Queer

Queer. Slang term for a gay person, of any gender. This is the “Q” in LGBTQ+. Queer is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or are not cisgender.

Originally meaning ‘strange’ or ‘peculiar’, queer came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ+ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to reclaim the word as a neutral or positive self-description.

“We’re here, We’re Queer – Get used to it” was a chant by the defiant AIDS-activist demonstrators of ACT-UP in New York City and around the world beginning in the last 1980’s.