"Queer" as folk

By Domhnaill Harkin and Lisa Nic an Bhreithimh

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Queer, adj/n, a nuanced word which can refer to one's gender identity &/or sexual orientation. Often an umbrella term for the LGBTQ+ community. A term previously used to target the community, it was reclaimed as our differences are to be celebrated, not shamed.

Introduction – the reclaiming of Queer 

Queer. 

Even hearing the word makes some people flinch, even now. Queer was a word used to insult, segregate and target the LGBTQ+ community for a long time. More recently, however, the term has been reclaimed as a positive and inclusive word to describe anyone who identifies with a letter or letters of the LGBTQIAP+ acronym. It can be used as an umbrella term for the community as a whole e.g. John is bisexual and Sam is nonbinary, John and Sam are queer – that is if both John and Sam identify with the word queer and are happy for it to be used in referring to them. It can also be used in situations where people would prefer not to specify their identity, allowing them to use a more open and general term of queer rather than giving specific details about their sexual orientation, sexual characteristics or gender identity. We also see the word being used more and more widely in the community, for example, Queer theory and Queer Studies are taught in many third-level institutions. There are many definitions of the word queer – the above is ours, what we share in our workshops and with those we encounter. We feel it covers much of what the word means today but also appreciates that this definition may itself become outdated and be renewed or added to with time.

Origins of the word

The origins of the word queer can be found in the 16th century when it was used to describe something as “strange, eccentric or peculiar”. Most of us will know, from reading books from certain periods, that the word queer is often found, but with different connotations to how we use the word today. In Bram Stoker’s, Dracula we find, “He was in such a queer mood that morning”. 

The use of the word to describe men and women suspected of engaging in same-sex relationships, and those who exhibited non-normative gender expression, only began in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was a pejorative term and conveyed the word’s earlier meaning of strange or peculiar behaviour. One of the earliest records of the word queer been used in connection to same-sex relationships was in a letter in 1894 by John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensbury. He used the term in a letter to his son Alfred, blaming the death of his other son, Francis, on “Snob Queers like Rosebery.” His use of “Queers” referred to Archibald Primrose, who had allegedly been romantically involved with Francis before his death. Subsequently, his surviving son Alfred was in a relationship with Oscar Wilde and the following legal trial instigated by the enraged Marquess led to Wilde’s homosexual relationships becoming public knowledge and his exile from society.

From the 1900s onwards this new definition of the word queer came to be associated more so with men who engaged in same-sex relations. There was some use of the word queer as a self-identifying term by homosexual men but by the 1950s, describing oneself as gay became the more common term. Queer became a slur and it was not until the 1980s in the USA that the term was reclaimed. In 1990, Organisation Queer Nation was formed with the hope of a complete change of how the term was viewed, they wished it to be used as a more inclusive and encompassing term for all members of the LGBTQIA community.

Queer Nation activists march, NYC 1990

Some Personal Reflections

Domhnall: “From my own experience in an Irish context, the word queer was very much an insult until relatively recently. Growing up in rural Donegal in the late 2000s, queer was an insult often throw at me in the school corridors. This was years before I even came out and for me, queer was always a word of hurt and discrimination. When I first came out and became involved in LGBTQIA activism, I could not understand this desire to reclaim the word. I could only see the pain and isolation it had caused me, which contributed to me denying my sexuality until I was 23. Though now and it being three years since I came out, I can understand why this reclamation has happened and still is happening in some respects. The best way to take all the hurt of a word is to claim it yourself and use it positively. Using the LGBTQIA acronym can be slightly stiff at times, whereas Queer as a term is simple, easily understood and a perfect umbrella term. I still would say I am gay, but I’m a proud member of the Queer community.”

Lisa: “As an Irish speaker and a ShoutOut exec team member, people often ask me for the Irish forms of queer terms – how do I identify trí Ghaeilge? This makes me happy on many levels – because the queer and the Irish language communities (and indeed their intersection, see for example An Queercal Comhrá) are two I have found a home in and have a great love for, so I delight in seeing them come together. Equally, it brings me so much joy that Irish (like the word queer!) is being reclaimed and revived in its own way for queer people in Ireland, and indeed around the world, to identify through our beautiful native language. The Irish word for queer is ‘aiteach’ and incidentally, the best source for queer terminology in Irish is the USI’s An Foclóir Aiteach (‘The Queer Dictionary’ – well worth a read!). We also recently ran a social media campaign to share some of our definitions for queer terms, and their Irish language counterparts called #ShoutOutFocalaDay. You can find the pronunciation of aiteach, should you wish to identify as such, and many other queer terms in Irish in a video we shared at the end of the campaign. Is duine aiteach mé means I’m a queer person/ I’m queer.

“I love the freedom that the word queer offers us now. It saves the unfortunate but sometimes inevitable interrogations and debates us bisexual folk are sometimes drawn into by simply naming our sexuality. Sometimes I’m queer, sometimes I’m bisexual. I identify with both terms and like having the option to use the two words interchangeably. I love that many of us refer to LGBTQ+ bars and spaces as ‘queer bars’ instead of the traditional ‘gay bars’. These spaces are generally now for all under the rainbow rather than just those who identify as gay, and so queer, I feel is more inclusive and indeed, welcoming word for them. I’ve met young people who said they ‘chose the word queer while they figure out what kind of queer they are’ – which I think is great. We hear of many who identified as gay or lesbian in the earlier stages of their coming out process only to find all of the other wonderful letters of the acronym later, and find something more suited to their exact identity then and having to come out once again with this new identity. Perhaps queer can be a ‘starting point’ of sorts for young people now, to allow them time to grow into their identity and reflect before needing to come out with one specific identity. Where the word queer once, and admittedly still sometimes does, hurt our community, it now also offers freedom, inclusivity as an umbrella term and perhaps even brings us a bit closer together”.