Just "the Village," please

Today le Village de Montréal shared a message on Instagram suggesting that the word “gay” be dropped from the name of the Montreal neighbourhood in casual conversation. But in this case excluding a word from the moniker is being pitched as a way to be inclusive to the full spectrum of the LGBTQ2+ community.

Here is the complete message from le Village de Montréal, translated from French:

You might be used to calling me “Gay Village.”

But in 2021, I would like that to change. Because sexual and gender inclusion and diversity is very important to me.

So here I am, I am the Village of Montreal, the largest 2SLGBTQ + village in the WORLD!

But here you are going to ask me: “2SLGBTQ +, what does that mean”? I will be happy to explain all of this to you my friend.

2S for Two-Spirit / Bi-spiritual — In some Indigenous communities, a person who embodies characteristics and qualities considered to be both masculine and feminine. This identity is not reduced to the question of gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.

L for Lesbian — A woman who experiences an emotional and / or sexual attraction to people who identify as a woman.

G stands for Gay — Synonymous with homosexual, most often used to refer to a man who is emotionally and / or sexually attracted to men.

B for Bisexual — Person who feels emotional and / or sexual attraction to two genders.

T stands for Trans — An umbrella term for a person whose gender identity does not or does not match completely with that assigned at birth. The word trans encompasses the words “transgender” and “transsexual,” now considered obsolete.

Q for Queer — Person who identifies with an outside gender identity or sexual orientation outside the norm. This word can also be used to encompass different LGBTQ2+ identities (eg “queer culture”). This term was originally an insult to LGBTQ2+ people, but it has been re-appropriated by many, but some people (especially people who have known the term primarily as an insult) remain uncomfortable with the word. It is best to avoid using this term unless the person is using it to describe themselves.

The + sign refers to any other community and subcultures that are part of sexual and gender diversity not mentioned in the first letters.

Voila!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMPMlovnX9I/

Village of Montreal suggests dropping the word “gay” from the neighbourhood descriptor

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