LGBT is an initialism that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender". It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual, non-heteroromantic, or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The variant LGBTQ adds a Q for those who identify as queer (which can be synonymous with LGBT) or are questioning their sexual or gender identity, while LGBTQ+ adds a plus sign for "those who are part of the community, but for whom LGBTQ does not accurately capture or reflect their identity". Many further variations of the acronym exist, such as LGBT+ (simplified to encompass the Q concept within the plus sign), LGBTQIA+ (adding intersex, asexual, aromantic and agender), and 2SLGBTQ+ (adding two-spirit for a term specific to Indigenous North Americans). The LGBT label is not universally agreed upon by everyone that it is generally intended to include. The variations GLBT and GLBTQ rearrange the letters in the acronym. In use since the late 1980s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for marginalized sexualities and gender identities. Some prefer the catch-all term queer.
The earlier initialism LGB began to replace the term gay (or gay and lesbian) in the late 1980s to reference the broader community. When not inclusive of transgender people, the shorter LGB is still used. (Full article...)
The Well of Loneliness is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928 by Jonathan Cape. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" (homosexuality) is apparent from an early age. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver during the First World War, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection, which Hall depicts as the typical sufferings of "inverts", with predictably debilitating effects. The novel portrays "inversion" as a natural, God-given state and makes an explicit plea: "Give us also the right to our existence".
Shortly after the book's publication, it became the target of a campaign by James Douglas, editor of the Sunday Express. Douglas wrote that "I would rather give a healthy boy or a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid than this novel." A British court judged it obscene because it defended "unnatural practices between women"; not until 1949, twenty years later, was it again published in England. In the United States, the book survived legal challenges in New York state and in Customs Court. (Full article...)
Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; (1908-12-25)25 December 1908 – (1999-11-21)21 November 1999) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of his most famous work, The Naked Civil Servant. He afterwards became a gay icon due to his flamboyant personality, fashion sense, and wit. His iconic status was occasionally controversial due to his remarks about subjects like the AIDS crisis, inviting censure from gay activists including human-rights campaignerPeter Tatchell.
During his teen years, he worked briefly as a rent boy. He then spent thirty years as a professional model for life classes in art colleges. The interviews he gave about his unusual life attracted great curiosity, and he was soon sought after for his personal views on social manners and the cultivation of style. (Full article...)
I think the fact that I'm so well known to be gay makes it very difficult to have a convincing relationship with a woman on screen. It wouldn't be at all difficult for me to kiss a woman — I'll kiss a frog if you like.
... that the Heian period Japanese story Torikaebaya Monogatari is the tale of a man who lives as a woman and his sister who lives as a man, who eventually swap places in order to lead happy lives?
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