The words gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender had begun, for many self-identified LGBT people, to feel like “boxes,” whereas the word queer was flexible. The activist wing of campus life explained it a little differently, using queer as a linguistic tool. The first English class I signed up for was called “Intro to Queer Literature.” Given the setting, I thought of queer as a somewhat obscure and academic term basically, it’s a re-claimed word for anybody who didn’t fit “ dominant societal expectations regarding sexual orientation and gender.” In other words, queer was an umbrella term that meant the same thing as LGBT. Yet in all our fascination and inquisitiveness about this huge community we were newly part of, I’m not sure I ever even heard someone identify as queer before tumbling into the dorms as a university freshman. I came out as gay in my high school at 17, teamed up with friends to start a Gay-Straight Alliance there, and had a growing circle of gay friends and acquaintances who I had met online or at a couple gay hangout spots friendly to youth. It wasn’t until college that I gave the word “queer” much thought. On-nightcharm: Are you gay or are you queer?
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