gay, playing MTGA, craving breakfast entree

Green Lantern: Legacy (2020) by Minh Le

Its name reclaims a slur because the point is to say, “I am different, but that’s not a bad thing.” The queer movement is about upholding the right of all people to deviate from an oppressive cisgender, heterosexual, patriarchal norm. Broadening the spectrum of acceptable diversity; questioning and dismantling the social pressures that police and punish deviance. Changing not just our own lives, but how our entire society thinks about sex and gender.

That’s why “queer” embraces so many different groups. It’s not trying to erase their differences, but to try to coherently understand the complex overlapping pressures that affect each of them, and to extend our reach beyond the LGBT+ community. It’s about the right of lesbians to live without men and the right of trans and nonbinary people to be who they are, the right of asexuals to define for themselves what’s significant in their lives, the right of straight men to be vulnerable and emotional and nonviolent. When the great queering project is done, you will see the changes everywhere, not just in small LGBT+ enclaves.

freedom– *real* freedom for *everybody* to be who they *really* want to be.

Fuck off. It should not be used as an umbrella term, especially with so many people in the LGBT community that have extremely bad and traumatic memories attached to it, myself included.

The word q**** should ONLY be used as a self identifier. It should never be used to refer to another person without their consent because it’s an obfuscating term by nature. It boils down the identities of such a large and diverse set of people into a meaningless gray sludge. Imagine taking all the pride flags and replacing them all with one big brown square. That’s what q**** does to people identifies while LGBTQIA+ actually includes EVERYONE, and since it’s an acronym, it can be modified to include even more people.

If you want a more detailed explanation as to why q**** is a fucking terrible and dangerous word to use as an umbrella term, I suggest you watch youtuber Lily Orchards video on the topic called ‘Slurred Speech’, where she delves into the words history and exactly why it’s a slur.

People were beaten and killed on the street while having this word screamed at them, I was dehumanized and made to feel like an animal with this word, and I’m frankly appalled and disgusted that people have the gaul to just say that everything’s ok now.

Q***r is not a kind word. It never has been, and it never will be.

If queer cannot be used because it is a slur, what am I doing for the comfort and security of people who have had “gay” and “lesbian” used hatefully as slurs towards them?

If queer is not a good umbrella term, what is a good umbrella term that will automatically include bisexual, pansexual, transgender, nonbinary, asexual, and aromantic people, intersex people if they want to be included, and Indigenous people from non-Western cultures who identify as two-spirit, third gender, or other traditions? Is my preferred umbrella term easy to spell, pronounce, and teach to an uninformed straight ally?

You’re right, it’s not necessary at all! I just find it to be a way of centering LGBTQ+ people in a way that feels friendly, familial, and intentional, and conveys my love for those I identify with in a way that saying “folks” doesn’t.