LGBT is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. It appeared in English in the 1990s and is an adaptation of the abbreviation "LGB", which in the mid-to-late 1980s began to replace the term "gay community", about which there was an opinion that it does not represent everyone who belongs to sexual minorities.

The term "LGBT" is intended to emphasize the diversity of "sexuality and gender identity based on culture" and is used to refer to homosexual, bisexual, and transgender people. Since 1996, there is an abbreviation OF LGBTQ (LGBTQ), in which the letter K (Q) denotes the word "queer" (English queer). Q can also mean "questioning". Since 1999, some intersex people have proposed the abbreviation LGBTI, which was later merged with the previous LGBTIQ. Also at the end can be added A in the sense of asexuals (Asexual) and P in the sense of pansexuals (Pansexual). However, the question of whether intersex people belong to the LGBT community still does not have a clear decision, and both in favor and against such an association, various arguments are given.

The abbreviation was adopted as a self-designation of people who unite on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity by most public organizations and media in the United States of America and some other English-speaking countries, and later in most countries of the world.

History
Until the 1960s, there was no term in the English language that would denote people whose orientation differs from heterosexual and at the same time did not have a negative connotation. The most neutral term, third gender, was proposed in the 1960s, but never caught on.

The first widely used term was homosexual. However, it was believed to have a negative connotation and was generally replaced: in the 1950s and 1960s by homophile,and then, in the 1970s, by gay. In the 1970s, the issue of equality came first for many lesbians. They viewed gender stereotypes as a patriarchal relic. Lesbian feminists avoided role models, which were widespread in gay bars. With the increase in the activity of the feminist movement, the phrase "gays and lesbians" began to be used more often. Later, they were joined by transgender people and bisexuals.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after the euphoria of the Stonewall riots passed, there was a change in perception. Many gays and lesbians have stopped perceiving bisexuals and transgender people as equal members of the LGBT community. It wasn't until the 1990s that bisexuals and transgender people finally formed a single community with gays and lesbians, Around this point, the term for community became LGBT.

Options
  
LGBTQ – extension of the LGBT acronym "queer"»
  
LGBTIQ or LGBTQI is an even more extended version that includes intersex people as well.
There are various variants of the abbreviation LGBT. The most common are the change of letters (LGBT) and (GLBT). Despite the identity, the LGBT variant may have a more feminist connotation, as it puts the letter L, denoting lesbians, in the first place. If transgender people are not included in the community, the name LGB may be used. In addition, additional letters can be added to the name of LGBTQ, for example, LGBTQ (LGBTQ), the letter K denotes representatives of queer culture (English Q - queer). The LGBTQQ option is also possible. In this case, the last letter denotes the undecided (English Q - questioning), in this regard, a question mark is often put at the end - LGBTQ? .

Among the additional letters of the abbreviation LGBT can be "U" (from the English unsure - insecure), "C" (from the English curious (bi-curious) - experimenting), "I" (from the English intersexual - intersex), additional "T" (from the English transvestite - transvestite), "TS" or "2" (from the English Two‐Spirit - the term for berdache), "A" or "SA" ( Alliance of gays and heterosexuals), an additional "A" (from asexual - asexual). The letters "P" (from the English pansexual - pansexual), "H" (English HIV-affected - HIV-positive) and "O" (from the English others - others) may also be present.

Despite the fact that the number and order of letters in the abbreviation is not fixed and each indicates it as he likes, most representatives of the LGBT community "fit" into the first four letters. Thus, pansexuals, undecided and queer are grouped under the term bisexuals, and intersex people are often combined with transgender people.

Among African Americans, there is the term SGL (Same Gender Loving), which is used to distance oneself from the dominance of the "white" LGBT community. The term MSM (abbreviation for Men who have Sex with Men) is used to refer to men who have constant or periodic sexual contact with other men, regardless of their sexual orientation.

In the 2000s, attempts were made to combine varieties of sexual orientation and gender identity under one single "umbrella" term. In the magazine Anything That Moves, the abbreviation FABGLITTER (Fetish, Allies, Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Intersexed, Transgender, Transsexual Engendering Revolution) was used for the first time. The term can literally be translated as "the transsexual gender revolution of fetishists, allies, bisexuals, gays, lesbians, intersex people and transgender people." Despite the attempt, the term never gained universal acceptance.

Another acronym that has also not gained popularity is QUILTBAG (Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual, Asexual, Gay). Sometimes you can find the abbreviation LGBTetc (lit. LGBTidtd), which is used to shorten all members of the LGBT community.

Criticism
  
Not everyone agrees with the use of the term LGBT. For example, some believe that transgender people are fundamentally different from gay, lesbian and bisexual people and should not be united under one term. Proponents of this idea believe that sexual orientation cannot be equated with gender identity. As a consequence, such a comparison can have a negative impact on the goals set by fighters for equal rights. In addition, some intersex people want to be included in the LGBT community, while others believe that they have no place in the term LGBT.

The opposing position, known as gay separatism, is that gays and lesbians should form a separate community from everyone else. Although manifestations of gay separatism are quite rare, sometimes some members of the LGBT community suggest that "non-monosexual" orientations and transgenderism should be excluded from the struggle for equal rights. Gay separatists have powerful opponents, such as gay activist Peter Tatchell said that separating transgender people from the LGBT community is akin to "political madness."

Many people have searched for the "umbrella" term to replace the numerous abbreviations that exist. For these purposes, there have been attempts to use words such as queer and rainbow. However, they were not widely used. The word "queer" in English has many negative connotations for older people who remember the days leading up to the Stonewall riots, when the word queer expressed ridicule and insult. The term "queer" with a negative connotation is still used in English today. Many young people felt that the term queer had a more politicized connotation than LGBT. The word "rainbow" is primarily associated with hippies.

Many gay and lesbian women also dislike the vague term "LGBT community". Some of them do not share political solidarity, believing that they only create the appearance of a struggle for rights. They also do not participate in events such as equality marches.Some of them believe that the association of people with a "non-heterosexual" orientation perpetuates the myth that gays and lesbians are different from other heterosexual people. These people are often less visible than the more common gay or LGBT activists.