questioning, transgender and intersex. The P represents polyamorous/bisexual/pansexual. The A represents ace/aro/agender/ally. And the L stands for lesbian/gay. The plus stands for “all others who need it”.

The new acronym was of course not received well as LGBT+ people roundly criticised it, pointing out the glaring flaws and omissions, with many wondering why ‘polyamorous’ and ‘ally’ have their first letters represented in the acronym while ‘gay’ and ‘bisexual’ don’t.

“I just feel like ‘rearranging the acronym because I want something cute and fluffy to say’ is maybe not be a great reason to do this,” someone wrote, while another pointed out that “we got people dying and behind denied rights and you… want a pleasant sounding acronym.”

Numerous people questioned why “polyamorous” was part of the acronym when heterosexual people too are polyamorous, while others pointed out that allies are not part of the LGBT+ community.

Many pointed out that grouping bisexual and pansexual people with polyamory perpetuates harmful stereotypes about people who are attracted to more than one sex, while others mentioned that bisexuality and pansexuality are not the same, and lumping them into the same category only serves to erase both.

Then, there were those who simply reacted in horror.

Other reactions of queer people disavowing the new “cutie-pal” acronym include one user writing that the attempt is “infantilizing”. He said: “Would not want someone to call me this and I’m sure a lot of people can agree. I’m a gay person not a cutie.”

Somebody else wrote: “I’m not some mystical unicorn I’m just a normal person that happens to be queer. Also not fond of lumping bi/pan/poly and aro/ace/agender together when they’re all completely different identities.”

Someone summed up the general thoughts of the internet succinctly. “It’s LGBTQ and it will stay that way please stop trying to incorporate allies into the community because they aren’t. Allies are straight.”

So, it looks like LGBT+ won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.