Queer.

"When I use the word "queer," I'm using it in it's intended form, aka strange or unusual. Unless I'm talking to a fag. Call me old fashioned haha."





"I have never been fond of the word queer. Queer and fruit are the two words that my dad always used in describing gays in a most negative aspect."




"As a high school teacher, I can attest that high schoolers (especially guys) tend to use the term queer as a slur towards homosexuals or any effeminate acting guy, and they tend to use the term to warn a man when they are acting unmanly, un"macho", sensitive, etc. It seems to be more about gender roles and a guy being feminine than actual homosexuality. Oddly enough, I never hear the girls using it. I have always thought of the term queer as a more friendly term and fag more derogatory, but maybe because I came out in college where my friends batted around the word queer as a sign of endearment."




"That's a tricky question--I wonder, in this country right now, is it still queer to be gay? I think of the "queer" identification not as a description of biological sexual orientation, but of the social/political/intellectual/emotional condition of being "out of alignment" with Society (whatever that is), by nature of one's gender or sexuality. It'... Read Mores an edgy word. GLBT people (& academics) are in the process of continually creating its meaning. I dunno. I sure do like it though. It's the word that fits me best.

Sorry, that was a really stupid, obvious answer. Grrr.

My point was, it's totally possible to be straight and superqueer. Or to be gay and totally not queer at all. Queer is the new hip. Which is not to say I'm hip. I'm just sayin'. You know."




"I recognize that "queer" is a word that has carried negative connotations, and is still sometimes used in that sense. At the same time, I imagine queer...as...Existing outside the practices and institutions that define gender roles and promote the idea that heterosexuality is the only natural, and therefore, superior sexual orientation, [as well as] anything alternative especially concerning sexuality and relationships (I do feel like a heterosexual monogamous couple can have a "queer" way of looking at human social/sexual relationships)."




"I would say that its a case of being unusual or different but not necessarily part of another more defined group. Gay is no longer queer because it's becoming more defined. I used the word to describe a friend the other day who is functionally gay but told me he isn't attracted to gender but attitude- a more masculine acting woman he might find attractive."




"In my mind the word "Queer" has been adopted for theoretical purposes, such as in the area of study entitled "Queer Theory". However, I can't imagine a world where we would allow "Wetback Theory", "Nigger Theory", or "Bitch Theory", but I guess we can be thankful that it isn't "Fag Theory". The fact of the matter is that "queer" is still utilized... Read More in hate speech on the daily basis, so it is the same question that plagues the black community: do you make the negative your own and recreate the word into term of endearment, or do you completely reject it. All this being said, I can't decide if the word "queer" is on the same level as "fag" or if it carries the same awkward delineations as "negro" or "colored" does to "nigger"."




"I don't always associate "queer" with homosexuality. I think there is much queer in the world that is not gay. Weird and queer are much more synonymous with each other than gay and queer. Off kilter, that is what it means to me. I think of myself as quite queer, and yet it has very little to do with sexual orientation and more to do with the weird nature that is [me]."



"To me it can mean either awkward, weird, unusual, or of course that one is part of the GLBTQ community or is GLBTQ"




"To me it means strange but for some reason when I hear it it just brings up feelings of anger b/c most of the time when I hear it used it's not meant to be nice...Keep in mind I am from a small town with small town mentalities around me...I don't really hear it in that sense when I'm around my friends."




"Queer" immediately makes me think of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which leads us to it's homosexual references. I've never believed it was a negative term, other then when people simply say something like "Fucking queers." It's definitely nowhere near the negative connotations of "fag" or even "dyke" when used by itself.
I personally prefer it to mean strange/unusual/interestingly different. Although I admit, I rarely use it in either sense."