In the 1990s, gay, lesbian, and bisexual activists adopted the term LGB, supplanting narrower terms such as "gay or lesbian". Terminology eventually shifted to LGBT, as transgender people became more accepted within the movement. Around that time, some activists began to reclaim the term queer, seeing it as a more radical and inclusive umbrella term, though others reject it, due to its history as a pejorative. In recognition of this, the 2010s saw the adoption of LGBTQ, and other more inclusive variants.
Some versions of the term, such as LGBT+ and LGBTQ+ add a plus sign, to represent additional identities not captured within the acronym. Many further variants exist which add additional identities, such as LGBTQIA+ (for intersex, asexual, aromantic, and agender) and 2SLGBTQ+ (for two-spirit), LGBTQQ (for queer and questioning), or which order the letters differently, as in GLBT and GLBTQ.
The collective of all LGBTQ people is often called the LGBTQ community. These labels are not universally agreed upon by everyone that they are intended to include. For example, some intersex people prefer to be included in this grouping, while others do not. Various alternative umbrella terms exist across various cultures, including queer; same gender loving (SGL); and Gender, Sexual and Romantic Minorities (GSRM). (Full article...)
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, as of May 2024[update], 37 countries recognize same-sex marriage. By contrast, not counting non-state actors and extrajudicial killings, only two countries are believed to impose the death penalty on consensual same-sex sexual acts: Iran and Afghanistan. The death penalty is officially law, but generally not practiced, in Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia (in the autonomous state of Jubaland) and the United Arab Emirates. LGBT people also face extrajudicial killings in the Russian region of Chechnya. Sudan rescinded its unenforced death penalty for anal sex (hetero- or homosexual) in 2020. Fifteen countries have stoning on the books as a penalty for adultery, which (in light of the illegality of gay marriage in those countries) would by default include gay sex, but this is enforced by the legal authorities in Iran and Nigeria (in the northern third of the country). (Full article...)
Charles J. O'Byrne (born 1959) is an American lawyer, former Jesuit priest, and former political staffer to Governor of New YorkDavid Paterson. O'Byrne served as Secretary to the Governor—the highest unelected position in New York government—during the Paterson administration. He stepped down from that position in October 2008 after admitting to having failed to pay five years' worth of taxes.
... that Anita Bryant's participation in Save Our Children, a coalition working to overturn gay rights ordinances in Miami and other cities in 1977 and 1978, destroyed her career?
... that the first same-sex kiss on an American soap opera was between fictional characters Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery in 2003, who were also American soap opera's first lesbian couple?
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