So . . . what if there were an organized propaganda effort to replace the terms "Lesbian", "Gay" and "Bisexual" with "Queer"? And what if the motive wasn't convenience of reference as we've been told, but rank hostility to those terms? And what if the term "Transgender" was not targeted with similar aggressiveness? (Noting, however, that "Transgender" has almost completely supplanted the once-common "Transsexual".)

As I've watched more and more media outlets add the "Q" to "LGBT", when they're not embracing the Q-word outright, I'm struck by the eerie consistency of talking points employed to justify it: "It's inclusive." Never mind that many people either don't want to be "included" in a slur or object to their distinct identities being engulfed by an "umbrella" term. "The community has reclaimed it." Never mind that only a radical element of the liberation movement did this, and that many of us don't buy into the "reclaiming slurs" trope. "It's empowering". Never mind that many people find it anything but! "Words can change." Overlooking the fact that this particular word is hate speech with a history that's stigmatizing at best and bloody at worst! And "only older people object", a brazen appeal to ageism that turns out to be inaccurate.

Propaganda? An organized effort? I can't prove it, of course. I'm just saying . . .