Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau has sparked an online storm after he used an obscure acronym, 2SLGBTQQIA+, while commemorating missing and murdered members of ethnic and sexual minorities, prompting a collective head-scratching.
“People across the country are lighting candles to honour Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people who are missing or have been murdered,” Trudeau tweeted on Tuesday, urging an end to the “ongoing tragedy.”
The message, however, appeared to be lost on a sizeable portion of netizens who struggled to decipher the cumbersome and seldom-used acronym – which stands for: Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual (2SLGBTQQIA) people, with a plus-sign added for good measure to cover any potentially overlooked groups.
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“I honestly have no idea what 2SLGBTQQIA+ means,” one genuinly perplexed commenter tweeted, while another requested a translation: “I am asking unironically, what is 2SLGBTQQIA+?”
Some of those unfamiliar with the modern ‘woke’ speak seemed to be in disbelief that such a convoluted acronym could be a “real thing.” One observer suggested that Trudeau might have accidentally dropped the nuclear codes for NORAD [The North American Aerospace Defense Command]. More mundane guesses included a wayward cat walking across the Canadian PM’s keyboard at the wrong time, an inadvertent reveal of a Wi-Fi password, or “a video game cheat code.”
Others questioned Trudeau’s own understanding of the term, challenging him to actually verbalize it publicly – a feat that might prove difficult for the Canadian leader, who infamously mangled the much-shorter LGBTQ2+ acronym as recently as last month.
“I will never apologize for standing up for LGDP, uh, LGT, LBT…,” Trudeau stammered before an aide helped him to straighten out his letters. The clip has since gone viral.
While it remains to be seen if Trudeau will attempt to utter the challenging tongue-twister in future comments, some celebrated what appeared to be the acronym’s official debut into public space. “The 2SLGBTQQIA+ movement grows stronger by the day. Just absorbing the power of the alphabet with no obstruction,” one user quipped.
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