Queer

For other uses, see Queer (disambiguation).

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Queer is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or are not cisgender.[1][2] Originally meaning 'strange' or 'peculiar', queer came to be used pejoratively against LGBT people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to reclaim the word as a neutral or positive self-description.[3][4][5]

In the 21st century, queer became increasingly used to describe a broad spectrum of non-heteronormative sexual or gender identities and politics.[6][7] Academic disciplines such as queer theory and queer studies share a general opposition to binarism, normativity, and a perceived lack of intersectionality, some of them only tangentially connected to the LGBT movement. Queer arts, queer cultural groups, and queer political groups are examples of modern expressions of queer identities.

Critics of the term include members of the LGBT community who associate it more with its colloquial, derogatory usage;[8] those who wish to dissociate themselves from queer radicalism;[9] and those who see it as too amorphous or trendy.[10] Queer is sometimes expanded to include any non-normative sexuality, including cisgender queer heterosexuality, although some LGBT people view this use of the term as appropriation.[11]

  1. ^ "Definition of QUEER". www.merriam-webster.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-02. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  2. ^ "The 'Q' in LGBTQ: Queer/Questioning". American Psychiatric Association. December 11, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference QN1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sycamore was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Barker, Meg-John (2016). Queer: A Graphic History. Icon Books, Ltd. ISBN 9781785780721.
  6. ^ "queer". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2014.
  7. ^ “Queer, Adj. (1), Sense 3.b.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, March 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/2958900538.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference WG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gamson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference AyoubPaternotte2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Kassel, Gabrielle (2021-06-04). "Can Straight People Call Themselves Queer Without Being Appropriative? It's Complicated". Well+Good. Archived from the original on 2022-01-17. Retrieved 2022-01-16.