the discussion of older lgbtq people using queer as a personal descriptor is such a messy conversation because at the same presentation I heard a 60-ish year old woman say queer was an empowering word that most lgbtq people of her age used, while a 79 year old man said he would never call himself queer because of the bad associations he had from having it used towards him as a slur, and you know what? they accepted and respected each others’ preferences and moved the hell on. it turns out older lgbtq people are not a monolith and have individual feelings on the word queer, yet can still act maturely and respectfully about it. where did we go wrong?
respect peoples’ decision to use or not use queer. it’s that simple.
