When I was a child. . .

St. Paul contrasts childish wisdom and ways with maturity (and, might we say, some uncommon common sense).  Nothing can be more childish than the way we deal with the ever growing diversity of genders and sexual preferences that threaten to make the whole discussion impossible.

Glen Stanton writing on First Things blog hits the nail on the head:

Today’s most important acronym expands and contracts like an accordion with seemingly no rhyme or reason. From LGBT, the inclusive train of letters has now swelled to LGBTTQQIAAP2S. The two Ts stand for transgender and transsexual and the double Qs represent both “queer” and “questioning”. The I is for intersex; the twin As for “asexual” and “ally”—the latter meaning you’re hetero but down with the cause. P is for pansexual, the catch-all for being up for pretty much anything depending on the situation. The newest addition is the “2S” which denotes being Two Spirit, a term used by some First Nationers for one who does not fit into the male/female binary. If this alphabet train is not fun enough for you, others such as those at Wesleyan University have added “BDSM” as a caboose for the bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism crowd.

Is anyone left out? It is curious we don’t usually find the two Ps here: the polyamorists and the polygamists. This second P is not included because these are the unfashionable fundamentalist Mormon splinter groups, firm-handed patriarchy and all. But why exclude the polyamorous? They are indeed vivacious boundary pushers by any measure, holding quite seriously that their interest in “many lovers” is indeed as much an orientation as anything else. (The enlightened Wesleyan has added P for polyamory along with another G for “genderf—” and an F for “flexual”).

What this means in all practicality is that there is no GLBT community, no definitive list of possible deviations from the norm, and no end in sight to train of letters that is already unwieldy and impossible to speak about.  What about those who would add pedophiles to the list of genders and sexual preferences?   You might think that such childish speaking and foolishness would find an end but it seems there is no end in sight -- only an impossible need to reset boundaries of how we identify until there are none whatsoever.  We might be there right now.

Add to this the equally naive and childish assertion that no one but someone exactly like you can understand you, appreciate what you go through, identify with your needs, and represent you in the hallowed halls of education and government.  Really?  Such silliness defies imagination.  But there seems no end to the silly things we tell ourselves are truth(s).

Is it really so difficult to decide which restroom should be used?  Must we make accommodation to every potential identity or preference?  Where is our common sense?  When sexual desire becomes the exclusive or primary thing that defines us, we are left with an sea of letters that describes everyone but no one and our sense of community is fractured by the conviction that no one is like me. 

EXAMPLE from England: 
From Parents blast council after kids told to choose their gender:

ANGRY parents have blasted a council that wants kids as young as four to choose the gender “they most identify with” before starting school.

It wrote to parents urging them to support their child’s choice of “gender identity” in a letter confirming primary school places this week.  And it asked them to leave the gender section of a form blank if their child had “another gender identity” altogether. The letter was sent to thousands of parents preparing to send kids to new schools later this year. Brighton and Hove City Council wrote: “We recognise that not all children and young people identify with the gender they were assigned at birth or may identify as a gender other than male or female, however the current systems (set nationally) only record gender as male or female.

“Please support your child to choose the gender they most identify with.
“Or if they have another gender identity please leave this blank and discuss with your child’s school.”. . .
The council’s move came just months after it sent pupils at Blatchington Mill School in Hove a gender survey with 25 options to choose from.