Answers about LGBTQIA+ People, for Cisgender Straight People
Smart answers to dumb questions.
Q: Why don’t Cisgender Straight People get to have their own Pride parades and festivals?
A:
1. Straight cis people aren’t being murdered for being straight.
2. Straight cis people can travel without fear of being straight.
3. Straight cis people have always been able to marry legally.
4. Straight cis people have never been jailed for being straight.
5. Straight cis people aren’t called ‘sinners’ for being straight.
6. Straight cis people don’t face ‘heterophobia’ in the workplace.
7. Straight cis people see themselves across all popular culture.
8. Straight cis people don’t have to correct people on pronouns.
9. Straight cis people aren’t denied medical help for being straight.
Check out these stories to find out more:
It’s great to be straight, so we don’t need Straight Pride
Nine reasons why there doesn’t need to be a ‘Straight Pride.’
Q. Why shouldn’t I be offended when someone calls me “Cis”?
A. Cis is an abbreviation that means cisgender or cissexual. In simple terms, it means not trans*.” The word itself dates at least as far back as 1914, and was invented by a cis man. It’s pronounced like” sis” as in “sister.”
Why does there need to be a specific word for this? Well, in the absence of knowing (or accepting) a word like cis, cis people tend to refer to themselves, in contrast with trans* people, using words like normal, natural, genetic, or biological.
But you see, trans* people are also normal, natural, genetic, and biological. So to have those words used in a context that sets them at odds with being trans* is highly stigmatizing and not really very nice at all. Cis being the word for not trans works in the same way that straight is a word meaning not gay (although that is an oversimplified example, because there are many types of sexual orientation besides straight and gay).
