People who remember when "queer" was only a negative term, and may have been yelled that in some nasty situations, often don't want to use it in its reclaimed, positive meaning now. As a college student, I have the benefit of not remembering the pre-Stonewall connotations of "queer"--I was not born yet. Or is it more ignorance than benefit? Benefit of the flexibility that ignorance brings?? I actually feel more strongly about the reclamation of pink triangles. I don't think that so many people who wear these triangles today know much about the Holocaust and what it has meant to its victims: gays, lesbians, Jews, Gypsies, Catholics, and so many others. I don't like it when people bear these powerful symbols without really having learned a lesson from the history behind it. I think we need more exhibits like the ones mentioned so far, just to expose more people to these forbidden, feared, and ridiculed topics. Forbidden, feared, and ridiculed PEOPLE. More exhibits like that would educate museum professionals like Eric Siegal so that he wouldn't talk so flip about things he admittedly knows little about! Exhibits like that might educate others so that they would be less quick to condemn outbursts like Cari's, which are, admittedly, ill-phrased, but reflect a profound and often justified outrage towards a smug ignorance of minority issues. So many folks have written in to give Cari a dressing-down, but I have yet to hear anyone contemplate whether Eric's earlier comment was off-color (pun intended). I think it was, in a relatively inocuous way--not worth the flaming it received, but not to be defended as enthusiastically as it has been. There are many ways to express a constructive curiosity--all of them require ample respect for the object of your inquiry. Looking back on Eric's earlier forays into grammar and vocabulary nitpicking, it sounds like he has missed the point again this time--he makes little of the new terminology, and he completely misses the bigger picture--what it reflects about lesbian/gay/bisexual culture and society, and mainstream society in kind. Happy Coming Out Day! If you don't know about it, find out about it! Bethany Hoffman [log in to unmask] Former Education Coordinator Oberlin Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Union Oberlin College Oberlin, OH My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily reflect that of my institution (although I think a heck of a lot of people here would agree)