Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Ben Brock:
“What do you think of the word queer?”
I’ll add a little context. Queer was once used as an extremely negative word toward the gay community in particular and the LGBTIQA community in general. As our acronyms have qotten longer, many folks have searched for an easier shorthand for the community, but the word still carries its own baggage too. We’ve adopted it for a number of our ventures, but I (Scott) am more comfortable with it than Mark, my slightly older husband.
How do y’all feel about it, and why?
I believe older members of the community, like me, remember when Gay was the all encompassing replacement for Queer or Homo or Dyke or any one of a plethora of nouns that were said to demean the non-hetero-normative world of people. Though I never understood the reasoning I even remember when it was GLBT. I must have missed the memo when LGBT became the “right” way to list. Anyway, if Queer can be used in polite conversation will “the N-word” be next? Will my Jewish brethren adopt “the K-word” as a brand? I sure hope not! Let’s just go back to the all encompassing Gay. It’s a nice, happy, and lovingly crafted simple word that means what it says.