The issue of the word and its usage has been raised on a few gay Irish forums (www.angrypotato.net and www.usilgbt.org) recently. GCN and other magazines in the LGBT community seam to use the word ‘Queer’ as an all encompassing word for the LGBT community.
As someone who was bullied in second level, the word ‘queer’ became a word that I associated with fear and ignorance not acceptance or something to glorify.
According to www.dictionary.com ‘queer’ is defined as the following
1. Strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular: a queer notion of justice.
2. Of a questionable nature or character; suspicious; shady: Something queer about the language of the prospectus kept investors away.
3. Not feeling physically right or well; giddy, faint, or qualmish: to feel queer.
4. Mentally unbalanced or deranged
5. Slang (disparaging and offensive ).
a. Homosexual.
b. Effeminate; unmanly.
6. Slang. bad, worthless, or counterfeit.
7. To spoil; ruin
8. To put (a person) in a hopeless or disadvantageous situation as to success, favour, etc.
9. To jeopardize.
10. Slang (disparaging and offensive ). a homosexual, esp. a male homosexual.
11. Slang. counterfeit money.
12. Queer the pitch, British Informal. to spoil the chances of success.
Source (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=queer&x=0&y=0 )
Are any of these positive? No!
Magazines such as GCN should not use the word ‘queer’ as it is sending out the wrong message to society and especially young people who are vulnerable and may just be just coming out.
Some people may claim that gay, lesbian, bisexual, or Transgendered does not cover them and they need another word to describe who and what they are. They claim the word ‘queer’ does. To me that is like someone identifying as ‘faggot’ or ‘arse-bandit’ or one of the many words out their that is used to describe the LGBT community. These words are offensive and are words we would not use to describe ourselves outside of the gay community.
Then there is the argument of reclaiming the word. My question is why? We already all use words to describe ourselves there is enough there why do we need another? Why use a that is crass and offensive?
‘Queer’ does not need to be reclaimed it needs to banished for all the hurt it has caused, the labelling, and the harm it has caused. Why do we need one word to describe a community that is vibrant, different and reviles is difference. One word is not enough to describe us all! We are a strong community that is getting its voice heard. We need to banish the stereotypical images from society.
So here’s to not using the word ‘queer’ and getting our tongues around LGBT after a night out!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
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Sorry deary
ReplyDeleteBut I can not completely agree with you. A single word to attempt to describe the community of homosexuals and trangendered and bisexuals and ... the list goes on; can be a unifying action. And the community does need unifying under a diversified "label" - I hate labels as much as many others - for solidarity and the power to actualise changes.
Just so you know I can accept the word 'queer' easier than gay, for one reason. The reason is that I am not always happy and jovial. I am often somewhat strange, excentric and different. Partually I have earned all those rights as a 30 year member of the homosexual community.
If you want to rant about something, I will suggest you rant about labels in general and also in the discrimination that is sometime blatant or discretely done.
Thanks for your opinion, but I can not accept it.
Not all of those definitions are negative, unless you believe it is REALLY BAD to be "Strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different". Many of those who now use "queer" recognize that the insistence that we are "JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE!" isn't nearly as important as the recognition that difference isn't always bad.
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