Recently, I've been paying attention to the alphabet soup our community uses to identify itself / ourselves. LGBT is the norm. GLBT has been seen. TLGB is often used when an event is more focused on Trans issues. LGBTI has appeared in many stories involving European Pride events. And then there was LGBTTQ which I think we actually used when I was in college back in the 1990s. It seems like depending on the region of the country / world and what you identify as will make the alphabet soup of letters become rearranged and even take on a couple of other friends.
June is LGBT pride month, an annual anti-discrimination effort made official last year with a proclamation from President Obama.
LGBT — meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender — is a widely accepted initialism. However, a fifth letter is increasingly making its way into the line-up: Q. – USAToday.com
If you are an L are you happy you are first? Ladies first? If you're a G, do you feel it's all about you since when LGBT is not used, Gay is instead? Does the B belong in the third spot since they are not strictly females or into females or strictly males or into males, but both? Does the T represent the 4th largest by population in our family so let it be 4th? And then there is the Q …
What does the 'Q' stand for?
Q can mean either 'questioning' or 'queer,' Fred Sainz, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that lobbies for LGBT rights, told USA TODAY Network. Either interpretation is accepted, he said. –
Those who use the Q to mean 'questioning' refer to people who are in the process of exploring their identity, Ross Murray, the director of programs at GLAAD, told USA TODAY Network.
"Questioning means someone who is figuring out their gender identity and figuring out how they want to identify their sexual orientation," he said. – USAToday.com
For us, way back in the last century, I believe our Q did stand for questioning.
Queer means many things
People use the term queer because it's not specific to sexual orientation or to gender identity but is more of an umbrella term that can encompass a lot of people, according to Sainz.
"Queer is anything that exists outside of the dominant narrative," Cleo Anderson, a 26-year-old intern at GLAAD, a prominent gay rights group, told USA TODAY Network. Anderson identifies with the term.
"Queer means that you are one of those letters (LGBT), but you could be all of those letters and not knowing is OK," she said. – USAToday.com
So if Queer is okay now in the 2010s , why don’t we reclaim it as ours, as word of pride, as a word of unification?
Reclaiming 'queer'
"For decades (queer) was used as a pejorative against LGBT people," Sainz said. It was demeaning and often accompanied by violence.
But in recent years the LGBT community, particularly younger people, have reclaimed the word, Sainz said.
"It's a badge of honor. It's taking back a word that was once used as a weapon against us," he said. "You find the term completely commonplace in junior and senior high school and in college where individuals identify as queer." –
Because queer is still considered offensive by some people in the LGBT community, it's generally recommended that people avoid using it other than in situations where a person self-identifies as queer.
"Use the same term to identify them that they would use to identify themselves," Murray said. "We want to focus on the person. If we're telling a story, it's not about just 'Jane is a queer.' It's 'Jane identifies as queer.'" – USAToday.com
In a recent blog from MUSED.com, the whole marriage equality movement was called out. The main concern was that the fight put our most "straight" foot forward.
This movement did not show us gregarious and righteous drag queens, self-loving trans folks, or resilient poor queer folks of color trying to love each other. Nor did it showcase their struggles for acceptance within their families, the challenges of being queer and finding love with one another. Instead, it was an emotional appeal to dominant norms. We were inundated with (mostly white) depictions of cisgender, visually unthreatening, lovers who quite simply wanted to get married. The message: we are no different than you; we just want our picket fences, our two children and a dog just like you. Please let us be just like you! – musedmagonline.com
Are we, the alphabet soup of LGBT, just that? Something easy to swallow? Mix the letters up and the soup all tastes the same? Each letter doesn't stand out, but instead just makes us think "other?" Is the Mused blog correct? Did we put our most spit shined representatives forward to argue for our rights? What if the cause had used terms like lesbian-marriage, trans-marriage, bisexual-marriage, or queer-marriage instead of gay-marriage or same-sex marriage? Would our fight have come as far?
Going back to the Mused opinion … has LGBT, a term that has been used to give us all a feeling of belonging, actually turned us into something that is "visually unthreatening?" And those that are represented by the LBTQ or I and not the G, did they cringe when hearing the term gay-marriage or did they not mind since it was the ends that would outweigh the means? What groups within our alphabet did sit back and let the so called "more mainstream" members take the lead?
I don't know if it is time to embrace the word Queer, but you have to admit, it is a powerful and unifying term. Who has yelled, "we're here, we're GLBTIQ, get use to it." But sometimes I wonder if all of our letters and all of our separate flags do more to divide us than unify us.
How proud were we all to see the Rainbow Flag flying high, being plastered all over everything that didn't move. It was such a unifying moment for us all. Would QUEER do the same?
What are your thoughts?
'Alphabet soup'
LGBTQ is just one set of initials being used. There are other letters and combinations — so many that some call it "alphabet soup."
Here are some of the other letters used:
A — Representing asexuals, or individuals who do not experience sexual attraction.
A — Representing allies, or people who are straight but support those in the LGBT community.
I — Representing individuals who are intersex, or people who are born with anatomy that does not necessarily fit the "typical definitions of female or male," according to the Intersex Society of North America. "For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside," according to the ISNA's definition. – USAToday.com
Thanks Lori Grisham, USA TODAY Network , for the original article.
Follow @lagrisham on Twitter
Unless you want to take back
Unless you want to take back the 3-4 times a week in my teens when I would have to fist fight for being bisexual again and again and again.
Do you really think I am going to just up and forget about 10 years of death threats and shit. Call yourself whatever you want… But in public, if someone calls me a queer, my adrenaline pumps and I will start swinging. You 20 year old hipster kids and all these women that love to scream it out when I tell them not to, have no clue what the fuck it feels like being threatened day in and day out and having to learn how to be strong. I will go from bi to mostly straight or heteroflexible before I accept this term.
Every one of the fat hetero bitches I was in school with wear those tumblr glasses now and claim to be #fatqueerfemmes and I have told each one of them, I am equal opportunity. I will settle for switch hitter. Queer for men has always meant homosexual. Why women have no respect for those of us who spent years beating up dudes who tried to pull a hate crime on us. I got shit for dressing goth mostly but the bi part was part of it too. I appear heterosexual to people who just ask and don't assume.
I personally use queer as an
I personally use queer as an umbrella term. I think it fits since "queer" originally meant "weird," so by using queer we're letting our freak flags fly!
At one time, the community
At one time, the community was entirely known as "gay". Then "gay and lesbian" because lesbians were tired of having their issues pushed aside. Other parts of the community came forward and wanted their identity recognized as well.
Queer is an individual identity. By using it as an umbrella term, you erase the identities which don't fit within this identity. I, personally, identify as queer, because there is more to my sexuality than gender attraction. If there wasn't, if gender attraction was the only influence, I would likely identify as a lesbian. So, for those of you who think "queer" is just a bisexual identity, you're wrong. It's an identity embraced by those who do not completely fit into the gender-attraction sexuality model.
If people want a shorthand for the community which does not include an ever expanding alphabet, use Gender and Sexuality Minorities (GSM). This succinctly includes not only those who have non-hetero sexualities and non-cis gender identities, but also those who have similar legal issues to these communities (such as poly/Lifestyle people, kinksters, and the like).
As for symbols, I'm all about having separate symbols for each community within the larger GSM community. We should all be able to represent ourselves as we see fit. We should be able to have a way of signaling to people that we're friendly to a given community, or that we're members thereof.
Check your privilege!
Check your privilege! Straight white male in his thirties is most able to land the highest paying jobs. Bisexual Latino trans woman in her twenties is more likely to end up destitute or worse, in a body bag as a victim of hate crime.
The hateful privileged exclusionary and ignorant statements made in these comments are sickening and divisive, showing precisely why erasing differences in privilege by putting everyone into a "queer" bucket is a terrible idea.
One of the sickening aspects of minorities getting legal rights historically is that they they abuse their new privilege and trample on those still below them and still struggling. Why does history keep on repeating itself? What is actually needed is positive discrimination to help those who are still struggling and genuinely embrace equality for all. Anything less is not equality, it is hypocrisy.
I identify as queer, and
I identify as queer, and proudly so! I fall under multiple categories within the so-called “alphabet soup” and “queer” is a much better catch-all than either listing every aspect of my queerness or referring to myself with an acronym whose letters don’t all apply to me and don’t always include the queer types the I am. I vote yes for reclaiming QUEER as an identifier. The argument that it’s bad because it means “strange” or “abnormal” is weak at best: why are strange and abnormal bad things? We should embrace our difference, both within and without the community. Normal is relative, and trying to fit into an ever-shifting mold will only do harm. We’re here. We’re queer. We’re not going anywhere.
Yes! I’ve identified as queer
Yes! I’ve identified as queer for years because lesbian or bi don’t in anyway encompass all of what my identity is in the community. As for A meaning allie in the lgbtqia alphabet soup? Fuck no. They don’t get a special place here for being a decent human. Not that they aren’t appreciated. But they don’t live here… Not your struggle, not yours to claim!
Uh no. I am gay. I’m not
Uh no. I am gay. I'm not bisexual, not lesbian, not transgendered, transsexual, and I definitely not respond well to the term "Queer." Queer is a stupid juvenile term that implies that someone is weak and defective. I respect everyone and understand that we fight some of the very same fights. But we are not the same. Please do not attempt to bundle me into a single cluster alongside everyone who isn't classified as straight. Certainly not with the term Queer.
I understand the impulse to
I understand the impulse to claim ownership of an epithet in order to remove its sting, but frankly, I hate the word queer. I have never identified as queer, and won't allow anyone to pull this blanket identity over me.
I believe in individual liberty. Nothing is more individual than identity. I will decide for myself how I identify, and that's as gay. You can decide for yourselves what you want, but don't presume to decide for me. Please and thank you.
 No. It erases a metric ton
No. It erases a metric ton of people's identities, not to mention the struggles many margins have to deal with. The recent rainbow flag bullshit that praised equal marriage for all, yet threw trans people under the bus and repeatedly ran over us, means this is insulting as fuck.
No thanks. I find it
No thanks. I find it derogatory and demeaning. Just like using the N word for blacks.
No thank you. Use whatever
No thank you. Use whatever self-identifying words you want, but please don't think it fits us all.
We’ve never been a “single
We've never been a "single united" community. Rather, we've been characterized by all the bitching. Frankly, I don't presume that we are a single united community: "transgender" means altering your body to conform to your gender identity – which means that many will be perceived as "str8". Meanwhile, 2 men or 2 women in a relationship will continue to garner scorn from the haters. That said – gay men will argue the validity/hurtfulness of the word "queer" or "faggot" or any other epithet – not to mention whether one should support Democratic Party values or be a Gay Republican. Fuck you all! I got me and my hot young gay boiz for sex – THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS!!!
I identify as queer. I used
I identify as queer. I used to go by bisexual, then pansexual, but nothing ever fit. So I went with queer in the end because it's undefined and I like it that way.
I'm old enough to remember when it was used as a derogatory word, but I also know I'm not going to let the bigots of the past dictate my future.
Oh bullshit. Stop trying to
Oh bullshit. Stop trying to be a special snowflake. You're fucking bisexual and you don't like the stigma attached to it because your own slutty, cowardly, confused community has fucked up the reputation of the word.
What makes you think that you
What makes you think that you know this person's sexual orientation better than them? I, too, identify as queer. I don't see it as being any more "special" than any other orientation. In fact, I find it a handy term to describe myself without limiting my own description. Honestly, I'm not sure if I am demisexual, polysexual, gray-asexual, etc, and many people don't understand those terms anyway. So I choose to use the word queer, a broad term that fits how I see myself.
(Also, bisexuals are not slutty, cowardly, OR confused. No need to spread misinformation.)
Actually, if you want to be
Actually, if you want to be That way force a label on me, the closest would be pansexual. But I bet you think pansexuals don't exist either cause the only thing you acknowledge is the narrow list of sexualities that fit into your skewed world view.
it has been in my experience
it has been in my experience that women love to both scream that term in our faces but laugh at us. Funny thing is, we have to grovel for them and that time at her birthday party when daddy called her fat but laughing at us and calling us guys queers is funny. I used to have to fight 3-4 times a week against homophobes… as a bi dude, these same "queer women" call me heteronormative, push all bi men to act really gay and more often than not, they "only date straight guys".
All of the fat bitches with granny glasses do this shit. I don't care if someone calls themselves queer but if I am in public and someone says it to me, it brings me back to fighting 4 times a week… I ended up becoming a bully over it because it was relentless. It's empowering to them. I am bi and with a bi girl and she said it is a special snowflake thing… most of them are just fat hetero bitches with the short haircuts. At least men can understand. And yeah, these pan/queer/fluid/mostly straight/mostly gay hetero/homoflexible are all just bisexuality and the bi community that is a thing now is all special snowflakes out trying to make everyone else out to be bigots.
They all only want gay or straight people too. They aren't all of us though. I have hope but they want to ruin it. If these losers can have 59 genders than I can keep bisexual. My area has a very respectable bi community though. The stragglers are too intimidated by us and flop back and forth, So much bi pride hahahaaa
No… Drop none of us… ALL
No… Drop none of us… ALL LIVES MATTER!!!
Are you throwing us under the
Are you throwing us under the bus again? Queer is not a transgender term. You must know we will leave the LGBT if that happens – but I find even your thought of using 'queer' is disrespectful, not the word, but the fact you totally erase the transgender community without a second thought.
No. The word ‘qu**r’ cannot
No. The word 'qu**r' cannot be reclaimed, even separated from its homophobic usage, its meaning is negative, derogatory, communicating wrongness and cause for suspicion. When any one uses the word 'qu**r' I immediately remember the sick games in school, like 'smear the qu**r', and have only disgust for the person who used that word.
Use it, if you want to tell me you are a vile and terrible human beings. And no, selfish excuses and justifications won't make it any better.
I identify as queer. The word
I identify as queer. The word has never been used against me, so there is no negative meaning to me. No, we're not all the same. But calling ourselves queer won't make us be! Is it offensive to call us all human? We've got some similarities, and I think the point is to show that we are the ones who society looks down on. That said, I do understand why some people dislike the word. If there's a negative meaning to you, don't use it! It's that simple. There is no need to tell other people why they shouldn't identify this way. It's an OPINION. Here is mine. Notice how I'm not trying to make people think the way I do? I still respect and support those who find the word queer offensive, and I would appreciate it if they would do the same for me.
Oh goody. Bisexuals+ are
Oh goody. Bisexuals+ are already invisible. Sorry I like my flag. Out, proud and #StillBisexual.
No one cares. You bisexuals
No one cares. You bisexuals are 'fair weather friends' – allies when it's convinient for you, but you hide in hetero relationships and heteroworld when it's not. Fuck off, bisexuals.
Queer doesn’t identify anyone
Queer doesn’t identify anyone as abnormal. That’s like saying the word difference identifies someone as abnormal. We should celebrate our different not be as a med of them and queer didn’t start as an insult. It was used by queers to describe ourselves and those of you too young to remember that need to stop insulting our chosen label by saying it’s an insult. Shame on you
No. Queer is for faggot ass
No. Queer is for faggot ass bisexuals who hate the word bisexual because they've ruined it by being complete whores, closet cases, confused, and jerks. Also, bisexuals and transgendered people don't belong in my "Gay & Lesbian" community. I don't recognize GLBT as a term and I don't support it. A genetic expression (homosexuality) is not the same as a mental illness (transgenderism / gender dysphoria). It's not transphobic to tell the truth about Transgenderism being a mental illness. It's reality. It's science. There's absolutely not a single scrap of scientific evidence showing you can be 'born in the wrong body'.
 It was only 30 or so years
It was only 30 or so years ago that "homosexual " was a mental illness in the DMV. Check your privilege and your transphobia. You do yourself and your community a great disservice.
Nice FALLACY, fucktard. Yes,
Nice FALLACY, fucktard. Yes, we didn't have the technology to identify the GAY GENE back then. We do now. We also have the science to see if transgenderism is a birth based or genetic condition and there's ZERO EVIDENCE That shows it is. You dumbshits keep bringing this up, but it's not even a good scientific argument because again, you can't posit something without proof and we have proof that being gay is GENETIC. There's mountains of evidence showing male and female brains are vastly different and TRANS BRAINS (M2F) are not like female brains. There's no genetic evidence either. Sorry, you're a moron. The BURDEN OF PROOF (look it up, idiot) is on Trans people / scientists to prove that transgenderism is a birth condition. Until then, it's not. Period. (by your logic, I could also say DRAGONS EXIST! We've never seen one. But I know they exist. There's no scientific evidence of them, but they exist.)
Actually, no identification
Actually, no identification of a 'gay' or a 'straight' gene has actually been done yet. Do your fucking homework and research the subject before you keep bellowing fallacies and falsehoods on this forum. You do us all a great disservice and make us look like ignorant dumbfucks by spouting your ignorance.
I am the bisexual dude
I am the bisexual dude actually in full agreement. In my area I lucked out in the fact that bisexuals all seem to be with one another and focus on what bisexuals need to advance as a group. 8%-12% of bisexuals are even identified with that LGBT crap and they are the ones who ruin you. I was outed from Valentines as a kid and I have fallen for both… I am with a girl and as risqué as we will go is finding another hot bi couple. My past two exes that were men were no less or more important than my current or other two exes. And I think your point is perfect. Queer theory is hippy burnout "eradicate heterosexuality" based shit. That's why there are all of these 300 lb granny glasses women who think call themselves bi-gender or some shit. The fact that the queer/fluid/pansexual/homoflexible etc shit is all there is just insane. And why do bisexuals not want to date other bisexuals in that movement??? bi and proud on the side of one or the other. And our sluts are no good. We could make larger bounds as a group who didn't do the part gay/part straight mental shit… just be a third separate group altogether. Do we overlap at times, sure but we are all three different groups with three different places in the world. I can't stand these bitchy bi women who love the word queer. As a bi guy, by staying firm to that position, we are different to both you and hets and we'll do each other all a favor by shaping our shit all up and addressing each other and getting over it.
Lovely. We don’t to be the
Lovely. We don't to be the "Gay and Lesbian" community you belong too. In Never Never Land.
You can’t even form a fucking
You can't even form a fucking sentence properly. Fuck off, retard.
You – and your shitty
You – and your shitty attitude shared by others similar to you – are the exact reason why I – a pansexual – left the GLBT community locally.
Explain to me how the fuck it is totally cool for you to beg, and plead to society to accept, understand, or at least tolerate, YOUR sexual identity when you can’t even accept those within your OWN community?
Just because science has yet to prove something (at least from your knowledge through I’m sure extensive research on the subject! 😉 ), doesn’t mean something doesn’t exist. Science also once was certain the world was flat at one time as well, through reserved we found that to be untrue.
You cannot speak for someone who experiences the world differently than you do, be it a result of ALS, fibro or feeling a different gender than how they were born.
hey dumbshit. I don’t care. I
hey dumbshit. I don't care. I DO NOT GIVE A FUCK. The homosexual (pure) experience is a unique one without other options- bisexuals don't know what it's like to be gay and they can hide and wheedle around all they want, slipping in and out of gay communities at their leisure and when it suits them. It's all about 'them' and their needs and most bisexual guys are not trustworthy- they are sluts, they are liars, and yes, way more than gay men who have countless times put their trust in them as allies, lovers, or even friends. Also, I don't like to be lumped in with mentally ill people. Transgenderism is a mental illness. It DOES matter that there's no scientific evidence, why? Because THAT IS WHAT WE BASE REALITY ON, ASSHOLE. The burden of proof is on transgender people to PROVE they are naturally born that way- they are not and there's ZERO Evidence to that so until they do, they are mentally ill and I don't choose to be associated with that, even worse, it puts the stigma on gay men that we're somehow trans or the same as women and we're not. Fuck you and your 'pansexual' bullshit. You're fucking bisexual, own it, slut.
Hey, dumbass, there’s zero
Hey, dumbass, there's zero evidence that we were BORN gay as well!! Shut your fucking mouth and let people believe what they choose to believe just as we as gays and lesbians were allowed to. Until you can do that, you haven't earned your right to speak freely much less to live or breathe on this godforsaken rock that we call our world.
WRONG DUMBFUCK! There is
WRONG DUMBFUCK! There is proof being gay is GENETIC. It's called the Xq28 Chomosome, you stupid fucking twat. Don't talk about shit you don't know anything about. I'm well versed in the biological sciences, including genetics and neuroscience.
I really dislike your take on
I really dislike your take on mental illnesses. It's hard enough living with one that I do not need others to talk down on those that have one. Mine developed from my time in the military. Trans people do exist just like we do! And their lives are just as important. Not too long ago we were judged harshly and are just now starting to get the same rights as heterosexuals. Please stop hating on our brothers and sisters in this community. I'm sure you don't like being told you shouldn't be gay so stop telling them to not be themselves!! You are entitled to your opinion thanks to my brothers and sisters that serve in the military but I do ask that you please be careful with such hateful words. We fight as a community not against each other. Divded we too shall fail and then no one gets to be themselves.
I agree with your point about
I agree with your point about bisexuality. And the bi community is an embarrassment, They all hate each other and if us bi guys and girls just date bi guys and girls, like we should, we get called Nazi. There's a group of us bisexual guys/gals that date our own and really want to expand our community from that and support when needed but aside from that respect your experience etc. Gay and bisexual people can't understand the way the other feels. Most bisexuals are in denial about their shit heads… especially the men. I dated one of those losers and he ended up with a fat straight girl and we all mocked him for puffing his posture up like he's better than us because he moved up. I was like, ha, I have a hot bi woman and you'll still be begging me to suck your dick like those poor gay dudes you fool into this "first love" shit. Bi communities just hate and attack each other. It is just a semantic rewording who can be more oppressed contest. We deal with erasure etc but as a group, latching on to the gay/lesbian of the moment then bouncing to the straight guys who use and abuse them and they do it to themselves. If a bi guy/woman isn't bisexual oriented only, he/she won't be with me because they are no good. We can only hope that they get it soon. I get called a nazi, separatist etc. I come back with "anthropology has historic periods with us in them that we never care about", we are different in both ways and are not in the middle of the gay-straight dynamic.
You know what, Rick? You are
You know what, Rick? You are the biggest moron I've ever seen. Do you know what anyone who wasn't a Nazi in Germany during WWII was called by the Nazis? Queer!! It didn't matter who and what you were…Jews took the brunt of the beating, but anyone who wasn't a Nazi was considered to be the same as them…a threat…someone who is different…someone who is queer. Jews, Gays, Lesbians, Transvestites, Blacks…it didn't matter at all…they were all considered queer and executed. Your moronic stupidity is fully clear. Personally, when the United States finishes it's journey in that direction, I will be there to watch them burn you alive in a gas chamber the way the Nazis did to the Jews, Rick.
Now, go back to your close-minded, ridiculous mindset and all of your fuckbuddies who don't see your true colors as the bigoted dumbass you are and leave those of us who are more highly educated and more informed regarding history alone.
You are a liar and a moron.
You are a liar and a moron. They did not call them 'queer' in WWII, you stupid faggot. Cry more.
Can we just lose all the
Can we just lose all the labels please. The more we label ourselves be it our sexuality, race, ethnicity or whatever, the more divided we become as human beings. Every conflict since the beginning of time has been about one label persecuting or holding dominion over another label. We have to evolve people! Lets just keep it simple, we are all human beings and we are diverse, period.
David, “Can we just lose all
David, “Can we just lose all the labels please. The more we label ourselves be it our sexuality, race, ethnicity or whatever, the more divided we become as human beings.”
No, you will not shame us for who we are bigot. We will proudly wear the labels that make us uniquely us and we will not let you create a borg like collective and we will not be assimilated.
“Every conflict since the beginning of time has been about one label persecuting or holding dominion over another label.”
Like you are doing now by trying to erase our differences and to act like they don’t matter. The label that fits you is bigot. A bigot who thinks everyone must disguise their uniqueness or get rid of the labels we choose.
“We have to evolve people! Lets just keep it simple, we are all human beings and we are diverse, period.”
That is the most violent way for you bigots to deal with difference us to just demand that we not be proud of them. Please shut up. You are the worst kind of bigot
What type of person you are,
What type of person you are, I can barely imagine. What I am sure of is that I would be physically repulsed by you and your attitude. What a dick.
No one wants to fuck you
No one wants to fuck you either, asshole. He's 100% right and that's why you're mad, ho.
I’ve got a feeling you have
I’ve got a feeling you have some anger issues and your opinion is as insignificant as your life is. If I told you to fuck yourself, would you take that as in insult or as a high estimate of your athleticism?
I do not see how the author
I do not see how the author of the article is not pushing for a version of the kind of socio-political conformity that the premise of the piece is supposedly against. In other words, if so-called "queer" identities are, by their very nature, nonconformist in nature, then it seems to me that pushing for "queer" to become the normative term of personal identification within the broader socio-political arena defeats the very purpose of being "queer" in the first place.
No.
The end.
No.
The end.
I don’t mind if others
I don't mind if others identify themselves as queer or questioning, however, I still find the term derogatory. To me it is right up there with fagg and pussy. I have never been "in the closet". I have always been out. I was out in school during times when there wasn't any acceptance and bigots called you queer. No thank you. You embrace it if you want to. After 56 years I 've paid for my right to not be referred to by a term that to me is the equivalent of the N word for an African-American.
I’m queer.
I’m queer.
Started identifying that way a few months ago because I knew gay didn’t fit correctly.
Lets look at the dictionary
Lets look at the dictionary definitions of what gay and queer originally meant..
gay adjective (HAPPY)
›happy: We had a gay old time down at the dance hall.›If a place is gay, it is bright and attractive: The streets were gay and full of people.
queer adjective (STRANGE)
›strange, unusual, or not expected: What a queer thing to say!I'm feeling rather queer (= ill), may I sit down?
I am HAPPY I am not STRANGE…
Gay is a positive word Queer is negative. I do not associate with being queer, I was bullied during my school years for being queer! So that word will always have bad feeling associated with it.. Again I am not strange, I am happy.
No thank you
No thank you
Queer still reinforces the
Queer still reinforces the otherness, it reinforces division in society, it carries the baggage of the hostility with which it was originally imposed.
Be ligit!​
BLGIT
I love it! But, then again, I
I love it! But, then again, I’ve never really felt like “gay” completely covered my sexuality…generally I identify as a gay male, but there have been times that I wished I had been or could be a female, that’s where drag came in. I don’t want to be a female, physically…I love my penis abd I’m very happy that I don’t have a menstrual cycle. So today I identify as G, but tomorrow night I will be a woman, referred to only with female descriptives… So I like QUEER because I fit into that title, with wiggle room. G and T don’t give me so much room because I’m not just gay, I don’t feel as though I’m in the wrong sex… Kimi is an outward expression of my inner goddess; my spirit, creativity, beauty, passion, pleasure and joy… But Kota is who I am; my being, my presence, my voice, my reason and consciousness… I’M HERE, I’M QUEER, I’M LOUD AND I’M PROUD!
I find the word QUEER,
I find the word QUEER, problematic. It is not suited for identification because it categorizes you as abnormal. And, I am simply a homo-sapien that happens to love those of my own biological gender.