My advice to new poly people

Be prepared for it to be very different than you expect it to be. Be prepared to learn things about yourself and/or your partner you never imagined you'd learn. Be prepared for the fact that anything you learn cannot be unlearned.

And, know that just as you are opening your relationship, you can close it again. But, it's almost impossible to get back to where you were before you opened in the first place. You will most likely be changed at the core level of your relationship, and as people, by the experience.

LGBTQIA vs. GSRM

I think all Gender, Sexual, and Relationship Minorities (GSRM) suffer when they are pitted against each other with some groups being excluded. The LGBTQIA acronym keeps growing but it still excludes many folks who do not identify as cultural normative. Many people (like Dan Savage) have suggested just using the term queer, but then say poly people are not queer. Gender, Sexual, and Relationship Minorities are the only minorities that have to fight for legal protection and rights one sub-group at a time. That's why I prefer GSRM over LGBTQIA. We are stronger when we stand together and inclusivity, in my opinion, builds strength and power.

As Matthew Bobbu said, "Much as Martin Luther King didn’t fight for black rights, he fought for racial equality; I don’t fight for poly rights, I fight for the freedom to participate in any consensual relationship one might wish to – with the exclusion of none.”

That said, there is no reason one has to choose. Different labels are appropriate for different discussions because they mean different things in different contexts.