Many LGBQ individuals initially resisted this language. In the 2000s, some lesbians felt that "gender neutral" pronouns erased their identity as women-loving-women. But over a decade, the culture evolved. Today, most mainstream LGBTQ organizations—and many outside them—consider asking for pronouns a basic courtesy, not a political statement.

Despite the "pride" of the umbrella, the transgender community often faces steeper hurdles than their cisgender (LGB) peers.

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Transgender women of color experience disproportionately high rates of violence.

This history is crucial. Early lesbian and gay organizations, like the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), included trans people. But by the 1970s, a conservative faction emerged—often called the "respectability politics" movement—that tried to distance gay rights from transgender and drag identities. This schism, known as , is a wound that still scars LGBTQ culture today.

LGBTQ culture has historically offered a lifeline that cisgender society refused to provide. Gay bars in the 1980s, for example, were among the few places a trans person could use a restroom without fear of arrest. The drag scene (which is distinct from transgender identity but overlaps culturally) created a language of gender performance that helped many trans people understand their own identities.