Topic: An 'N' should be added to LGBT for nudists.
My Take: For the record, I do not agree with this proposal. My hot take is that we shouldn't laugh at the people who propose it.
Now, I've seen this suggestion made in nudist communities, and while there is a small garnering of support, more often than not it is met with scorn and derision.
I understand why the suggestion is offensive, and that the people proposing it are probably demonstrating a sheltered naivety that warrants shattering. But they don't deserve to be laughed at.
Bottom line: I feel discriminated against as a nudist. The fact that I can put on clothes and disguise myself as a member of the majority population doesn't change the way I feel or what I believe.
Consider that we are living in times where discriminated minorities are gaining rights and recognition at an unprecedented rate, and "intersectionality" between marginalized groups is a preeminent strategy for social justice. Nudists wanting to be a part of that isn't the punchline to a joke.
Perhaps the notion of grouping nudists in with gays and transpeople does sound like a joke, but the source of that desire is sincere, and I feel like that gets tossed aside when people laugh at the suggestion that nudists face discrimination.
So maybe adding an 'N' to LGBT is an offensive suggestion, but I wish there was a more sympathetic way of rejecting it than telling people who feel oppressed that their feelings are illegitimate, or that one person's suffering is meaningless just because other people have suffered more.
