User talk:Ozymandias
I'm sorry if you personally do not identify with the term queer however it is widely used as a term of sexual and gender diverse identity and will remain. As the Admin of this Wiki and a queer woman I take every opportunity to spread pride in this. You can search the web for other examples but perhaps the Queer Cultural Center in San Francisco or this list of academic articles about queer identity are an indication of its prominent and accepted (and acceptable) use. I think it is quite clear from the context it is used on the the Wiki that it is not being deployed in a pejorative sense. This matter is closed. --Missyjack Super Wiki Administrator 22:11, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
Hi, I'm American, I'm queer, and I have no problem with the use of the term on the wiki. In fact I'm insulted by your insistence that 'queer' insults me. To my knowledge black people don't typically self-identify as the N-word, I have conversed with many self-identified queer people, and I have seen someone taking offense at the use of the word 'queer' precisely twice in my life. The other guy had the sense to shut up when told that 'queer' is a self-identifier, not an insult, though.
May I suggest a compromise? The acronym QUILTBAG stands for Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual, Asexual, Gay/Genderqueer, which is to say pretty much the entire spectrum of not-both-heterosexual-and-cisgender-and-vanilla ('cause I have met queer straight cis folk), which I have the impression is the same group Missyjack's trying to refer to whenever she says 'queer'. So if we substitute 'QUILTBAG' the places you don't want to say 'queer' and we link here every time we use the acronym ('cause sadly it is not in common currency), the word that so offends you is not on the wiki and the meaning of the statement is still conveyed. Would that be acceptable to all parties? —EllieMurasaki 18:46, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
That works for me. I am not sure how this all falls out, honestly -- at the college I attended/work at, the word 'queer' was deemed offensive by the group now known as the GLBTA (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Allies) group, They used to have a "Q" in there (GLBTAQ) and renamed their organization as queer was deemed offensive and carrying inappropriate connotations ( Queer means, 'odd or different', something they did not consider themselves). It is not a word for polite company or positive messages in my experience.
As for people self-identifying to the N-word -- I respectfully have to disagree. Both in person, and in the media, I have repeatedly seen people self-identify to that word -- in fact, it is primarily a self-identification word these days -- anyone outside that group is discouraged from even *using* that word, or words similar to it (even if they have a different entomology such as niggardly).
Ozymandias 21:12, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
