Everyone knows this whether or not they acknowledge it consciously. I'm not saying labels are bad--they have their uses. Most people want to put everything into nice, neat little boxes, something that I'm guilty of myself. The problem comes when label users stop acknowledging that these groups, these others that they don't entirely understand are people, too.
Labels like "lesbian," "gay," "bisexual," "queer," "trans," etc. allow some to think of said individuals as faceless masses of a different kind. I'm only referring to those that are ignorant, whether or not they are ignorant by choice, and for now I'm not going to go deeply into all the stereotypes that are attached to each label and for now I'm going to focus on the most prominent current groups facing issues of equality.
I suppose the point I'd like to start out on is that I begrudgingly admit that I'm a bit of an idealist. I once considered myself a pessimist, but then I realized that I'm not cynical or generally negative--it's just that humanity continues to disappoint me because I, for whatever reason, actually expect more.
And, ideally, the majority of people would come to acknowledge that these terms and names we create for each and every sexuality, for various gender identities, for ourselves and for them are only words. I'm stating the obvious and then building on that to say that we shouldn't rely so heavily on them when it comes to social issues and basic civil rights. There really shouldn't be so much weight put on the acronym "GLBTQ."
Sometimes people get so wrapped up in terminology that they forget that they're talking about other human beings.
