I donβt take q to be a slur in the same way I donβt take gay to be a slur even though gay is used that way more frequently than q is (ever seen a commercial on TV about not using *q* as a slur?? Me neither). Iβve heard lesbian used as an insult as often as Iβve heard q used as one. I canβt tag everything as #g slur, #q slur, #L slur, #d slur, etc. even though theyβre all used negatively sometimes, because theyβre not inherently slurs and I canβt think of them that way. Theyβre identifiers that some people use as slurs because they think itβs shameful to be q or gay or what-have-you. Even my blog description has q in it as a self-descriptor, and I canβt really trigger warn for that. So for me, calling it a slur even when itβs not used as one is shaming everyone who identifies under it. Itβs censoring myself because some people think *being* q is bad, and I donβt like that they should get to control how itβs viewed.
Is there a tag we could maybe negotiate on that isnβt calling it a slur?? Or could you just blacklist #q****!Sam, #q**** representation, etc.? Or heck, Iβll make a β#q stuffβ tag. Iβm sure for folks in different regions itβs more of a slur than for some of us US peeps, but Iβm just not comfortable calling it a slur per se.