In recent times, people have taken to calling the LGBT+ community by the label queer.

This may be news to some people, and it may be common sense to others. However, as someone who identifies within said community, using the word to describe the whole community is something that should not be done.

In fact, you should not call anyone queer without them having already expressly use that word to refer to themselves. While there it is not a problem with people identifying with the term, it is also not a word everyone within the community is comfortable using as an umbrella term and rightfully so.

For people who are not aware, the use of queer as a slur against LGBT+ people began in 19th Century and continues to the present day. During this time, queer was used as an insult against LGBT+ people. A quick dictionary search shows us that the word queer means “worthless, counterfeit,” “questionable, suspicious,” “differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal,” “mildly insane,” and “not quite well.” This was used as a way to set LGBT+ people apart and basically call their identity a mental illness and fake. So, while some LGBT+ people would like to reclaim the word and/or use it as an identifier, other LGBT+ people find it traumatic, offensive, and crude.

To give some more context for this, in the case of Matthew Shepard who was beaten to death in 1998 for being gay, the Westboro Baptist picketed his funeral with signs, some of which read “No Tears for Queers.” So, historically and even in the modern day, this term has been used as slur against the LGBT+ community, and it is for this reason that queer should not be used as an umbrella term for the LGBT+ community.

While some people may complain that saying the entire acronym takes too long or is too difficult to pronounce or is in some way not entirely inclusive of all the identities within the community, queer is not the solution to any of these problems. There are many alternatives to this. First, simply saying LGBT+ (and remembering to include the plus) solves the problem of inclusivity. Second, there is another acronym that refers to the LGBT+ community, SAGA (Sexual And Gender Acceptance) with none of the negative connotations of queer. In fact saga, as a word, also means “a long story of heroic achievement,” something which aligns quite well with the coming out process.

Basically, it comes down to the fact that queer is and always will be a slur used against the LGBT+ community. While some people choose to use the term as an identifier, it is not something everyone within the community wishes to be labelled as. Labelling all LGBT+ people as queer is the same as calling all women bitches because some women do that jokingly or in a positive way within their own friend groups. Queer is and always will be a slap in the face to those in the LGBT+ community.