(this is a remake of the original rentry with more information because you'll NEVER guess who lost the edit code)

this rentry was made by the creator of the term. if you'd like to reach out about QAI, you may do so on my tumblr, @idwl.

  • note: this acronym is not meant to divide the community, nor be a "better" acronym; rather, it is an alternative for those who are uncomfortable with or do not feel included under the MOGAI acronym. please keep this in mind.

"what is qai? what does it stand for?"
qai stands for "queer (and) adjacent identities," and it is an acronym similar to LGBTQ+, MOGAI, and LIOM. it is meant to be more inclusive than MOGAI, but not as broad as LIOM. it was named this way to include those who arent exactly queer, but may be considered "adjacent." it includes those who identify with queer non-gender and non-orientation terms.

it should be noted that it is meant to describe people first and foremost. it is an identification term.

"how is it pronounced?"
i pronounce it "kai," personally. you could also pronounce it like "kwai" or sound the letters out. all three pronunciations are acceptable.

"where's the coining post?"
here.

"who is included under the qai acronym?"
anyone with an identity that is queer, or adjacent. this may include, but is not limited to:

  • lesbians
  • gays
  • cenelians
  • those who experience mspec attraction (bi, pan, poly, etc)
  • anyone on the aspec, including aplatonic, afamilial, etc
  • autosexuals
  • split attraction people
  • abrosexuals
  • —flexible folk, including heteroflexibles
  • transgender people, transvestites, transsexuals, etc
  • faggots, dykes, trannies, etc
  • intersex people
  • indigiqueer people
  • 2spirit people
  • polyamorous people
  • amatopunk people
  • those who experience tertiary attraction
  • neopronoun users
  • neogendered people
  • multigendered people
  • non-binary people or enbies
  • genderqueer people
  • milieugender people
  • cistrans / tris people
  • isogender people
  • cishetcere people
  • fluconic people
  • cross-dressers
  • cass- people (cassgender, casspronomial, etc)
  • those who practice kink
  • subtliden people, harmonial people, those with contradictory identities, and those with good faith identities; this includes, but is not limited to:
    • lesboys, sapphboys/sapphic boys
    • turigirls, veldigirls, gaygirls, achilligirls/achillean girls
    • mspec lesbians, gays, straights, etc
    • gaybians , straightbians, straight turians/veldians, sapphilleans
    • transfeminine boys, transmasculine girls
    • cistrans and tris people, as mentioned above
  • those who use non-gender terms that are queer/mogai-related or adjacent, including but not limited to:
    • presentation terms
    • vesility terms
    • aldernic terms
    • personalius terms
    • allion terms
    • vior terms
    • xenovert terms
    • emotum terms
    • perspesque terms
    • etaseon
    • lexidens
    • lexibic terms
    • general terms
  • those who are non-conforming even if otherwise not queer, including but not limited to:
    • gender non-conformity
    • pronoun non-conformity
    • platonic non-conformity
    • sex non-conformity
    • agab non-conformity
    • label non-conformity
  • questioning people
    again, this is not a comprehensive, complete list. these are just some examples.

"whats the difference between qai and liom?"
qai, at its core, is focused on queerness, queerly labeled people, and the people adjacent to these communities. liom, on the other hand, includes other marginalized communities (poc, systems, disabled and neurodivergent people, alterhuman people, etc)

"whats the difference between qai and mogai?"
mogai stands for "marginalized orientations, gender alignments, and intersex." it's not a horrible acronym, but it places a focus on being marginalized, and it, itself, doesn't include the vast majority of identites thought of as "mogai" today (such as general term systems) in the name. qai aims to have a more inclusive and broad name.

"whats the difference between qai and radqueer?"
radqueer covers a lot more than queer and adjacent identities and communities. for instance, paraphiles, endogenic systems, and alterhuman people are supported under the radqueer umbrella. these identities do not fall under the qai umbrella.

"do transids fall under qai?"
im not sure. ive been thinking on it for a while, and they originated from the radqueer community, but that community has a lot of overlap with the mogai community. i wouldnt classify transharm, transabled, transracial, and similar identities as qai, but other ones fall into a sort of grey area. for now, i dont have an answer to this question. if you consider your transids qai, i wont stop you.

"why are people who use term systems considered "queer (adjacent)?""
the people who coin or identify as terms under term systems tend to run with mogai communities or be apart of it. term systems as a concept have deep ties to the mogai community, most of them originating from it.

"can i be mogai or liom and qai at the same time?"
yeah sure. you could even identify as moqai or liomoqai.

"do i have to use qai? should i stop using mogai/lgbt/liom/etc?"
qai is an opt-in label, meaning that you do not have to use this acronym for yourself if you don't want to. even if you fall under this list, nobody should force you to take on an identity that makes you uncomfortable.


extra:*

please do note that this acronym was coined by an anti-radqueer, radically inclusive person.

as well, please do not gatekeep this term from those with differing discourse opinions from yours; in fact, please do not bring any discourse into this acronym at all. i cannot stop you, but just know that this term is tolerant and may be used by all queer folk, even those you (or even i!) do not like. everyone has a right to be queer (or adjacent.) yes, this includes endogenic systems.

due to the nature of qai and what it includes, the coiner of qai believes it aligns with incluspunk ideology. you can still be incluspunk without being qai, and vice versa, though; however, if you agree with what qai stands for, you may also enjoy incluspunk. please read about incluspunk here.

Edit

Pub: 03 Jan 2026 15:40 UTC

Edit: 03 Jan 2026 17:58 UTC

Views: 92