Over the last few years I've heard people referring to themselves as 'Queer', and it's always a bit jarring. You see, I have been called 'queer' most of my life. As a kid it was a slur lobbed at me for not being sporty and not gawking at girls. As an adult, it has been lobbed at me for daring to be an out homosexual male. It was also hurled at me by a bunch of men who assaulted me outside a gay bar in 2002.
So, it's rather jarring to hear people labeling themselves 'queer'. Being an individualist, I don't begrudge anyone labeling themselves any way they wish, even if it seems odd to me. The problem is, the term 'queer' has become shorthand for the entire 'LGBTQIA2+' community. Those who 'identify' as 'queer' have also started referring to gay men as 'queer', and they seem unconcerned when they get push-back.
I bristle at being called 'queer', as do, I suspect, most self-respecting homosexual males. So, if you meet me, don't be surprised if you get a stern rebuke if you refer to me as 'queer'. That awful word is, and always will be, a slur against gay men. Most of the young people who now 'identify' as 'queer' are actually straight. In other words, they are NOT homosexual. That being the case, we have a bunch of straight kids using a homosexual slur as an 'identity'. You know, the same group that previously used to hurl at gay men. STOP THAT! It isn't your word to 'reclaim'.
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