Should We Change the Name of Our Organization?
In this article AleX Dean, director of the Transgender Program, suggests that this could be the right time to change the name of our organization: “Would it better to have a name that was inclusive of transgender, bisexual, and intersex persons? Perhaps a name that encompasses all, but specifies none --such as Affirmation for Mormons-- would be more appropriate.”
Please read AleX’s article
Please read AleX’s article
posted by Affirmation at 11:59
3 Comments:
OK, I'm easy, but this might take some time and discussion. I feel comfortable with a name change for the reasons AleX mentioned. However
"Affirmation Mormons" is not enlightening to those who have no previous experience with Affirmation. As a place to start a discussion, how about "Affirmation for LGBTQ Mormons". It at least gets the group identities out front.
Didn't we just discuss this a couple of years ago? Regardless . . . there is something valuable in name recognition. Look what happened to the church when it tried to eliminate the use of the moniker "Mormon Church". It was impossible. Very few people recognize that "the Community of Christ" is what used to the the "Reorganized LDS Church." So to me, the most important thing is the keep the one word, historic name: Afirmation.
But I also recognize that there is more to our stew than gays and lesbians. But the alphabet soup is getting longer and longer. A few weeks ago the Affirmation Messenger used a different 4 letter acronym that was new to me - so new I can't remember it; but it was explained that it was the acronym of the future for LGBTQ. Perhaps we should look at that Affirmation: WETLW (What Ever The Letters Were).
JA in NY
I think the problem is how to be more inclusive without being (1) less descriptive, (2) too vague, or (3) or hopelessly long. If we switch to Affirmation for Mormons, we’re less descriptive and more vague. Affirmation: LGBT Mormons is not too bad; we’re buying into the “Alphabet Soup,” but at least now a lot of people now know what LGBT means. Affirmation: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Mormons is hopelessly long and cumbersome.
When we discussed this five years ago, I told Olin that he should consider “Affirmation: Queer Mormons.” There are those who still find the word “queer” offensive—yet speaking of Queer Studies and Queer Youth is perfectly acceptable. At this time when we’re talking more about activism, we could re-claim the term as a means of self-empowerment.
The bottom line is that I would like a new name to be MORE inclusive, not less. I do not think “Affirmation for Mormons” is more inclusive. How we as an organization affirm and support transgender Mormons seems to me more important than what name we have.
Hugo
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