Queer

:For the novel by William S. Burroughs, see Queer (novel).

Redefinition

Although the literal meaning remained fundamentally the same, the connotations of the word changed substantially in the late 20th century. It was used in the late 1960s by radical writer Paul Goodman in his book The Politics of Being Queer (1969), which had a significant effect on the early gay liberation movement in the USA, especially as it became more widely and openly radical in the 1980s and 1990s. At this time, a movement emerged within this larger movement which sought to 'reclaim' queer and wear it as a label of self-respect or pride, as had already begun happening in some communities with epithets such as faggot and dyke. According to academic feminist theorist Judith Butler (1993):

Related Topics:
1960s - Paul Goodman - Gay liberation - Faggot - Dyke - Judith Butler

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:'This appropriation of the word, and its transformation from an insult used by somebody outside the community to a neutral term used by those inside the community can be seen as similar to the metamorphosis of the word "nigger" and its adoption by some in the African-American community.'

Related Topics:
Metamorphosis - Nigger - African-American

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Public declarations of this 'reclaimed' usage emerged in 1989 in the United States (Crimp 1990, page 100), and in the UK during the summer of 1990 (i-D 1991). Two different uses seem to have arisen separately, but at the same time.

Related Topics:
1989 - United States - UK

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The first use, rather short-lived, arose initially from an aggressive essentialist separatism. Initially labeled as the 'New Radicals', this was linked with radical outing and a militant 'black power' style, separatist approach to sexuality (Katlin, 1991). This meaning of the word quickly evaporated.

Related Topics:
Essentialist - Separatism - Outing - Black power

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The second form of the term was popularized by a wave of activist groups in the UK and USA, often working in new forms of non-violent street protest related to HIV/AIDS activism, such as Queer Nation, ACT UP, OutRage!, Subversive Street Queers, and Homocult. This use also arose in the mid 1980's from an underground queer fanzine scene, beginning with J.D.s, and the inception of the Queercore movement in Canada and the U.S., where queer fanzines' inter-communication had been greatly aided by Factsheet Five. There were other currents that also contributed; campaigns in the UK around the age of consent and queer bashing, as well as the growing alienation of young 'pro-sex, pro-porn' lesbians from feminism, and a profound disillusionment with socialism and the left. At this time, queer seemed to mean a breaking free from sexual identities and sexual labels, an embracing of a flexible repertoire of acts and emotions. This is shown clearly in the experience of many in ACT UP and Queer Nation:

Related Topics:
HIV/AIDS activism - Queer Nation - ACT UP - OutRage! - Homocult - Fanzine - J.D.s - Queercore - Factsheet Five - Age of consent - Queer bashing - Feminism - Socialism

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:'It's an open secret that men and women active in ACT UP and Queer Nation are having sex together in unpredictable patterns, with little sexual disorientation.' (Tucker 1992, page 33)

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This is the meaning of 'queer' most closely associated with the academic field known as queer theory, a field that looks to margins of the sexual spectrum to explore and deconstruct societal understandings of fixed sexual identities, and of identities and categories in general.

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