Fun with acronyms!

We used to just call it the ‘gay press’.
Then it was ‘gay & lesbian’, then ‘gay, lesbian & bisexual’, then ‘gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender’.
Then ‘queer’ demanded entry, not quite sure why, and eventually ‘intersex’ decided to pop its head in every so often.
As a former editor, this development was frankly a pain in the arse.

The upside of this acronymous age is the wealth of amusement to be had with various associations:


GLARP – Gay & Lesbian Association of Retiring Persons

Awkward. Either sounds like the comic-relief alien on an ailing sitcom or that noise you make when you gulp too much beer too quickly.

LLEGO – Latino/a Lesbiana & Gay Organisation

I loved Lego as a kid. I like this one.

GALAH – Gay and Lesbian Atheists and Humanists

As a North American organisation, they can be forgiven for not knowing that a galah is a native Australian bird, a pretty one at that:



But, in certain circles, it's also slang for idiot.

GLAAD – Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

A worthy cause, but if I read a ‘GLAAD not glad’ headline or intro one more time...

GLAD – Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders

Again, a worthy cause, who must be really pissed off with the above group. GLAD has been around for 30 years (GLAAD is a relatively dewy 23) and this upstart comes along and confuses everyone who has ever been discriminated against and/or requires legal advice. I mean, really.

GLAIL – Gay and Lesbians Against Immoral Lifestyles

It looks like a typo and sounds like someone who is being home-schooled, but it’s the full name that irks me. The main contact point – a post office box in Colorado – doesn’t exactly fill me with join-up-iness either.

IGLOO – International Gay & Lesbian Outdoors Organisation

Okay, clever, but I reckon, at some point in the organisation-naming meeting, someone heard that and said ‘Cool!’, at which point some laughed, some rolled their eyes and at least one person pictured their business card and cringed a little.

ILGA – International Lesbian and Gay Organisation

With 600 member organisations, ILGA is 30 years old. Still, when I hear the name Ilga, I can’t help picture an ageing, granite-faced maid-with-a-secret who does a lot of resentful plate-clearing and glaring from the staircase at the gorgeous but fragile new mistress of a large crumbling house.

NAGVA - North American Gay Volleyball Association

Nagva was spotted nursing a hangover with a restorative bowl of shkembe chorba (tripe soup) in her family-run restaurant in a small Bulgarian village at the age of twelve by an intrepid talent scout at YNot Model Management.
Or so the story goes.
Tragically, her meteoric rise in the modelling world ended during a photo shoot at Mount Rushmore for Blup magazine. She plunged to her death after losing her grip on Thoedore Roosevelt’s glasses.
Charges of physical endangerment in the name of edginess against photographer against Terry Richardson were later dismissed. Pity.

NAMBLA– North American Man/Boy Love Association

Nagva’s creepy uncle.

PFLAG – Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays

A great organisation, but I’ve always thought the name looked like a sneeze. I suspect this is why they didn’t choose the actual acronym, PFFLAG.

There have to be more of these. Anyone?