As a verb: to spoil, ruin, or make strange; as a noun: plural of queer, historically an offensive slur but now sometimes reclaimed by LGBTQ+ people to describe themselves.
From Middle Low German 'quer,' meaning 'oblique' or 'cross.' As a verb, it originally meant to set things at an angle or confuse. The slur use emerged in the early 1900s.
The word 'queer' shows how language communities can reclaim words that were used to hurt them—turning an insult into a badge of identity and pride takes real cultural power.
Queers as slur emerged late 19th-20th century targeting LGBTQ+ people. Original meaning (odd/strange) was weaponized through gendered sexual shame.
Use as self-identifier by LGBTQ+ communities or in reclaimed academic contexts (queer theory). Otherwise use 'LGBTQ+' or specific identities.
["LGBTQ+","queer people (if self-identified)","lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people"]
LGBTQ+ scholars and activists reclaimed 'queer' as political identity; this reclamation centers voices historically criminalized and pathologized.
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