GLAAD is advocating that we use LGBTQ instead of LGBT, which replaced the far too limiting gay.

I know a lot of people—especially gay white dudes, surprise!—get all up in arms over nomenclature. I do not. I think LGBTQ is perfectly easy to say, is totally inclusive and that the word “queer” is very descriptive and prideful for many people. So if you can't help recoiling at the Q-word because of how it's been used against you in the past, I totally get that and you never have to ID as queer; but by the same token, you should realize that for a lot of people, queer sums up who they are and how they feel, and it is clearly not a pejorative in context.

GLAAD's Sarah Kate Ellis notes, “On one level, it is just adding another letter. But really it is bringing a whole new definition to the way we describe ourselves. It’s the start of a bigger shift.”

In my opinion, the emphasis in that statement is on we.

Check out Time's piece on the subject, which was initiated by GLAAD's tenth media style guide. (It ain't word policing, it's asserting how we want to be seen and addressed in the media—and that is important work, as is GLAAD's expert coaching of newly minted LGBTQ celebrities and newsmakers, who often need help in how to deal with and effectively leverage the attention they're receiving.)

(Image via Twitter)