#qslur

I'm gay, bi, pan (if you insist). You can call me a fairy, a fag, a faggot (but I'd prefer the more fun Faggo), a fruit. Say I'm light in the loafers. I enjoy musicals. I'm a friend of Dorothy. You can use just about ANYTHING. There's plenty to work with

But if you're going to use the term people still use when hurling bottles at me as they drive by, we're done with our interaction and I'll kindly tell you to fuck off

You're allowed to call yourself whatever the hell you want, but keep me the fuck out of it.

it is definitely regional. thank you for this message, because this highlights one of the main reasons this word shouldn't be an "umbrella term" (using a single term as a universal word for every non-cishet experience is a monumentally fucked up concept, regardless what the word is). to put it simply, America is not representative of the entire world's LGBT experience, but since everyone and their mother is using american social websites we now have people across the world being influenced by american ego of thinking they do, in fact, hold the monopoly on everything. Additionally, the word is still actually being used as a slur in USA. don't take my word for it, just ask minorities from more conservative states 🤷‍♂️

it is used as a violent slur against LGBT people, majority of which are not white and not native, in every single city across the entire UK, every single hour of every single day. no place in the world is bigotry free utopia, the UK least of all. the only exception is people who live in posh areas/people with the means to live safely. you got 20 year olds living with their rich parents in Walksfordumpcuntshire Drive and going to fucking private universities, then going online telling LGBT minorities that they have never in their life heard it used as a slur, so clearly it isn't.

I literally cannot count how many times I've been physically assaulted with that word, I've been dragged out of het clubs by multiple security guards, and much more than that. and I don't understand why this information is not everything people need to stop behaving like mindless animals just spewing slurs left and right without listening for ONE SECOND.

if it's not a slur what are you reclaiming?

if it's a radical slur why are you reclaiming it for other people? and why are you letting cis heterosexual people use it? sn't the whole point of the "we're here, we're queer" movement that you take the power away from it? how is using it on others without (and now, against) their consent taking power away from the slur? you're perpetuating exactly the same as those drunk bigots from the passing car. this is what these people are doing by saying "queer community" instead of LGBT community. when they say "they're queer" about someone they know little about. when they just drop the word in every fucking sentence. queer media, queer songs, queer shoes, queer sugar, queer fucking toilet paper... there's always someone who has had traumatic experiences with that word listening and now you have just trivialised their pain, by saying "hey! your feelings don't matter because I like this word." (someone actually said that to me once btw. check the notes)

if it has been reclaimed then how is it not a slur?

isn't it funny that [English language] was started by terfs? 🤔

I’m guessing this is about a pervious ask where I asked people not to call me q*eer. I dunno how to explain the LGBT history I grew up with to you, but I’ll try my best.

First of all, gay never really was a slur to begin with. There was a campaign early 2000′s for people to stop using it as an insult, but that was just the product of cis/hets seeing LGBT+ traits as undesirable/wrong (like always lol). LGBT+ people were using gay as a descriptor well before cis/hets used it as an insult. The word gay actually had the original connotation of meaning happy/joyful. “Make the yuletide gay” ring any bells anon? Here is an actual definition of the word gay, from the dictionary:  Gay: 2. lighthearted and carefree. (Source: Oxford Dictionary). This is the second definition, the first being the gay identity we use today. It never started out as an insult, therefore it was not a slur.

Meanwhile q*eer has always had a negative connotation. It has always meant odd or other. Something that was strange. While the LGBT+ community has largely reclaimed it, in heavily conservative areas it is used as a slur to this day. Here is a definition of it: Queer:  1. strange; odd (Source; Oxford Dictionary). This is the first definition of the word; meaning that it’s widely regarded as meaning strange/odd. Therefore q*eer is a slur. After all, a slur is an “ an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo “ (Source: Merriam Webster Dictionary)