Diversity: LGBTQI

The acronym LGBTQI stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, and Intersex. Sometimes letters are added to include Questioning, Two-Spirit, Asexual, and Ally. The term “sexual and gender minorities” (SGM) aims to be a shorter, more inclusive acronym. Representing both global movements and distinct communities, SGM expresses a diversity of identities, belongings, community lives, pride, struggles, and human rights claims for everyone who does not correspond to and/or refuses normative standards of gender, sex, and desire.

Although homophilic activism—as gay and lesbian mobilizations were called at the time—existed before the Stonewall riots, this event marks the emergence of SGM liberation movements. In Greenwich Village, in New York City, homosexual and trans people would gather at the Stonewall Inn, where (because homosexuality and cross-dressing were criminalized) the police often made raids. On June 28, 1969, the raid was met with resistance: the riots lasted several days. The following year, a parade was organized to commemorate the event, thus initiating the tradition of pride marches.

The LGBTQI movement’s main battle is the fight against discrimination and injustice. Current movements address homophobia; incarceration and the death penalty; the right to same-sex marriage; adoption and insemination; freedom of expression and association; general awareness-raising; and advocacy for safe and positive workplaces, schools, publics spaces, education, and media.

Over time, particularly when homosexuality was illegal and Deaf communities less accepting of SGM, Deaf gays and lesbians created signs to identify themselves that were kept secret from straight people. Since the late 1970s, Deaf SGM have gathered through different initiatives, like the Brothers and Sisters Club in the UK, with notable growth in the 1990s, mostly in Occident. In 1993, the first Deaf Gay and Lesbian Pride took place in Washington, D.C., home to Gallaudet University.

Deaf LGBTQI communities face specific challenges, including audism within SGM movements, inaccessibility to resources, inequity in social participation compared to hearing people, and different kinds of discrimination within Deaf communities, such as homophobia. Deaf lesbian activist and professor, M. J. Bienvenu, has documented the complexity of the intersections between Deaf and LGBTQI identities and cites, for example, challenges related to multiple identities and stigma from both straight deaf and hearing LGBT communities. The multiple belongings encompassed within intersectionality—race, language, disability, income, parenting, and legal status regarding citizenship and migration—can be experienced as oppression or privilege. Most SGM and Deaf individuals are not raised in families or communities where they can share these identities or find positive role models. Although some receive support, others face difficulties such as stigmatization and audism. Therefore, there are similarities between coming out as SGM and coming out as Deaf.

The expression “coming out,” an abbreviated version of “coming out of the closet,” signifies the positive affirmation of an identity and/or belonging to a community. The act of coming out takes place in a context where certain social identities are [Page 315]sometimes misrecognized or considered shameful. For example, most deaf people are raised in hearing families and SGM people in heteronormative ones. In both cases, coming out can represent a positive affirmation of identity and proud connection to SGM and/or Deaf communities.

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