Asked - hunted: The queer community "wondered
As part of the popular early evening show "Gefragt - gejagt" (Asked - Hunted), there was recently a "faux-pas" that definitely didn't have to happen. What some people might call "poorly researched" caused downright anger among others.
The stone of the stumbling block was the question: "Who was born biologically as a boy, but feels female and therefore has surgery accordingly, is considered to be...?". So far, so good. What may have been intended to be good and informative backfired at the latest when the possible answers were presented. After all, anyone familiar with the community would have noticed within a few moments that the correct answer was not available at all.
Wrong answers and a shocked community
The answer options the candidate was confronted with were "transsexual", "transvestite" and "transman". The candidate chose "transman", the moderator corrected with "transsexual". However, the correct answer would have been "TranssexuellE". Actually completely self-explanatory. After all, it was already crystallized in the question that the person "feels female".
(Note: Incidentally, the answer "transsexual" would have been correct even if the question had not expressed that the person in question had undergone surgery).
Of course, what is also particularly annoying (and a shame) is that this is a question whose answer can be easily researched. After all, the terms used for people within the LGBTQI+ community are now clearly defined.
First voices in the social networks
It wasn't long before the first queers took to the social networks to draw attention to the error. Many criticized a lack of respect for the community in this context, since it would have been easy to uncover this error.
This would not only hurt many of those affected, but also convey false knowledge. After all, programs like "Gefragt - gejagt" are now veritable institutions in the quiz TV landscape. Many people associate a high degree of seriousness with the content. It's all the more shocking that no one behind the scenes noticed this gross error.
In the meantime, demands have been made to correct the error and to do better research in the future so that such incidents do not occur again. It is important to ask again in case of doubt instead of - even if unconsciously - insulting a complete group of people.
LGBTQI+ and Co. - what actually means what?
Over the years, the LGBTQI+ community has grown more and more. While in the past - at least officially - a distinction was almost always made between "gay", "lesbian" and "bi", there is now a much more detailed differentiation. One of the reasons for this is that more and more people dare to admit their sexual orientation.
The certainty of belonging to a certain group within the community can, among other things, strengthen self-confidence. Accordingly, it is not surprising why the former "LGBT" community has now been expanded by a few more letters (and by the "+").
Due to the current developments on this topic, it can be assumed that a lot will happen in the future. Especially because more and more people allow queers to live and love as multifaceted and individually as they want.
However, the wider range of terms also requires society to be open to new abbreviations and designations and to understand the background so that it can then - in a second step - also use them correctly. In this way, mistakes such as the one in "Gefragt - gejagt" can ideally be directly prevented.
It starts because Poland already has one less LGBT free zone.