In 2016, Rowan Blanchard, then 14, the star of a Disney Channel television show came out as queer through Twitter, and people’s reactions were puzzling to say the least. The young actress was praised by some and scrutinized by others. Perhaps the most obvious thing was that many people were just confused. Did this mean she was gay? While she explained that until then she’d only been interested in boys, she was expressing how she’s open to any gender in the future. But perhaps the biggest issue surrounding the whole debacle lies in the fact that the word “queer” means different things to different people, including within the LGBTQ community. In order to best illustrate this, without doing any heterosplaining or cisplaining, I’ve found quotes from different queer people explaining what the term means to them.
For writer Tiq Milan, “Being queer and trans is about creating new ways of existing. It’s about loving people as they are, not as they’re supposed to be.” During their Ted Talk his wife, Kim Katrin Milan, expands on the term saying, “And queer is a cultural term, but in this case, it refers to the way that I’m not restricted by gender when it comes to choosing partners. I’ve identified in a few different ways –as a bisexual, as a lesbian– but for me, queerness encompasses all of the layers of who I am and how I’ve loved.”
According to most historical accounts, the first record of the word queer being used was in fact as a derogatory term. It happened during the Oscar Wilde trial by a man who wished to tarnish the writer’s reputation. From then on, it took hold as “the term” to speak offensively about someone. Mind you, this was not just to gays and lesbians, it encompassed anyone who did not fit the social order of gender binaries. Males who were not deemed as “manly” and women who were less than “ladylike.” It would not be until the late seventies and early eighties, throughout the AIDS crisis, that the word was reclaimed in protest to the prejudice and apathy towards the community that was suffering the most. As Biju Belinki puts it, “As a word that has caused trauma to our community, it is only ours to reclaim and use as something empowering.”
Queer currently stands as a blanket inclusive term. However, it’s understandable why some members of the LGBTQ community will still prefer if it goes away. It’s still a trigger word that can take people back to a horrible moment of intolerance and hate. Yet, perhaps the worst part of it is that we’re still far from being an open and loving society. There is some level of inclusion and openness, but it continues to be on the terms of others who are higher on the privilege ladder. As Hugh Ryan explains, there is a level of acceptance for some in the community within mainstream culture, while others continue to be marginalized. “As both an insult and a reclaimed political label, it has always referenced marginalized sexualities and gender identities—the key word here being marginalized.”
For the photographic project, Self Evident Truths, Artist and activist iO Tillet Wright wanted to present an image of American citizens who identified as anything aside from “100% gay.” Through a percentage scale, people would claim where they were on the LGBTQ spectrum. But even that proved to be restricting. If sexuality and gender is fluid, then perhaps someone who identifies on one end of the spectrum at one point in their life could very well identify at a different end or percent. Perhaps this is why several people who don’t want to be categorized in restrictive terms such as gay, bi, or straight, would much rather stick to the term queer. Going back to another phrase Belinki used in her piece “No, Being Kinky Is Not the Same as Being Queer,” “Queerness steps outside these norms, and defies the gender and sexual binary. Being queer is about identity, and that is more powerful and goes far beyond the sex we do (or don’t) have.”
Another important thing to note is that when we speak in terms that are very similar to primary colors, rather than hues and shades, trans and gender nonconforming folks are often left outside. Whether a trans person decides to come out as such is their choice, so the term queer can be perhaps their own way of identifying themselves without having to open up about a part of their identity they might not be comfortable with disclosing. And considering the high risk of violence that trans folk are constantly subjected to, it’s more than understandable.
Finally, I think Hugh Ryan, who is also the director of the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History, sums it up pretty well with, “To be queer is to be judged, and to find community with others who have been judged similarly.”
Sources:
iO Tillet Wright, 50 Shades of Gay
Tiq Milan and Kim Katrin Milan, A Queer Vision of Love and Marriage.
Huck Magazine
Slate
The Advocate
Images from: Queerty
You might be interested in reading:
The Life and Times of Gender Fluid Citizens of Victorian England
