Gay was one of those substitution words to imply a different meaning, that eventually became the word itself. No one wanted to say “homosexual,” so they instead said that some guy was “gay” (happy) around other men. Wink, wink.
Eventually, it got overused to the point it became synonymous with homosexual, and now that’s the preferred term. For a while it became a slur, but gay people have reclaimed it over the years. Bigots still try to use it as a slur, but it has very little effect nowadays.
I’ll never understand how Q made it into the official lexicon and F was suddenly too horrendous to speak. My gay friends called themselves F’s. I called them F’s. But queer was insulting, off the table.
Queer smells of it’s original meaning, there’s something off about you, something wrong with you.
Yeah, it makes me feel othered and stigmatised. I know that some LGBT+ people identify with that term and they can do what they like, but for me it still feels exclusionary and judgemental.
I have to agree that one will never sit right with me. Not after realizing once I was a teenager how fucked up it was that they toaght as a game as small children and told us it was called “smear the queer.” The implications are absolutely vulgar and grotesque, as well teaching small children that LGBTQ+ people should be “othered.” It isn’t for me to say, and if that’s how people identify, that’s OK, but there will always be that little twinge with that word for me
Also historians: gay meant happy back in the day. Of course it did, how could so many people be gay, back in the day.
(Yes, I know it really did mean that…)
Gay was one of those substitution words to imply a different meaning, that eventually became the word itself. No one wanted to say “homosexual,” so they instead said that some guy was “gay” (happy) around other men. Wink, wink.
Eventually, it got overused to the point it became synonymous with homosexual, and now that’s the preferred term. For a while it became a slur, but gay people have reclaimed it over the years. Bigots still try to use it as a slur, but it has very little effect nowadays.
“Light in the loafers”
‘Queer’ however still sounds like an insult to me
I’ll never understand how Q made it into the official lexicon and F was suddenly too horrendous to speak. My gay friends called themselves F’s. I called them F’s. But queer was insulting, off the table.
Queer smells of it’s original meaning, there’s something off about you, something wrong with you.
Yeah, it makes me feel othered and stigmatised. I know that some LGBT+ people identify with that term and they can do what they like, but for me it still feels exclusionary and judgemental.
I have to agree that one will never sit right with me. Not after realizing once I was a teenager how fucked up it was that they toaght as a game as small children and told us it was called “smear the queer.” The implications are absolutely vulgar and grotesque, as well teaching small children that LGBTQ+ people should be “othered.” It isn’t for me to say, and if that’s how people identify, that’s OK, but there will always be that little twinge with that word for me