A note about the word 'queer'

We have seen some discussion around the use of the word queer in the recent Lovin Malta coverage of our UNAPOLOGETIC exhibition, and we would like to clarify that the word was not chosen by Lovin Malta. It came from material supplied by LGBTI+ Gozo.

We also recognise that queer has a complicated and sometimes painful history.

For much of the twentieth century, the word was used as an insult against gay, lesbian and other people whose sexuality or gender expression did not conform to society’s expectations. For some members of our community, particularly those who remember having the word directed at them with hatred or contempt, that association remains very real. We respect that, and we are sorry if our use of the word brought back uncomfortable or painful feelings.

But there is another important part of its history.

Like a number of words once weaponised against minorities, queer has also been deliberately reclaimed by many of the very people it was intended to demean. From LGBT activism in the late twentieth century onwards, people began taking the word back and using it proudly: what was intended to shame us could instead become a statement of visibility, difference and resistance.

Today, queer is widely used internationally as an umbrella term encompassing people of different sexual orientations and gender identities. It is particularly useful when talking collectively about a community that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, non-binary, asexual and many other identities, without continually having to expand an acronym which some people themselves find cumbersome or limiting.

That does not mean everyone has to identify personally as queer. A gay man who does not wish to be called queer should not be called queer. A lesbian who dislikes the word should not have it imposed upon her. Reclaiming a word does not erase its history, nor does it oblige every member of a community to reclaim it for themselves.

When LGBTI+ Gozo speaks about the queer community, however, we use the word in this contemporary, inclusive and reclaimed sense. We use it to bring people together, not to insult or diminish anyone.

And perhaps this discussion comes at an important moment.

Across different countries we are witnessing attempts to separate lesbian, gay and bisexual people from trans and non-binary people , as though achieving greater acceptance for some of us means that we can now leave others behind. We profoundly reject that idea.

Our histories are intertwined. The struggle for LGBT equality was never fought by one neat, homogeneous group. Gay men, lesbians, bisexual people, trans people, gender-nonconforming people, drag queens and many others stood together, protested together and challenged laws and social attitudes that treated them as lesser citizens.

The rights many of us enjoy today were built through that collective struggle.

And rights are never so secure that we can afford to become indifferent to those whose identities remain less understood or less accepted. The answer to prejudice is not to make ourselves less visible, or to distance ourselves from members of our own community whose difference makes wider society uncomfortable.

Nobody should have to become invisible in order to become acceptable.

For LGBTI+ Gozo, Pride therefore remains a space for the whole community: lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, non-binary, queer and everyone else who finds a home beneath that very large and wonderfully diverse umbrella.

We can acknowledge that words carry different histories for different people. We can disagree about the words we personally choose for ourselves. But we should do so with compassion, and without allowing language to divide a community that, particularly now, needs solidarity more than ever.

Different letters. Different experiences. One community. No one left behind. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

What is your take on the subject?