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. A variant, LGBTQ, adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer (which can be synonymous with LGBT) or are questioning their sexual or gender identity. Another variation, LGBTQ+, adds a plus sign "represents 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 to 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.
LGBT is an adaptation of LGB, which in the mid-to-late 1980s began to replace the term gay (or gay and lesbian) in reference to the broader LGBT community. When not inclusive of transgender people, the shorter LGB is still used. (Full article...)
Homosexuality has been documented in China since ancient times. According to one study by Bret Hinsch, for some time after the fall of the Han dynasty, homosexuality was widely accepted in China but this has been disputed. Several early Chinese emperors are speculated to have had homosexual relationships accompanied by heterosexual ones. Opposition to homosexuality, according to the study by Hinsch, did not become firmly established in China until the 19th and 20th centuries through the Westernization efforts of the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China. On the other hand, Gulik's study argued that the Mongol Yuan dynasty introduced a more ascetic attitude to sexuality in general.
For most of the 20th century homosexuality in China had been legal, except for a period between 1979 and 1997 where male anal sex was punishable as "hooliganism". (Full article...)
Don't worry my dear, there's nothing for me down there.
”
—Derren Brown, talking to a female audience member of one of his shows, when he announced that he would have to look down her top in order for him not be able to cheat at a trick
Drag queen performer onstage at Motor City Pride 2011, an LGBT pride event held annually at Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan. A drag queen is a man who dresses, and often acts, like a caricaturewoman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and can vary even within the same cities. There are drag artists of all genders and sexualities who do drag for various reasons or purposes.