The question for discussion is what do you think of the word "queer" being used to describe the LGBTQ community?  Below is an email to help with organizing your thoughts for the discussion.  The first is from a colleague at Chapman University whose students include "Queer" in their student organizatiion name.  The second is a response from a colleague at Southern Illinois University.  Interesting thoughts of both sides of the equation.

Initial Inquiry

Hello colleagues, One of the campus student organizations I work with, QSA, Queer Straight Alliance is having an internal debate over its name - and has asked for some facilitation and help having dialogue about organizational naming and a name change. The students I know of who are concerned about the name feel targeted by the term queer because of games from adolescence such as ‘smear the queer’ and the derogatory uses of the term that are still very much  alive in the regions that they’re from. The vast majority of students in the organization either like the name, feel neutral about it or feel that they shouldn’t participate in the conversation. Anyone have any fabulous articles or resources on the history of queerness or queer as a reclaimed term that I might share with them? I’ve done some research on the number of queer organizations in the state of California at various college campuses (there are many) - and I can speak about the academic use of the term queer a bit in the development of queer studies, but any resources would be greatly appreciated!

One Response

Interesting that your students are having that discussion. My primary challenge has been helping queer-identified students understand some of the reasons they might NOT want to use the word "queer" to describe all alphabet-soup people at all times. Many of the younger ones have never faced it being used violently or don't recognize the limits of who has decided to "reclaim" it. It has been helpful for them to develop understanding of those who are not adopting/reclaiming the word because of the very real and extreme violence they have experienced associated with the word. It has been helpful to discuss how the word can tend to erase the histories and identities of certain sexual, gender, racial, age, and other groups within the alphabet-soup. I have only had a small number of people who needed to learn the positive possibilities of reclaiming a word that once simply meant different or odd. Most of my students are already quite into "reclaiming" it and having an alternative to the ever-lengthening alphabet soup or limiting categories. It's been a challenge to help them develop patience for and understanding of the reasons one might not want to use it, especially since I use the word to describe myself. 

Here are some things I have bookmarked as conversation pieces on the matter:

http://www.joekort.com/PDF/korts_korner_queer_eye_straight.pdf

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=13665

http://usqueers.com/site/why_do_we_use_the_word_queer.htm

http://www.drewacorn.com/student-blasts-queer-as-lgbt-descriptor-1.835584  

An example I provide is how some of the older members of NOLOSE (which once stood for "National Organization of Lesbians of SizE") have been marginalized in the organization as the word "queer" has come to be applied to all NOLOSE members even though the older members have asked repeatedly not to be referred to as queer, preferring instead to be recognized specifically as lesbians.

What Do You Think?