Their level of confusion is impressive!

According to Sam Dorman of Fox News, “Columbia University is planning to hold six additional graduation ceremonies for students according to their race and other aspects of how they identify.”

Oh…, how racist and discriminatory of them!

“The New York City school’s [As soon as you see ‘New York City school, you know they’re going to be challenged, common sense wise.] website details graduation ceremonies for Native, Asian, ‘Latinx’ [‘Latinx’ is a gender-neutral neologism (A ‘neologism’ is a newly coined word or expression), sometimes used to refer to people of Latin American cultural or ethnic identity in the United States. The ⟨-x⟩ suffix replaces the ⟨-o/-a⟩ ending of Latino and Latina that are typical of grammatical gender in Spanish.] and Black students taking place for Columbia College, Columbia Engineering, General Studies and Barnard College at the end of April. Another dubbed ‘FLI Graduation’ is for ‘first generation and/or low-income community.’ The school also hosts a ‘Lavender’ graduation for the ‘LGBTIAQ+ community.’”

I didn’t really want to get into all of this LGBTIAQ stuff right now, but we should know what we’re talking about here…, so here goes… 

Dr. Nyx McLean, for Independent Online, or IOL, a news and information website based in South Africa, writes, “LGBT, LGBTIAQ or LGBTIAQQAP+, the letters frustrate even members of the LGBTIAQ community who don’t always know what they all mean.”

Huh?

Envision me shaking my head.

It seems we’re not off on the right foot, but let’s continue anyway.

“The letters do not only represent sexual orientation or identity but also gender identity.”

What?

“The difference? Sexual orientation or identity is about who you are attracted to and how you act on this desire. Gender identity is about how you identify or do not identify with regards to your gender. Gender identity has expanded beyond the binary of man and woman and includes non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, agender, just to name a few.”

Sex and sexual orientation isn’t supposed to be this hard…, really.

“The L is for Lesbian: Self-identified womxn* (Womxn is the alternative writing of women to include transgender women) loving womxn. They have romantic, sexual or emotional relationships with womxn of the same gender.”

“The G is for Gay: Self-identified men loving men. They have romantic, sexual or emotional relationships with men of the same gender.”

“The B is for Bisexual: Someone who loves people of any gender. With the inclusion or social recognition that there is more than one gender, this sexual orientation is also called pansexual.”

“The T is for Transgender: Someone who does not fit their assigned gender identity. For instance, someone who may have been born female and raised as a girl but does not identify as a girl or woman but as a man or a non-binary person. They may undergo a transition either hormonal (taking estrogen or testosterone), surgical (gender-affirming surgeries) or they may not do either and simply present as the gender they identify with by dressing in a particular way that makes them feel more comfortable in their skin.”

“The I is for Intersex: Intersex is a person who is born with different chromosomes, sex hormones, genitals and do not align with what is typically a male or female body. It is far more common than we think with many children having corrective surgery after they are born and being raised as the gender that their genitals are best associated with. This medical intervention at birth is more and more being questioned with people proposing that children be allowed to express their gender before being assigned a gender that they may not identify with at a later stage.” 

“The A is for Asexual: Someone is asexual if they do not experience any sexual desire, attraction or feelings for another person. This does not mean that they cannot have romantic or platonic relationships but that these relationships are not founded on sexual desire but rather on feelings and human connection. Asexual people are often faced with an onslaught of advice from well-meaning people about how they haven’t met the right person or that they may be a different sexual orientation to how they’re being read but what this does is disrespect an asexual person’s identity. Trust a person to know what or who they do or do not desire.”

“The Q is for Queer: Queer is often used as a catch-all for the LGBTIAQ community. Queer is an identity in and of itself. It can mean not fitting into any particular label or sexual identity that exists (so not being straight, gay or bisexual), it is an identity outside of the norms that does not fit into the options that are available. Queer as a word was once used as a slur as is still derogatory but many people who identify as queer have reclaimed the word. Not everyone is comfortable using this word to describe themselves. How do you know if queer is being used in a derogatory way? If it is being thrown around to describe someone and there is a tone of anger, fear or hate, then chances are it is derogatory.”

“Other letters you may encounter, such as with the longer version of LGBTIAQQAP+ include these identities: questioning, allies, pansexual and + for everyone else who does not identify as heterosexual, cisgender or with any of the options available.”

Does that clear it up a little?

I’m sorry…, I know it doesn’t, but at least we tried.

Before we proceed, I’d just like to say, “does anyone really need to know what kind of sex you like or what sex you think you are? 

Personally, I don’t feel the need for anyone to know what the deal is with me, and I really don’t care what anyone else is, or does, as long as they don’t shove it in my face.

Isn’t this all personal information?

Most of us really don’t care what you think you are or whose bones you want to jump…, just in case you were wondering.   

Anyway…, getting back to Columbia University …,

“Due to coronavirus restrictions, the ceremonies will take place online.”

Soooo, wearing a mask and staying three apart from each other is unworkable?

I feel like the virus has become an excuse not to do things more than a safety thing at this point.

“It’s unclear when the separate ceremonies were announced, but Sunday was the deadline for nominating individuals in Columbia College, Columbia Engineering and General Studies for the ‘Multicultural Affairs Graduation Cords.’”

Ooooh!

“Multicultural Affairs Graduation Cords!”

This must be the highest honor attainable at Columbia University!

You know…, being “multicultural” and all.

“Columbia University did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment [People usually aren’t too eager to comment on their stupidness.], and it’s unclear whether the ceremonies would necessarily exclude individuals of other races or backgrounds.”

I’m not sure how, since anyone can identify as anything these days!

Think about it.

On one hand we complete freedom of racial, gender, and sexual identification, and on the other hand they are segregating the students out by race, gender, and sexual preference…, not to mention segregation by economic status as well.

The hypocrisy is just overwhelming!!!

“The university is also hosting what appears to be a more general commencement ceremony [Otherwise known as the ceremony for whities!] on April 30.”

If you’re not already “following” me and you liked my blog(s) today, please choose to “follow” me, which will keep you up to date on all of my latest posts, and/or leave me a comment.  I value your feedback and I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you, MrEricksonRules.