Please read my personal comments at the end.

LGBTQ+ is an umbrella acronym representing a broad group of sexual orientations and gender identities.

LGBTQ+: Stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning.

The (+) acknowledges additional identities such as Pansexual, Omnisexual, or Asexual. By doing so, LGBTQ+ encompasses diverse groups beyond just same-sex attraction, including Gender Identity.

Definitions:

• Lesbian: A woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to other women.
• Gay: Refers to individuals (most often men) attracted to the same sex.
• Bisexual: Those who identify as bisexual feel a sexual and/or romantic attraction to people of a different gender as well as their own. While this offers a basic definition, bisexual people are a diverse group. Each individual perceives their sexual orientation differently.

• Transgender: A transgender person has an internal sense of their own gender (gender identity) not matching the sex they were assigned at birth. A trans person’s gender identity is separate from their sexual attraction.
• Queer: “Queer” is often used as a term for anyone not strictly identifying as Heterosexual or Cisgender. It defies rigid labels, covering identities like gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, asexual, and questioning. ln general terms, it signals non-conformity to heteronormative standards.
• Usage: “Gay” is commonly used as a self-descriptor or in a narrow sense, whereas “LGBTQ+” is often used in political, social, or community contexts to represent a diverse group. 

Contextual Nuances

• Intersectionality: The LGBTQ+ acronym is often used to foster solidarity among distinct groups facing similar discrimination. 
• Gender identity and sexual orientation are two different things. Gender identity refers to your internal knowledge of your own gender—for example, your knowledge that you’re masculine or feminine, regardless of the sex organs you were born with, and typically doesn’t define who you might be sexually attracted to, if in fact you may not feel a sexual attraction to anyone. —- Sexual orientation has to do with whom you’re sexually attracted to.
• The opposite of transgender is cisgender, which describes persons whose gender identity matches their assigned sex.
• Fluid Gender: Describes a sexual orientation that can change over time rather than being fixed. 
• NOTE: Transgender should not be confused with “transvestite,” which refers to cross-dressing without the desire for permanent transition.

My personal comments:

I grew up just a few houses down from someone who I believed was gay. He loved playing with dolls and had a better Barbie Doll collection than any girl in our neighborhood. He use to sit on the sidewalk in front of his house playing with them.

Most “guys” avoided him, and although he was one of the kindest and friendliest people I’ve ever met, he only had a small handful of friends, and least one enemy. Someone once planted a pipe bomb in his mailbox. He was severely injured, but not killed.

We remained good friends for many years, but we never had any deep conversations about life.

In retrospect, I think he was probably struggling with his gender identity and deeply depressed. I’ll never now. He put a gun to his head one night and pulled the trigger, ending his life.

That was in the early 80’s and although being gay is more accepted by our society than ever before, it’s still condemned by many.

I feel it’s our responsibility, as children of God, to support each other regardless of our view of the religious, political, and sexual preferences of others, as long as we as long as we do so with love and respect.

We all need to allow others to live their lives, and focus on our own.