Definition and vague history of radqueer
Radqueer, often broken down to Radical Queerness, is a blanket term that covers a list of ideologies while technically being an ideology in itself.
While there is seemingly a lot of debate surrounding the label itself and its exact meaning, it is generally agreed that the basis of the radqueer ideology is acceptance of all queer identities to a radical extent.
Radqueer, a shorthand for Radical Queer, was first coined on Tumblr in November of 2021 by the user foucault-divine-mephisto, though Radqueer ideology and other related identities have existed long before the term was coinedWhile the exact meaning of Radqueer is often debated in online circles it's generally agreed upon that Radqueer is support and acceptance for any identity that is "outside of the norm" by societies standards
The original or "old Radqueer" flag was posted by the original coiner alongside their post, but the current most popular flag was created roughly 6 months after in May of 2022 by Tumblr user equiradqueerin April of 2024 another Tumblr user named arisu-exe or anyolovez created a flower symbol for the radqueer communitythis same flower was later used by another user named vanishedmukuro and put along side a strawberry with a rainbow gradient
The community has found ways to stay together and regrow, now having accounts that help mutuals/friends find others who lost their accounts due to suspension (sadly, likely due to mass reporting). They are also creating spaces for radqueers, by radqueers, to talk and explain themselves, from hot takes to simply confessing things.
Radqueer is much more well-known nowadays due to people making false and slanderous videos that present the community as a bunch of groomers who are mostly able-bodied white people. This isn't true most of the time, most, if not all, in the community are against grooming and the idea of unconsensual abuse. Because of how it's been portrayed, many people go out of their way to harass and report radqueers. However, this also means those who choose to learn what radqueer means often join or realize they themselves were probably radqueer or related heavily to it.
We hope the future of the radqueer community blossoms into a more positive one, where you are less likely to be harassed.
We also hope for more activism within our community and externally, like the "Beyond the Plus" initiative (which, sadly, is no longer active).
We hope more people genuinely try to understand what being radqueer means and how, most of the time, the community is a truly positive place. We also hope more people embrace their weirdness, as being weird often makes you more accepting, at least in our opinion.
