I don't know why so many people think queer is a perfectly acceptable synonym for homosexual. I personally find it every bit as offensive as the "n: word and cringe every time I hear it used. I for one don't think of myself as "queer", which by its very definition means "odd, singular, strange.: I realize that many gay people, like many black people, take a special pleasure in using towards themselves a word that was used against them by the those persons who hated, or hate, them the most. I don't understand this kind of verbal masochism. I do appreciate that, for some bizarre reason, and because of a television series, many straight people think that the word queer is perfectly acceptable. I hope if they read this they will appreciate that is not the case with everyone. Having complained about this before, I was told by some gays that it was uptight and rigid of me. If they are comfortable being referred to be an epithet that is "chiefly a slang term of contempt and derision"* then I would suggest they have not yet totally come to terms with their right to dignity and respect.*Webster's New World College Dictionary.
No comments:
Post a Comment