The Role of Term Queer

In the 19th century, people rejected traditional gender identities which meant that they had to adopt a name that described their sexual orientation. Apart from sexuality, the term was also used to describe non-normative identities as well as politics (El-Tayeb, 2012). Queer politics and theory came into action during 1990 and has continued to be influential today in both politics and social influence of the LGBT community. Therefore, it is important to discuss some of the roles of the word queer from 1990 and how it has evolved over time. The development of the queer theory and movement started in the year 1990 when a group of organizations, as well as individuals, did join forces to ridicule the oppression to LGBT rights. The term was a form of resistance from the people who refused to engage in traditional essentiality identity politics in the past (Michael, 2011).

The term advocated for freedom of citizens to do whatever they wanted both in politics and in social lives. The term was also used in arts as the word was used to inform the audience about the atrocities the LGBT community goes through in the real world. The film industry also joined the revolution to popularize the queer movement (Albertine, 2005). One such movement that promoted the message of the queer communities in the US was New Queer Cinema which advocated for the independence of the filmmaking where actors were supposed to participate freely in producing movies that depict the plight and social behaviors of LGBT without restrictions (Morland, 2009). The adherence to the nationalism of the queer cultures and their acceptance around the world ensured that the LGBT people did form a distinct group of people that possessed different customs but not extreme to the human values (El-Tayeb, 2012).

The word homocore which was originally used by people to refer to the culture of homosexual persons was changed to Queercore which represented the social movement and was majorly used in music and films to refer and appreciate the people with different sexual orientation (Valles-Morales, 2015). This also led to the formation of different organizations in the world which identified them of the support to not being sexually straight by using the identifier “Queer” which by early 1990s was already known to almost everyone in the world to relate to LGBT (Michael, 2011). Some of the organizations that used the identifier include Queer Cyprus Association in Cyprus and in United States Queer Youth Network (Valles-Morales, 2015). Regarding academics, the term queer had a role especially in the study against the grain as it pertains gender studies (Ferguson, 2004).

The rift also existed between the members of the LGBT themselves as some decided to conceal their sexual and gender identity in fear of rejection by the society (Valles-Morales, 2015). However, some felt that there was no need of concealing their sexual and gender identities as doing that was only going to affect them psychologically (El-Tayeb, 2012). Some also avoid the use of the word Queer because they feel that it is some kind of faddish slang and it is associated with the academic promotion to identify people living with different sexuality and gender identities (Valles-Morales, 2015). In conclusion, the word Queer was used by the activists to describe the strange and different identity of the people who practiced different sexual orientation. The word emanated from the use and then to UK which then spread all over the world as many people started identifying LGBT communities with it.