So What's Up With The Word 'Queer?'

So What's Up With The Word 'Queer?'

After seeing the word "Queer" in a few MTV headlines, someone asked me, "But isn't 'queer' an offensive word?" For people of older generations, or living in certain parts of the country, their primary exposure to the Q-word is its use as a derogatory slur.

mtv.com

I'm on board with reclaiming the word, but I wish more activists understood some of us have a traumatic history with the word. You might have trouble understanding my reticence to use it if you don't have a memory of verbal or physical abuse associated with it.

And I'm one of the lucky ones: I only got verbal abuse with it, and it mostly stopped once I was done with school. Eventually, the pain it forces us to recollect may become distant enough for us to start using it. Right now, I can't even type it out without feeling the scorn.