queer

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Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities^[1] that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual) communities as being oppressive or assimilationist.

This term is controversial because it was reappropriated only two decades ago from its use as an anti-gay epithet. Furthermore, some LGBT people disapprove of using queer as a catch-all because they consider it offensive, derisive or self-deprecating given its continuous use as a form of hate speech. Other LGBT people may avoid queer because they associate it with political radicalism, or simply because they perceive it as the faddish slang of a "younger generation."

Background

Origin

Since its emergence in the English language in the 16th century (related to the German quer, meaning "across, at right angle, diagonally or transverse"), queer has generally meant "strange", "unusual", or "out of alignment". It might refer to something suspicious or "not quite right", or to a person with mild derangement or who exhibits socially inappropriate behaviour. The expression "in Queer Street" was used in the UK as of the 1811 edition of Francis Grose's A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue for someone in financial trouble.^[2]

Queer as Folk is a reference to the common expression unrelated to homosexuality "There's nowt so queer as folk".

In the 1904 Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Second Stain", the term is still used in a completely non-sexual context (Inspector Lestrade is threatening a misbehaving constable with "finding himself in Queer Street", i.e., in this context, being severely punished).

Semantic shift

By the time that story was published, however, the term was already starting to gain a connotation of sexual deviance (especially that of homosexual and/or effeminate males), which is already known in the late 19th century; an early recorded usage of the word in this sense was in a letter by John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry to his son Lord Alfred Douglas.

Subsequently, for most of the 20th century, "queer" was frequently used as a derogatory term for effeminate gay males who were believed to engage in receptive or passive anal/oral sex with men, and others exhibiting untraditional (i.e., trans ^[3]) gender behaviour. Furthermore, masculine males, who performed the role of the "penetrator" were considered "straights".^[4]

Linguistic reappropriation

One of the most famous attempts by the LGBT community to re-claim the term "queer" was through an organisation called Queer Nation, which was formed in March 1990; a few months later, an influential though anonymous flier was distributed at the New York Gay Pride Parade in June 1990 entitled "Queers Read This".^[5]

Because of the context in which it was reclaimed, queer has sociopolitical connotations, and is often preferred by those who are activists; by those who strongly reject traditional gender identities; by those who reject distinct sexual identities such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and straight; and by those who see themselves as oppressed by the heteronormativity of the larger culture. In this usage it retains the historical connotation of "outside the bounds of normal society" and can be construed as "breaking the rules for sex and gender". It can be preferred because of its ambiguity, which allows "queer"-identifying people to avoid the sometimes strict boundaries that surround other labels. In this context, "queer" is not a synonym for LGBT as it creates a space for "queer" heterosexuals as well as "non-queer" homosexuals.

The term is sometimes capitalized when referring to an identity or community, rather than merely a sexual fact (cf. the capitalized use of Deaf).^[6]

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, a number of internet communities started to use the term 'LGBTQ,' the 'Q' standing for 'queer,' to represent forms of sexuality that fall outside of the original LGBT framework, in order to promote awareness and acceptance of these forms of sexuality. The term has a similar function to that of LGBTI, except LGBTQ focuses on sexuality rather than gender.^[7]

Inclusivity and scope

The range of what "queer" includes varies. In addition to referring to LGBT-identifying people, it can also encompass: pansexual, pomosexual, intersexual, genderqueer, asexual and autosexual people, and even gender normative heterosexuals whose sexual orientations or activities place them outside the heterosexual-defined mainstream, e.g., BDSM practitioners, or polyamorous persons.

For some queer-identified people, part of the point of the term "queer" is that it simultaneously builds up and tears down boundaries of identity. For instance, among genderqueer people, who do not solidly identify with one particular gender, once solid gender roles have been torn down, it becomes difficult to situate sexual identity. For some people, the non-specificity of the term is liberating. Queerness becomes a way to simultaneously make a political move against heteronormativity while simultaneously refusing to engage in traditional essentialist identity politics.^[8]

Current examples

Academia

Arts, entertainment, and publishing

Some television shows that use "queer" in their titles include both the British and North American versions of Queer as Folk, Queer Eye, and the cartoon Queer Duck. This commonplace usage has, especially in the American colloquial culture, recently led to the more hip and iconic abbreviation "Q".^[9]

See also

LGBT portal

• Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures
• Sexual minority
• Heterosexism
• Homophobia
• Queer nationalism
• Gay shame
• Queercore (formerly "homocore")
• Queer Youth Alliance

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Look up queer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society

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