this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2025
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So WTF does queer mean?! Our man was simply gay, homosexual, we have words for that. That's a sincere question BTW. As an old cis guy, "queer" seems to mean whatever the fuck people want it to mean, seen a few definitions. Somebody help?
I personally use queer as a shorthand for lgbtqia+ because saying that in conversation is a bit unwieldy
Then the math breaks
Q = lgbtQia+
0 = - Q + lgbtQia
0 = -Q(lgbtia - 1)
So lgbtia = 1 or Q = 0
Fair enough. But lgbtqia+?! Can we not see how confusing are arbitrary these words and meanings and acronyms are?
Imma roll with LGBT. Good enough, covers everyone, at least close enough.
My definition is any group that typically was targeted by the slur “queer” in the past would be covered by the queer umbrella. The slur was generally used against minority sexual orientations and gender identities, or in other words any trait or behavior that is not “normal” for heterosexuals or “normal” for man/woman, but isn’t limited to well defined groups. For example, a cisgender heterosexual man who liked to dress in women’s clothing would be considered queer by those who use it as a slur. They are not LGBT, but if they identified as Queer that would make sense to me.
Lgbtqia+ isn't any more arbitrary than lgbt if you take the 5 minutes to google what it means.
Honestly, using queer is probably better than lgbt because that includes the Asexuals and Intersex people, which is what the a and i are representing.
The terms are getting more and more complicated because we finally allowed people to not be conformant with the norms. So we are in the process of discovering new identities that shouldn't be unrepresented over the years, which obviously makes talking about this more complex but also allows us to be more accurate.
It's not hard to learn for people who like learning about the world, is only hard for people who think understanding other people is a burden.
Like the other person said, these days queer is usually used as a sort of catch-all for any one not cisgendered and straight, although sometimes people identify as simply queer if they don't feel they fit neatly in any of the predefined lgbt+ etc categories.
or even if they do fit neatly and they just don't want to explain their specifics (because it can be wicked burdensome/gets old/folks want you to justify your identity)
Drag can definitely understand why someone with an identity like drag's wouldn't broadcast it. A lot of people on the right wing feel enraged when they see someone with a weird identity, and they get the cause and effect mixed around and think the identity is designed to make them angry, so they call drag a troll. One guy even sexually harassed himself with an alt account and tried to convince people drag made the alt, and people believed it for a few months before he started using the same trick on everyone else he disagreed with.