WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE QUEER IN ?

Welcome to the queer generation...

In a generation where 57% of young people don’t exclusively identify as straight, we speak with figures from across the community on the power of reclaiming the word ‘queer’.

The numbers don’t lie. In a study conducted by Ditch The Label in 2017, more than half of young people (13-26 year olds) in the UK and US said that they don’t identify as exclusively straight. It shone a bright spotlight on a new generation of people who are more open about their sexual identity, refusing to conform to the status quo and more confident than ever to be true to their authentic selves.

It’s likely what has helped turbo-boost the reclaiming of the word ‘queer’ from a derogatory term used against LGBTQ people from the end of the 19th century through to the 1990s, when LGBTQ groups – such as New York City activists Queer Nation – started to identify using the once pejorative word.

At the turn of the millennium, ‘queer’ was increasingly used as an umbrella term for people who ascribe to non-normative sexual and gender identities. As Queer As Folk and the original series of Queer Eye won legions of television fans in the early 00s, the word began to be embraced by more people from within the community.

The past few years in particular have seen young people use the identifier, revolutionizing its use from one of discrimination to that of fluidity, freedom, and fabulousness. For some, however, they’ve had to dismantle their relationship with the word, shedding memories of playground taunts and public hate speech to recognise the power it can hold with its revitalized interpretation.

To broaden our understanding on what ‘queer’ means in 2019, we spoke with a number of prominent figures across the community to get their perspective.