Stop asking LGBT+ people these questions

LGBT+ people are sick of being asked to justify themselves - and a new video gives straight, cis-gender people a microscopic insight into the questions they are battered with on the regular.

The video, #AskMeThisNotThis, created by Cosmopolitan UK asks LGBT+ figures (including representatives from Stonewall, UK Black Pride, Munroe Bergdorf, Jake Graf and Hannah Winterbourne) what probing questions they're tired of being asked, and what they'd rather be asked instead.

It's normal to be curious - but there are certain questions where curiosity really does kill the cat. The secret? Just treat LGBT+ people like, well, humans. It's common decency: don't ask people about what's going on in their pants; don't ask people why they look the way they do; and don't ask them to justify their sexuality of gender.

Here are some more questions from the video that LGBT+ people are tired of being asked:

• Don't ask: Which of you is the man?
• Don't ask: Are you scared of ending up alone because you're trans?
• Don't ask: Do you just say you're not straight to seem cool and edgy? 

Here are a few examples of what you could ask instead:

• Do ask: How did you meet your partner? 
• Do ask: Hey, how are you? 
• Do ask: What would you like to see changed in the world? 

We've got a long way to go. LGBT+ people still face a shocking rate of hate crime: 12 per cent of trans employees have been physically attacked by a colleague or customer in the last year, and 42 per cent of uni students hide the fact they're LGBT+ because they fear discrimination.

When straight and cis-gender voices are given so much time and space, it's time to listen up. ​Watch the full video here.

More: This is why LGBT+ Pride is essential, no matter what country you live in