We’ve been asked to elaborate on the meaning of the ‘Q’ in the LGBTQ. We found the below which summed it up rather nicely:
Today, more and more people are coming out “queer/questioning,” much to the dismay of the older generation of the GLBT community who is used to hearing it as the oppressors attempt to degrade and dehumanize them. Although not exclusively used by the younger generation, and not used by all youth in all cities and towns, it does seem that more GLBT people are choosing queer as their term of identification than GLBT people ten years ago and that those who choose to identify in this way actually benefit from not choosing a specific label. Today the choice to not identify using a more specific label is a way for all who are different to bond together and create a movement of full acceptance within a society that wants to box them in, understand them in concrete terms, and then choose how to relate to them. Not choosing a specific label is kind of like saying, “Why does it matter how I’m different, when I’m different, or why I’m different? Just let there be a place in this society for difference- of any sort- and accept me any way that I am or am not. Accept me as queer.”
This inspirational video explains the 50 Shades of Gay that make up the LGBTQ community.
But what is queer?
Think of queer as an umbrella term. It includes anyone who a) wants to identify as queer and b) who feels somehow outside of the societal norms in regards to gender, sexuality or/and even politics. This, therefore, could include the straight ally who marches during pride, the republican lesbian, the person who highly values queer theory concepts and would rather not identify with any particular label, the gender fluid bisexual, the gender fluid heterosexual, the questioning GLBT person, and the person who just doesn’t feel like they quite fit in to societal norms and wants to bond with a community over that.