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Marcus Pavilonis
10/4/2018
The LGBTQ acronym is an umbrella term that encompasses many different identities, genders and sexualities.
The acronym stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and the Q can stand for queer or questioning. LGBTQ individuals have always been a marginalized group as a whole, however, when looking outside of the acronym, there are individual groups in that umbrella who suffer worse marginalization.
Nate Swanson | FOR THE POST
(From left) freshman Emma Blair, senior Carolyn Hunter, and second year graduate student Jeremy Sierra express their concern about people of color and transgender individuals who feel marginalized or left out in the LGBT community on Oct. 1, 2018.
Pansexuality is the romantic or emotional attraction toward people regardless of their gender identity. According to GLAAD, being pansexual means to be essentially gender-blind and can mean searching for a partner with the sole focus of finding love. Often times, the sexuality can be confused with bisexuality because of how the individual is attracted to both men and women. It’s a common misconception because of the fact that pansexuality also is fluid amongst all gender identities.
Carolyn Hunter, a senior studying ceramics, is the outreach coordinator for the LGBT Center at Ohio University and identifies as an LGBTQ individual.
“I identify with bi and pan circles,” Hunter said. “I would say that it’s a lot more fluid to people in the center, but explaining that outwards to a wider community is a lot less understood. Which is why this place exists, to make a space for people who don’t have a space or feel that they are marginalized.”
“Being a person of color in the queer community, you have to understand that there are certain standards and if you don’t meet them then there could be a lot of backlash for that.”Tiffany Anderson
Skoliosexuality is defined by being primarily sexually, romantically and/or aesthetically attracted to genderqueer, transgender and/or non-binary people. If someone identifies as skoliosexual, they are explicitly attracted to people who identify under the genderqueer umbrella. That differs from bisexuality because individuals are not attracted to solely cisgender people, and it differs from pansexuality because individuals are not attracted to all identifications of gender.
Aside from the different identifications, there are even more marginalizations for people of different races and ethnicities who identify as LGBTQ individuals.
Tiffany Anderson, a senior studying women’s, gender and sexuality studies, is the queer people/persons of color outreach coordinator for the LGBT Center and understands the struggle that people of color have to go through in addition to identifying as an LGBTQ individual.
“Being a person of color in the queer community, you have to understand that there are certain standards and if you don’t meet them then there could be a lot of backlash for that,” Anderson, who uses they/they pronouns, said.
Although the “T” in the acronym stands for transgender, being such still appears to mean being more marginalized than those who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual. According to a recent GLAAD statistic, nearly 90 percent of Americans say they know someone who is lesbian, gay or bisexual. However, only 16 percent of Americans say they know someone who is transgender.
Teagan Rabuano, a former New York University ambassador for GLAAD who uses they/them pronouns, spent their whole college career coming to terms with their identity. Now, as NYU’s graduate outreach and engagement coordinator for LGBTQ Student Center, Teagan understands firsthand the marginalization of the transgender group.
“For so many years, I had identified as a gay man simply because I didn’t have the language to understand my gender in a more complex and nuanced way,” Rabuano said. “I’m still in a process of transition — and I might always be. I don’t know where I’ll be in a few years, but I’m more focused on being authentic and true to myself in every moment.”
Through Rabuano’s work with NYU’s LGBTQ student center and GLAAD, they are well-equipped in mentoring people who are struggling to come to terms with their sexuality and gender identity.
“To anyone who may be considering coming out,” Rabuano said, “The most important thing is to stay safe, and know that even if you can’t live as your full self right now, there is a big, fabulous world out there waiting to greet you with open arms. Keep going, stay strong and always look ahead.”
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