How does /lgbt/ feel about the word "queer"?
Personally, I hate it. It doesn't offend me or anything, I just don't like how everyone is forced to accept this word whether they like it or not. I think it sounds dumb and ugly. The phrase "queer community" is stupid imo and I prefer the phrase "LGBT community" or even "LGBT+ community" if you feel the original acronym isn't inclusive enough.
It seems everyone on tumblr absolutely adores this word and uses it to refer to the community all the time. Also, they use it to describe people who have never identified this way, instead of their preferred word (gay, bisexual, etc.)
I don't give a fuck if any one person uses it to describe themselves (although self-identified queers tend to be pretty annoying from what I've seen), I just don't want to be described that way myself. Yes, I know there's history involving this word.
In a lot of ways, /lgbt/ seems like the antithesis of tumblr (but not in every sense), and tumblr loves queer, so I was curious what everyone here thought.
Gay male here. I feel like the people who like the word queer the most have had it used against them the least. It's up there with "faggot" for me. I don't give a shit of someone calls me queer or faggot as an insult. I've been on this earth long enough to toughen up to it. But I do find it weird how 15 year old panromantic demisexual demiboys would rather call me a queer boy or whatever than just call me what I am.
This is coming from someone who usually ignores tumblr rather than making a big fuss about the people there. But still.
Hate it.
People have been called that word when being beaten, raped, and killed - why would anyone want to make a ~kewl identity~ out of that? I especially hate when non-LGBT people use to refer to us as a group as if they couldn't easily use LGBT instead.
I've noticed that most of these self-identified queers are teenagers or young adults and I think their casualness of using it is because of the age gap. They don't really understand their own history and end up using harmful slurs to seem quirky.
>>6388236
I like it, I would also like to start calling the latino community the "spic community" to be more inclusive while reclaiming a slur.
I find it weird how a lot of the LGBT community is very offended by faggot, dyke, etc. or at the very least understand the seriousness of those terms and that they're slurs, but throw out queer all the time. I don't know how *I* personally feel about it. Words don't mean a ton to me. I just feel it's somewhat contradictory and I feel like people forget its history as a slur. I feel like you should either take slurs like faggot, dyke, etc. less seriously or understand that queer has been used in similar ways and is can be used as a serious slur as well.
>>6388236
if it has to be there, it works better in the acronym than """"questioning"""""
It's starting to become a retarded tumblr label for inclusiveness. I've never felt comfortable calling anyone a queer because of its pejorative context though. That's the kind of language kids would casually throw around when they were beating the shit out of each other for god knows what reason.
I guess I can see why some people like it. Most words have very specific meanings - gay means exclusively into the same sex, bi means into both, etc. If you're not sure what exactly you are, I can see the appeal. And I get why it's on the end of LGBTQ (that or questioning). If people wanna self-identify as queer, whatever. If some people have reclaimed it or use it as their sole identity, no skin off my back. But I don't particularly understand why people will say "queer community". LGBTQ is the same amount of letters and more accurately describes the entire community. I know some people say that LGBTQ doesn't include every identity (although imo, not every identity that's slightly "different" needs to be tacked on at the end of LGBTQ), I don't see how the solution to that is "call everyone queer whether they like it or not". I feel like that excludes more people than not including every obscure identity under the sun in an already growing acronym.
My personal opinion about ME being called queer? Don't care. I've been called it all: queer, faggot, tranny, spic, wetback (I'm mixed race but a lot of people think I'm Mexican)... but I understand why not everyone likes the word queer.
I feel the exact same. I've never even been called queer (as an insult) myself, but I still associate it with bad things, and it's not even useful since it's so ambiguous. And I kind of cringe every time a cis het person who considers themselves open-minded and progressive uses it as an umbrella term.
>>6388329
This is true. I don't understand why the solution for inclusiveness is to use a middle school tier insult. It's like half of these people completely forgot that this is how queer is generally used.
Pansexual, Dont Tumblr much, and I like the word queer. I think its a nice word, and it easily helps people understand the broader context of certain conversations.
>>6388363
I mean this in the most neutral way: I've noticed that people who identify as bisexual or pansexual tend to like queer more than people who identify as gay or lesbian.
>How does /lgbt/ feel about the word "queer"?
idunno, seems kinda gay to me.
The word queer comes from the intersection of academia and female privilege. The people who held on to it the tightest were cis women in college and there professors who used its negative connotations to advance their own wanting to stand out.
Gay men rarely identify with the word queer because without the protection of female privilege, queer incites violence, hate and death. Queer is the last word many men have heard before they were bashed to death.
>>6388236
It's pretty Queird
>>6388236
I hate it because of its association with Queer Theory which is just straight bunk.
>>6388448
So much this. I rarely see a man who calls himself queer, and even a lot of trannies seem reluctant to use it. Women have this luxury because they've largely been shielded from homophobic violence due to a) being women b) being seen as sexually desirable by straight men by virtue of being women. Basically queer is a counterculture movement for women, while for men its usually something spat in their faces while they're eating concrete.
What really pisses me off is women then having the audacity to get mad at the use of 'faggot' and 'queer' as if there were some parity of experience between us. By all means, get mad about dyke or whatever, but don't try to muscle in on problems unique to men. This is like the whole GLBT / LGBT split again, women stealing ideas and spaces built by men and trying to make themselves the center of everything with their pity me bullshit.
>>6388236
I hate it....
I hate it because it means weird, and dumb asses are trying to make it ok to accept it as ok to be weird. Im not weird what i am is a turbo nomie. In what world would i fall under weird?
I don't care for it, but I don't really mind it. Mostly because it implies we're a lot of the same. Lesbos, gays, and bis.... sort of. Trans and intersex are their own thing, barely even related to eachother. Pansexuality is a meme. Asexuality is not really related. 'All others' implies you're a true, pureblood degenerate and should off yourself ASAP. You know what I don't like? The LGBT community. We're not a community. A lot of us hate each other.
>>6390607
From what I've seen where our population is dense we get along pretty well. Places where there aren't many of us the hate runs deep.
Queer is basically the word annoying straight white girls who ruin our gay bars use to feel like "they're in with the crowd"
They're not
>>6388236
queer
/kwir/
adjective
1. strange; odd.
synonyms: odd, strange, unusual, funny, peculiar, curious, bizarre, weird, uncanny, freakish, eerie, unnatural;
verb informal
1. spoil or ruin (an agreement, event, or situation).
Yea, nah. I hate "queer".
>>6388236
Bisexual here, I prefer to call myself queer because bisexual is such a mouthful
I don't really like the term. I feel like it is a slur and no one should wear that label proudly. It is kinda like women who accept to be called sluts when going to "slutwalks".
>>6388236
I'm with the rest of the thread in that it's a slur that is derogatory by definition, and I despise the tumblards and condescending cis women who use it as some sort of political identity.
This is gonna get me flak, but frankly, I feel the same way about the word ''tranny'. I usually don't care when another trans person uses it, but if a cis person used it in front of me, I wouldn't want to associate with them. It's a slur originally used to describe transvestites and drag queens back when nobody saw a real distinction between them and transsexuals, and it's basically a cheap way of equating a trans woman to a crossdressing man. Like the word "queer", it also has a violent history of being spat at many trans people who were harassed, beaten or killed.
>>6392224
This.
Gay guy here, questioning if I'm trans but we'll save that for another thread.
I agree with the post I tagged above and the rest of the thread, I don't like the word queer or tranny they both have a very violent and negative history behind them because they were used maliciously towards gay and trans people and I don't like how it's being brought back to describe us randomly like this. I was watching a video of Gavin Mcinnes at a Trump rally (I know, I know don't need to tell me) and he was interviewing a protester who was very flamboyant and he asked him "are you gay?" and he said "I am queer yes" and when Gavin told him he was being too vague he said he was bi, and I just thought if you're bi then why not say you're bi and stop trying to associate yourself with us. I'm shitting on bi people I'm just saying that the way he answered the question was supposed to make us believe that he was gay, and that annoys me because there are already labels used to describe your sexuality stop trying to force new labels down everyones throats including ours. Also another thing that bothered me, why in the OP picture does trans fall into on the umbrella?
>>6392568
I was supposed to say I'm NOT shitting on bi people.
>>6388236
I like it. I'm pretty fucked in the head when it comes to gender/sexuality. In the past, I've thought of myself as gay, bi, and trans. I really don't know where I belong, so having an umbrella term is nice. I feel included.
I hate it. There's too much bitchiness and infighting for me to feel solidarity with even LGBT at large, or even the "transgender" umbrella.
I do by best to not treat people like shit, but I try to refer to myself specifically as "transsexual," because that is what I am. Everything broader than that term is just a label for a group I have no feelings of attachment for.
>>6390555
"...being seen as sexually desirable by straight men by virtue of being women."
Yeah, that would apply for women who are feminine and attractive, but what about the ones that aren't? When straight guys say they're cool with lesbians, they're rarely if ever referring to fat, hairy, butch lesbians.
>>6393865
I should probably clarifying: I'm not denying that a lot of violent hate crimes within the community are directed towards gay men and trans women. But acting like men are cool with lesbians in general is a load of shit. They're only ok with the shit they see in porn, which rarely or ever reflects any kind of reality.
Not a fan of it. I mean, yeah, it's a slur, but it's also an ugly word. I can see the benefit of having a catchall word that basically means "not straight" or "not cis" or both for people who have no clue what the fuck they are, but I wish it wasn't such a gross sounding word. It reminds me of vomit.
>>6392568
>why in the OP picture does trans fall into on the umbrella?
OP here. Just went with the first picture that popped up on a google search. I don't agree with it per se - I especially don't agree asexuals belong under that shit umbrella. But alas, 4chan requires an image with your post.
It seems like people are pretty eager to label anything even somewhat "different" as queer. Even cishet kinksters are trying to argue they have some sort of right to use it just because their sexual preferences aren't of the norm. It makes 0 sense.
>>6393921
why the fuck is intersex under there as well holy fuck!
>>6388363
So are you pansexual because you fuck animals or children?
If you only have sex with adults then you're bisexual.
To me, queer implies young gay kids, usually politically minded, who're cool with it and having fun with it. It's an attitude.
>>6394186
I don't understand either. Being intersex is a medical condition, not a gender identity or sexuality.
It's fine. It's a catchall
"Queer" was pretty much the equivalent of faggot back when the latter meant cigarettes, and the derogatory sense still carries. I'm just confused- of all terms, include gay/lesbian to -sexual, to the LGBT community..
people use the outdated slur as a means of a title? Whatever floats your boat. It's mostly straight people who have to worry about what they call us.
>>6395641
I think gays should claim the word faget because that's what they are lol!!!
I'm fine with it, it's easier to say "I'm queer" rather than "I''m part of the LGBTQIIASDFQWERTYLOL42069 Community"
>>6398766
Or even easier, you could just say "I'm gay/trans/bi/whatever"! Wow, who would of thought that it could possibly be so simple?
>>6398777
you sound mad.
anyway, being trans and bisexual and not passing worth a damn as of yet, I don't feel like having tumblr-types asking me "where do you fall on the gender spectrum?" or "which two genders are you attracted to?" Or even worse having the edgy kids ask me "what were you born as?" or "are you getting surgery?"
Better to just use the short and simple word "queer" and they'll nod their heads with no questions asked. Or, they'll get upset that I used the word and not talk to me again, so I don't have to hear all the questions.
I wouldn't use it for myself and I don't use it for others. I grew up hearing it as a pejorative. "he's a queer" or "the queers" sounds like something a racist grandpa or US cable news dick would say. "he's queer" or "queer people" sound a little better but at that point what are you even saying?
it's the "PoC" of sexuality terms.
>>6388236
I think nothing of it other than it sounds like a funny word.
>>6388236
I like it. On the contrary, I hate "lgbt". It doesn't flow nicely, it sounds excessively inclusive, and is a neologism. Queer is an old word, and it describes us quite nicely. We're queer, we don't fit into some of society's norms.
Also, queer is just simple. I don't mind being associated with trans folk desu when using queer as an umbrella term.
Queer is a beautiful word, desu.
>>6388280
You killed me. Haha 10/10
>>6388448
Definitely this, I think until recently queer was mostly used as an insult against gay and bisexual men so they probably wouldn't want to relate to this term to describe themselves.
>>6399009
I prefer the term "autistic" when referring to edgelords.
>>6388280
I share this sentiment -
although using "queer" as a shorthand for "genderqueer" and pushing that identity is even worse than the umbrella idea. Straight people with pink hair going around "reclaiming" a gay slur can go fuck themselves extra hard.
>>6399040
I think the blurring of the lines between genders and sexual identities is a good thing. I don't think the human race is in such a precarious position of dying out as to require social engineering to make it easy for people to reproduce. I think making it harder to put people into boxes will make it easier to not discriminate. I mean, on a pure laziness level, if in the future everyone of different ethnic backgrounds had intermarried enough to make everyone various shades of light brown, it would make it easier on me as a lazy jerk to not judge people based on the color of their skin. If I can't tell what gender people are, I'm not going to put them into boxes of "male stuff" and "female stuff" (or "gay stuff" and "straight stuff" for that matter).
>>6398985
Queer just opens up more questions and is more confusing in general. I'm gay, so I tell people I'm gay, and bam - no more questions. If someone were to tell me they were "queer," I would wonder what the hell that means. Are they into guys, girls, both? Do they want to be referred to as him, her, them, xe, whatever?
I guess, if you really are that confused about your gender/sexuality, then by all means use queer - that will make me just as confused as you are and I'll paradoxically understand you better. But if you're gay, bi, lesbian, trans, whatever - just say that and quit trying to be a snowflake.
>>6399404
But that's just because straight people view anything that's not straight as gay. "Gay" is the straight person's "queer". All it means is not straight.
>>6388257
this
gay guy as well. I'm tough to it but for some reason the word queer has never lost the negative stigma even if it's sanctioned by the community
I use it. Same way I use dyke, faggot, tranny, whatever. I take it and I use it so other people can't hurt me with it.
>>6399481
this
>>6399404
i think people use queer more when they are more than one letter of the alphabet soup, because as >>6388257 pointed out "panromantic demisexual demiboy" doesn't roll off the tongue quite the same way, and also vastly increases the chance that people will still have no fucking clue what any of that means (even within the community)
>>6393921
>Even cishet kinksters are trying to argue they have some sort of right to use it just because their sexual preferences aren't of the norm.
this pisses me off so much
>>6399286
i agree, great point
I prefer LGBTABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
>>6395047
>To me, queer implies young gay kids, usually politically minded, who're cool with it and having fun with it. It's an attitude.
As someone who grew up in the Boston area I almost wish I came out when I was younger just so I could call myself "wicked gay."
>>6388236
I hate it. I don't care if other people want to use it to describe themselves personally (although the type of people who do label as that tend to be SJWs or just people who are way too into being LGBTQAP2S++XOXOXYZ and make it their whole identity) but I hate when all LGBT people are cumultively referred to as the "queer community" or "queer people". It feels like they're trying to force me into using it to describe myself, and I'm very against that. Most of my life that word has had negative connotations, one or two years of it being trendy to "reclaim" isn't going to change that.
>>6388236
Pretty good, it's inclusive and has the same background as words now A LOT used like "nerd" and "otaku".and now they aren't pejorative anymore.
It's also better when your country doesn't speak english, but anyway I can see more future using "queer" intsead of LBGTASDFJFOGetc..
>>6401030
>I can see more future using "queer" intsead of LBGTASDFJFOGetc..
Please no. Even just phonetically, it sounds and looks fucking awful as a word. Think of insults in general - queer, nigger, spic, kike, slut. They sound bad for a reason.
I'd even rather have people use "gay" as umbrella term than have people force me into the "queer" label in the future.
>>6388236
I hate it but just from personal experience. I can understand why people in other situations might see it differently.
I've personally found that everyone I know irl who calls themselves queer is cis,straight ,and having sex. They call themselves queer because they wanna be cool and gay and it's easier to say then "panromantic gray demisexual"
>>6401096
But do you understand "nerd" (and even gay) was used as a derogative term and now it's clean from its nasty origins and part of our daily vocabular? Things change, words easy loose their original meaning (with gay it changed many times, to "happy" to "those who don't have a conformed sexuality" to "homosexual man" and homosexuals in general in some contest, mostly regarding "gay culture" as I witnessed personally), when our condition will be considered social acceptated, like in the nerd's case, and trust me, I have seen a lot change in that regard, I have seen mayor changes in society both online and in the "meat-space" even on my country that isn't so great at changing and accepting, expecially in my exact region. See how gaming has changed since a lot of "normalfags" and a lot more girls showed up, it has morphed a lot (again, in good and bad) and you now see a lot of not so much quirky guys and girls saying they are nerds now, when once was a derogative terms for guys only, so the coin flipped.
What I want to state is that I know things can change for better, but with time, maybe at the same time people wouldn't feel so hard to say the ""need"" to call someone a "faggot" and I see more future in this than a bunch of initials that could potentially make someone feel behind or a cumulative of meaningless letters (I think no one wants something without any logical reason like the initials of all the "tumblr list of sexual identities").
But at same time I recognize your point, english isn't my main language (probabily you will have already noticed by me not using a great linguistic form and maybe some errors there and there.) so I never get called a "queer" personally, I can't know if I could have same opinion in that occasion.
>>6399404
There are people, like lesbians and gay men turned trans, who like to use the word queer because they spent such a long time identifying with this other LGBT identity and doing a lot of work for that community. It shaped who they are as people, they don't want to just dump that. I experienced a lot of shit as a woman, I experienced a lot of shit as a gay woman. Shit that wouldn't have happened if I looked like a man. It'd be stupid to throw that out the window and say "it doesn't count anymore because I'm a man lel"
>>6388236
I still feel like it's too much of a slur, who wants to be called Abnormal as an "uwu progressive inclusive term"
not me
>>6399520
Quit being a faggot
I hate queer because it basically allowed "pansexual" to slip into the LGBT as a legitimate thing.
>>6388236
I hate straight people who identify as queer and when pressed define it to "straight but attention seeking"
>>6388236
I find it a stupid word, but if someone wants to identify that way, go ahead.
What really grinds my gears though is when "queer" people try to push that identity on others just because queer is supposed to be some umbrella term.
Especially when queer essentially means "I'm cishet but I wanna special".
>>6401218
Gay's origin wasn't derogatory. It meant happy, and homosexuals co-opted it on purpose to get the positive meanings of gay associated with homosexuality, and also to get themselves away from actual derogatory labels like faggot and queer.
Gay became derogatory only when the term stuck enough in people's minds that homophobes and hatemongers had to add it to their lexicon, but they could never scrub away the alternate meaning of happy.
It's just weird. As a kid coming of age in red states I feared that social conservative homophobes would call me a queer. Now I've grown up, and out of caring that the social conservatives still call me queer when they're doing shit like thanking God for AIDS, but I have to roll my eyes at the people that try to virtue signal by referring to me and everyone else they've lumped together as queer.
I got called queer while they beat the shit out of me if I couldn't get to my house fast enough after school. I don't like it.
>>6388236
straight dude here, it's cringeworthy
>>6388257
I'm a lesbian and I agree. Slurs can be reclaimed, but not by the people it doesn't target. And the people "queer" is used against - mostly gay men (but also lesbians, to an extent; I live in the South and have heard it used against both G and L) - have largely shown they don't really want to be called that. I think it's downright disrespectful for snowflake pansexual type girls to use the term because it's not theirs to reclaim.
If homonormativity is a thing for them, eventually homosexuality is a choice... So Fuck that bs
It doesn't sound serious. It sounds as if it was a teenage subculture- like goth, emo or juggalo. I don't want to be associated and associate myself with that for the rest of my life.
It's so fucking ugly and unnatural. There are barely any other good words in English that have [kw] in them.
I really like bumdriller and shirtlifter.
t. non-native speaker
