Queer vs. Gay!
- Thread starter Xulian
- Start date
I sometimes choose “queer” to describe my identity. As others have said, it's an umbrella term that can cover any non-straight orientation, and it's a handy word for people like me who aren’t confident in their orientation. “Queer” conveys that I'm not straight without exacting my sexuality, which I prefer not to define precisely.
“Gay” is generally a more specific term. It usually means attraction solely to members of one's gender. I have heard “gay” used casually as a self-descriptor by bi/pan folks, but this is a divisive usage. Some people support using “gay” as an umbrella term, while others see it as the erasure of bisexual, pansexual, and other non-homo or heterosexual orientations.
The distinction between them is of little importance until someone wishes to be identified as one or the other, in which case this person's preferred term should be used.
“Gay” is generally a more specific term. It usually means attraction solely to members of one's gender. I have heard “gay” used casually as a self-descriptor by bi/pan folks, but this is a divisive usage. Some people support using “gay” as an umbrella term, while others see it as the erasure of bisexual, pansexual, and other non-homo or heterosexual orientations.
The distinction between them is of little importance until someone wishes to be identified as one or the other, in which case this person's preferred term should be used.
Being gay means explicitly that you are attracted to a person of the same gender as you. That definition can get a little sketchy when you take in non-binary people and the like, but that’s the general definition.
Queer means, generally, that you’re just a person on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. So, you could be gay, or you could be a lesbian. There are trans people (those that don’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth) that identify as queer.
Now, it also should be said that, to many people, the defining difference between Queer and Gay is that the former is a slur, while the latter is not. Queer is not something you should be using around just anyone, all willy-nilly, especially if you are not part of the LGBT community. There has been a push by the LGBT community to “take back” the word queer, so many people self-identify as such.
Queer means, generally, that you’re just a person on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. So, you could be gay, or you could be a lesbian. There are trans people (those that don’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth) that identify as queer.
Now, it also should be said that, to many people, the defining difference between Queer and Gay is that the former is a slur, while the latter is not. Queer is not something you should be using around just anyone, all willy-nilly, especially if you are not part of the LGBT community. There has been a push by the LGBT community to “take back” the word queer, so many people self-identify as such.
