Offset, from Migos, has started a strange new discussion -- does the word “queers” actually refer to members of the LGBTQ+ community? As in, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer community?
YES. My God, yes.
In one of his newest verses (in "Boss Life" by YFN Lucci) Offset raps “I cannot vibe with queers.” I’d give more context if there was any. Contained within his half-hearted apology (on Instagram) is a screenshot of the dictionary definition of the word queer, for which Google’s first definition is “strange; odd.” His argument is that he needed rhyming word, and that "queer" refers to creepy people like paparazzi and obsessed fans.
You have to be pretty selective to Google "queer definition" and not come up with anything gay. In fact, if he had just expanded the definition...
..."[informal offensive] (of a person) homosexual."
And if you just Google "queer," Wikipedia will tell you: "Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities who are not heterosexual and/or not cisgender."
What's unsurprising is his half-assed, (and what should be) unconvincing defense of his lyrics. But quite a few people, including his fiancée Cardi B, are not only buying his excuse but trying to sell it to the rest of us. Offset's excuse is especially hard to believe given that this is the second time he's had a public run-in with the queer community. In May 2017, he refused to, well, vibe with queers when he initially refused to perform alongside drag queens on SNL. There's been a fair share of people defending that as well, asserting he was only prejudiced against drag queens, who aren't necessarily gay. His aversion to drag, according to some, doesn't reflect an ignorance or prejudice towards the LGBTQ+ community.
Well, first of all, show me a heterosexual drag queen, I really want to meet him. Second of all, how should we (people with even a mild concern for social justice) respond to white people who speak hatefully about "inner-city" people or "urban" culture? Or men who don't hire people that may leave work to start a family? We should see right through them because we know they're referring to black people and women, respectively. We should use our logic and throw discussions of semantics out the door, because we know ignorant people use euphemisms and generalizations to skirt what they really want to say. When ignorant people get caught, they defend themselves with dictionary definitions because pretending slang doesn't exist and language isn't flexible is convenient when you're in trouble.
If drag queens make you uncomfortable to the point that you refuse to associate with them, you have a prejudice against gay men, or at the very least gender-nonconformity.
So you don't vibe with queers.
Either admit it or challenge it. But don't resort to this ridiculous in-between of trying to convince people, many of whom explicitly identify as queer, that the popular definition of queer is not an (albeit reclaimed) homophobic slur. Honestly, the last time I heard queer actually mean "strange; odd" was in The Bell Jar. And even if someone with Offset's track record truly did intend "queer" to mean "strange, odd, peculiar, freakish," he's not a moron, and he knew that the most popular definition of "queer" is a slur and that it would be received as such.
So what's next? "Gay" actually means happy? "Faggot" actually means a bundle of sticks? Please don't buy into it. The people who do are acting against their best conscience, because they know under other circumstances they wouldn't be so keen to respect the technical definition of a slur. But to some, I suppose supporting their favorite rapper, or rather protecting someone who shares the same ignorance as them, is more important than acknowledging their fault.
Please, it's 2018. We shouldn't be arguing over whether or not the lyric "I cannot vibe with queers" is homophobic.
