First of all, I like to respond to people with names, so please
sign your posts.
Second, I had heard the term "queer" used by gays to describe
other gays, and had even heard of queer theory, and certainly had
plenty of exposure to ACT UP and their offshoots. Therefore, I
had thought that the word was a kind of outlaw affectionate term
that gay folks might use with eachother, kind of like the "n"
word (though that is certainly a controversial issue in the
African American community, with some folks really having a
problem with the word in any context, feeling that it conveys a
sense of self-hatred, which also extends the "n-word" analogy
from my point of view.)
I thought that the responses to my question, up until this point,
were surprisingly serious and insightful, given the kind of
flippant tone of my original post. Particularly the idea of
appropriating a negative term as a way of empowering a group that
suffers discrimination and misunderstanding (again an analogy to
the "n" word), struck me as thoughtful and compelling.
And finally, though I am surely "queer" in some sense of the
term, and sometimes "gay" as well, any other application of these
terms to myself is none of anyone's business.
Eric Siegel
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