Before the poem, an announcement: IT’S OFFICIAL! I AM A TOAD! The site where I spent most of April, Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, invited me to be one of their circle of 20 poets. I am extremely flattered and thrilled to be included in the Garden with so many wonderful poets. Like Poets United, one must be invited to join, so that’s my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT for, like, the year! Now, on we go…
Queer.
She’s queer and
wants me to
refer to her as
gender queer,
androgynous.
I could do no less
than confess:
My generation has
problems with Queer,
hearing it said in
locker rooms and
school, in sports
and retorts spat at
the skinny boys.
‘Queer’ meant
wrong, bent.
Now it means
the whole LGBT
community.
‘Queer’ has found
immunity.
She told me that
I must embrace change,
dangerous as it seems.
She dreams of
a day when ‘Queer’
simply means
‘Not Straight.’
Apples
to
apples.
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday and also to be found on my non-homophobic hangouts, Imaginary Garden With Real Toads and Poets United. It’s a generational thing. I remember gay pride movements in the 70s and 80s, and the cry, “We’re Here! We’re Queer! Get Over It!” Then, the word was still used as a pejorative by straights and closeted LGBTQs. The new generation, those who remember coming home from school on 9/11 like we remember coming home from school the day Pres. Kennedy was shot, have taken that word back, flipped it like a coin, say it with pride.
And I say, “Good on them!” Peace, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 
Diane Turner
I agree with her. Excellent writing. Thanks for sharing.
deanabo
I love this poem! Congrats.
vivinfrance
All those initials left me foxed! My mum used to use the word queer to mean sick or poorly “under the doctor” which always made me laugh as he was a big big man! The older I get the more words I’m not sure if I can or cannot use!
Roger Green
I understand her point, and she may very well be right, yet it isn’t a word that crosses my lips, in any context (even the old-fashioned meaning). It’s rather like the N-word, which I tend to avoid.
. ROG, ABC Wednesday team
coalblack
For me, (and I’m older), I use “queer” sometimes, and don’t mind it at all coming from another LGBT person or from someone I know is a friend, but if a straight acquaintance used it, I wouldn’t like it.
I love the young. They are the ones to whom this stuff is everyday. They are the reason that real equality is inevitable. I love it that there even IS a thing called “genderqueer”, that there is now a whole continuum.
Kate
Ah, poetry! It’s at the vanguard of all that is important, and I love this one. Thank you for it!
Mary
I think at one time ‘gay’ had a negative connotation. With time, I think this has changed and for many it is just a word that defines without prejudice or negativity. I think it is possible that the same will happen with the word ‘queer.’ Perhaps it is at present the young who are leading the way with this…as is so often the way it is with words, as well as acceptance of individuality! Meanings of words continue to evolve.
marthateal
I understand the desire to make “queer” into something positive, and yet the very definition (“differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal”) suggests something very different. Mostly it reminds me of another poem with the line, “My little horse must think it queer to stop without a farmhouse near…”
on thehomefrontandbeyond
I remember using the word queer as a little girl and being admonished by my dad–I am glad it has come back into good usage
Kerry O'Connor
I feel the term ‘queer’ belongs to the 20th Century. It is outdated and still prejudicial in tone and intent. But I just hate labels – the need for people to label others or themselves.
Sherry Blue Sky
This is intriguing, Amy. In my day, queer just meant odd, in my little town, as far as I knew (but I didnt know much!) I am so glad we have come several decades from the days when my gay friend was bullied and tormented mercilessly in high school. Congrats on Toad-dom – you will liven up the pond! By the way, one doesnt have to be invited to join Poets United, one just has to participate and ask to have their blog added to the blogroll.
McGuffy Ann
Yes, I remember when several friends in high school hid it, coming out in the 80s. We all knew, and protected them before that. Labels are just labels.
Gemma Wiseman
Yes! Queer is a word I just don’t use because so many people have so many translations! I found it can create social stress unnecessarily. Great little poem!
Judy Sheldon-Walker
Who are we to call anyone who does not believe or act us we do a name? Your poem is insightful and thoughtful covering a topic once whispered about. When I was in the military I had a few episodes with lesbians who were agressive, but the majority are not. I have some bad experiences with “straight” males too who were assaultive, so using a cookie cutter for people is definitely wrong.
Chubskulit Rose
Beautiful composition!
Quaint
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team
Sharp Little Pencil
THANKS TO ALL for commenting. It’s definitely a touchy subject, and I will pursue it once again later. Appreciate your honestly, you experiences, and your forthrightness. Peace, Amy