Good evening tumblr,
I decided to create a list of other terms lgbt+ people could use to tell others that they are lgbt+ along with the pros and cons of using terms. Let’s begin:
“I’m not straight”
Pros:
– Simple and easy to say
– Virtually everyone understands what you mean
– People don’t question it
Cons:
– Unclear whether you’re gay or bi or whatever (but this vagueness can also be a huge pro in a lot of situations so it’s really more of a pro)
– Suggests that straight is the norm (An unfortunate reality)
“I’m trans/I’m gender nonconforming”
Pros:
– People know what you mean when you say you’re transgender
– gender nonconforming is a wide and comfortable term
Cons:
– People might have rude questions about your biology/gender
“I’m lgbt+”
Pros:
– All encompassing and familiar
– Has never been used as an insult or a slur against lgbt+ people
– Technical and clear
Cons:
– Kind of a mouthful
“I’m queer”
Pros:
– History in lgbt+ community
Cons:
– People outside the lgbt+ community are going to be confused
– Used for political agendas and purposes, (The lgbt+ community is about our divergent sexualities and genders, not politics)
– Used to create an elitist isolated sub-community
– Bastardized by cishets exploiting the lgbt+ community
– Is a slur used against real lgbt+ teens like myself
Not to mention you could also literally just say “I’m gay, I’m bi, I’m a lesbian, I’m trans, I’m ace, etc.,
Unf. I love being queer. just
So A+ queer.
Also,
Shut the fuck up, thanks.
Like, seriously, just let us ID as queer. It’s not hurting you so stop being a pissbaby about it.
Are we seriously incapable of having real discussions about how we should behave as a community (lgbt+ community) and what terminology we should use?
I don’t think we should politically polarize ourselves in the lgbt+ community by using a divisive and politically charged term like ‘queer’
It is my opinion that we can do better as a community by not using queer.
Lmao by that logic people should stop calling themselves gay because people insult others by calling them gay and asking if they’re gay as a joke, or telling somebody not to use the word lesbian because it’s been fetishistically twisted by straight men.
Queer is no more politically charged than me saying I’m transgender. Actually, it’s LESS politically charged now, tbh. I’ve heard less fuss from people about the queerness of my identity than my transness.
It’s fine if you dont want to use the term, and if it makes you uncomfortable blacklist it. But I’m not going to be civil w/ somebody who quite obviously doesn’t know an ounce of queer history and the demographic of who identified/modernly identify as queer and is trying to outright push for BANNING a word and harassing people for using the term.
Queer means weird so idk why you’d wanna be called weird. There’s cishet people and then there’s LGBT+ people. LGBT+ is literally everything that isn’t cishet. don’t go verbally attacking people because you wanna be called weird
Asdsgdjfoeofed language evolves, dipwad. Gay meant happy but now it means a person attracted to their same gender. Dont be dense.
You’re being rude to people who are trying to be civil, please stop
Telling people in a minority group that you aren’t a part of what they should or shouldn’t identify as isn’t civil. 🙃
Actually I’m genderfluid so I am LGBT+ and all I’m saying is that queer isn’t an thing you can identify as, it’s an insult. There’s so many other ways to identify yourself without turning an insult into a broad term that could literally mean anything. I would like it if people actually read things before getting all worked up
🙃
If you’re not queer why are you telling queer people how they should and shouldn’t identify? We know ourselves best and queer isn’t ONLY an insult. It’s an identity.
You, as a non-queer person, don’t get to decide what queer people identify as. Including our use of queer as an identity.
Ok well I’m changing the meaning of the word faggot because that’s how I wanna identify. I’m a faggot
You realize there are literally people and even communities who have reclaimed that word not just in the basic way but also as an identifier, right? Same as dyke. Y’all really got a think and do some actual research before you try these pithy, false equivalent little snap backs. They’re not holding any water.
I am just exhausted.
Ahh I remember the time I said to someone else in the lgbtq community “I’m not straight” because I did t feel like going into it further and it turned into a day long arguement because they didn’t accept that and they decided that because the only ID they knew about me was I was ace so they decided I must be straight and so spent the day on their blog mocking me not listening to me when I repeatedly said I was not straight and one of their mocking was to take an instant where I talked about bullying I had faced as being recognizably not straight and likening it to a straight frat boy whining about being called gay cos he wore pink.
And then when they found out that ace wasn’t my only non-straight label but I was romantically m-spec they (privately) apologised but didn’t bother removing all the mocking on their blog OR state to all the people they had invalidated me in front of “I was wrong, when they said they were non-straight I should have believed them” which meant they still publicly were calling me straight even when they had privately acknowledged when I said I was not straight I knew what the fuck I was talking about.
So yeah the “no one will question you if you ID as “not straight” is absolutely bullshit.
Queer on the other hand has worked for me, people accept queer as meaning not-straight and don’t question me further when I don’t feel like explaining my orientation and relationship to gender, which is needed especially in hostile situations where I don’t feel like talking about sometimes very personal aspects of my orientation/gender with hostile strangers
Queer is recognizably an identity people use and I have heard it used as a community term for over 20 years. It’s understanded as a community term for queer people.
that’s why there are studies called “queer studies” which FYI are usually studied by queer people, not straight people.
That’s how show titles such as “queer as folk” and “queer eye” work as show titles.
Terms to use besides Queer
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