Switch BDSM

A "switch" is a BDSM title. It means someone who is comfortable as both a Dominant and submissive. Switches can have a preference for being more "Dom like" or "sub like", but again, they are comfortable as both a Dominant and submissive. They have existed in the BDSM community since the beginning of the BDSM community. Switches can come from any socioeconomic condition and/or demographic (age, sex, gender, race, etc.) It is not currently known what demographics are the most populated when it comes to switches. Switches are not traditionally capitalized in the way that the Dominant title is ("Dominant" is, regardless of its placement in the sentence, due to an old tradition and to show respect for said title).

Many switches do face hardships within the BDSM community. They face similar struggles that the multisexual community in the LGBT community face (bisexual, pansexual, etc.) because of the struggle of "JUST PICK A SIDE" type phrases. Also, it is frankly difficult to find "PRIDE" type merchandise in the BDSM community geared towards switches, specifically (there's a lot of BDSM pride imagery and quotes around the internet for both the Dominant and submissive community, but it is much more difficult to find such things specific to the switch community).

The old switch flag (as depicted below)

has since been requested to stop being used as the "official" switch symbol in the BDSM community by the flag creator. The flag creator is not happy with the flag design and thus has asked people to stop associating it with the switch community. As such, they are currently "flag-less" for having a visual symbol to represent them. 

All the Letters

An anonymously made image found on the social media site "Whisper"

Queer theory is a collection of theories of "what it means" to be LGBT. A large recent survey done in different LGBT circles on different forms of social media (Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook) found that the term "queer" overall is now seen as "reclaimed" and/or "not a slur" for the LGBT community. Many use the term "queer" as a way to say "so many terms now apply to me, I'm not going to bore you with every single word and then explaining every single word". Others use it as a means of saying "I just am not straight".

As of now, the longest string of letters is LGBTQQIA(A)P, which stands for:

• Lesbian
• Gay
• Bisexual
• Transgender
• Queer
• Questioning
• Intersex
• Asexual
• (Ally)
• Pansexual/Omnisexual

Ally has its own punctuation around it because it is considered controversial. Some LGBT members consider "Allies" apart of the community, others do not. Both sides of the argument have very valid thoughts and concerns. This string of letters was established in the 1980s, but most people today use one of the following: LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQIA, LGBTIA, and LGBTA. 

Exploring your sexuality chart

Polysexual

The Polysexual official flag

Polysexual is one of the not as well known sexual orientations. It is a multisexual orientation that means someone who is sexually attracted to many, but not all genders and/or sexes. How exactly is this different from bisexual, multisexual, or pansexual/omnisexual? For starters, pansexual/omnisexual is sexual attraction to all genders and sexes. So that crosses out that. Bisexual, linguistically speaking means sexual attraction to "2", however, there are numerous ways to interpret "2" (many bisexuals say "I am sexually attracted to my own gender and others" and that still fits the numerical '2'). Multisexual can be used as an umbrella term (any sexual orientation that means sexually attracted to two and/or more genders or sexes) or as an individual term (when used in this sense, many have used it to say "many different circumstances affect my sexual orientation - it is easier to just say multisexual as opposed to explaining the many different circumstances to which this could apply to"). The easy answer? It widely varies and everyone will feel comfortable with a different term for what to identify themselves with.

Polysexual is NOT synonymous with polyamorous or polygamy. Polyamorous deals with the number of romantic partners. Polygamy is a form of marriage that involves multiple partners. Polysexual solely deals with sexual attraction. 

Google Trends state that people have been looking up this term on Google since at least 2004. The flag itself was created in July 2012 by a user who called themselves "Samlin". They said the colors represent: "pink is an attraction to feminine identified people, green is for non-binary or beyond the binary individuals, blue is for masculine-identified people".

As of this blog post (January 2020), I was unable to find official resources of information or a community beyond Facebook groups for polysexuality (official website, message board/forum, etc.).