Quote:
Originally Posted by 1overcosc
I prefer the term "queer". It's an umbrella term that can refer to everybody without having to use insanely long acronyms that, given the huge range of gender and sexual identities, will always be inherently exclusive no matter how many letters you throw on.
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Lots of people here use "queer" as well, but it is already strongly associated with mental illness in local slang, and has been for generations. "He's a bit queer..." would be interpreted by almost everyone here as meaning he's slightly off-putting, there's some mental illness that will eventually make you uncomfortable being around him.
So, there's a bit of a divide. Most older people, with the notable exception of basically all our social activists, hate the term, to the point of ranting against it in Facebook posts, taking offense when it's used to reference them, etc. Younger people, certainly younger than 30, seem to be more comfortable with it.
When articles here use phrases like "conflict between the gays and the queers", which I've seen a couple of times, it's very clear what that means - it's an age reference.
Personally, I'd never use it for myself. But I don't care what others call themselves. And, really, it's a losing battle.