The Explanatory Comma for the Explanatory Comma

About the explanatory comma, or lack there of.

When I was originally thinking about what kind of content I wanted to create for this blog, one question that came up was whether I wanted this to be a place for people who are already familiar with many of the terms and concepts that are a part of queer and trans studies, or if I wanted to be a resource for people who are just beginning to dive into these topics to come and learn. At first, I thought I would mostly cater towards people who are familiar with the subject already, with the occasional definition or explanation thrown in to make it more accessible. However, as I began writing these pieces I realized that an explanation for every word or idea that isn’t a part of mainstream society would mean a lot of starting and stopping of the material I really want to be focusing on. If every other sentence contained the “explanatory comma,” where I veer off from my point to explain something to people who are new to the subject, it would be too distracting for me to write, and for those who are coming to this site well versed in these subjects to read. The NPR podcast Code Switch has an episode with a great discussion about the explanatory comma if you’d like to hear more about it.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong if you are just starting out learning about queer and trans topics. Everyone starts somewhere, and these are subjects that are important to learn about, but this isn’t the place to do it. There are resources all over the internet that explain all things LGBTQ+ in simple terms, so I decided that this blog will focus on those who are on the same page as I am, or at least willing to look things up as they go. It is easy to find a website that will go into detail describing what each letter in the acronym means, what the difference between sex and gender is, and what exactly it means to be transgender, but there aren’t nearly as many places that people within the community can turn to where everyone is already working with similar vocabulary and experiences. That’s the kind of place I want this blog to be.