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The people who advocate for queerness haven't come to a consensus yet because it's a nebulous term that doesn't really mean anything. The simplest explanation is queer = anything that isn't heteronormative.

It's a term that many would say is intentionally general.

Some use it as shorthand for "LGBT+" without being as cumbersome as an actonym.

Others use it to label themselves because they're unsure of where they fit but they know (or are at least pretty sure) they're not cisgender and/or not heterosexual.

Still others use it as s descriptor for either themselves or other people on the LGBT+ spectrum who don't fit neatly into the common categories.

Important addendum: it's not common nowadays, but "queer" was and is used in some circles as a slur. There's been an active effort to reclaim it, and it might feel a bit old-timey to hear it used with malice, but there's a reasonable minority of LGBT+ people who aren't a fan of being called "queer". There's nothing wrong with using it or with not liking it either, it's just something to keep in mind.

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There's no need to be hostile. Heteronormative simply means the belief that there are just two sexes/genders that are immutable and that sexual orientation is immutable as well and naturally only directed towards the opposite sex/gender. Anything outside of this both in terms of sex and sexual orientation including intersex is not considered a separate category but is seen as simply being born out of a biological anomaly. So anyone who identifies as not being within the heteronormative frame may refer to themselves as queer as an umbrella term.

Umm ... yes there is? https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/heteronormative Then again, this is just Cambridge University, the second oldest university in England and one of the oldest in the world. What would they know about English, amiright?

And why separate gay and lesbian when both are just as homosexual, why lump transgender with them when it's a different thing altogether?, bisexuals are also technically homosexual that also happen to be part hetero but, as that is the default state and heteros don't seem to wave flags because of it, they could be grouped with the rest of homosexual community. Thought people hated labels but turns out they love them and keep coming with more and more niche ones in a ridiculous effort to differentiate from the rest.

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Looks like someone needs a safespace without dictionaries.

>And why separate gay and lesbian when both are just as homosexual

Serious question or am I missing obvious satire?

It’s serious. Homosexual means attracted to the same sex. Like homologous, homogenous, etc…

Gay/lesbian are different groups of people facing different issues.

Queer means "generally LGBTQ in some nonspecific way"

It very intentionally does not mean anything specific. Could be because they're not sure themselves of anything other than not being hetero or cis, could mean they just don't want to tell you anything specific.

Either way, it doesn't refer to one specific kind of person because it isn't supposed to.

Queer, historically, is a slur used to call gay people strange disturbing and unnatural. Like most slurs, some people have tried to reclaim it. In the 80s during the AIDS crisis there was a lot of shock-and-awe activism tactics going on to draw attention to how gay men were dying and the government was being very slow in addressing the epidemic. This included the use of the word queer as a reclaimed slur, as it was being used extensively as a slur at the time. Not all people were in favor of reclaiming it.

Additionally around this time and especially in the 90s, post modernism was taking hold in academia. This is a philosophy that believes in 'multiple, conflicting things being equally true because universal truth does not exist'. In many ways, the pioneers of this academic field attempted to appear as edgy as possible, and thus explored slur usage. They decided to study sexuality, but opposed the idea that sexuality is concrete and unchangeable. They believe it is fluid and subject to change since there are no universal truths but rather 'everyone's identity and experience is supposed to be equally true', which depending on who you ask, can be seen as very progressive or incredibly homophobic.

They decided to call this theory of sexuality 'queer theory' and positioned themselves as academics guiding the activists — to be progressive is to consume Butler and Foucault. To be repulsed by the idea of telling gay people they are queer (overwhelmingly a slur at the time) and their sexuality is changeable is to be backwards, even if you were grassroots gay activists.

Queer theory expanded into theories of gender as well, finding best friends in defining reality based on identity not material circumstance. Queer theory does not get along with materialism.

Post modernism is really popular among the left and most universities now. It is the party line, so to speak. Other forms of leftist thought based in materialism are considered backwards and outdated. As a result, the key tenets of post modernism have been embraced, such as word salad and incomprehensible, undefinable 'truths'. Thus, queer theory, in which sexuality and gender are completely opt in, and how the word queer is used in it, as a way to refer to all those they choose to define as 'not normal', becomes in vogue.

Thus, queer became a progressive identity standing for nothing other than the idea of counter culture sexuality and gender as per postmodernism thought. Theoretically, it is supposed to mean those who are attracted to the same sex (the ones the slur originally was applied to) and those who do not conform to sex stereotypes (which was often gay people, and is the reason trans people, who were often homosexual, became associated with gay people in the west in the first place). However, it is widely used in the queer theory notion of simply refering to anything not within the 'mainstream'.

Nowadays, it is still used as a slur quite extensively. I have heard it myself. However, the general public consensus is that it is fully reclaimed and can be used by corporations and people who were not the target of the slur, because academia proclaimed it the most progressive way to talk about people considered 'not normal' regarding their sexuality or whether they conform to the stereotypes associated with their sex.

People have wildly different opinions on the use and meaning and usefulness of the word. However, the above are some basic facts regarding its history and usage. Altogether, I think one has to decide what it means and what they think of it for themselves. There is no concrete, real meaning, since it is commonly now used as a post modernist term, and a 'concrete, real meaning' is the antithesis of post modernism. It also has history and modern use as a slur. How it is used as a post modernist term is also something you could choose to judge as progressive or backwards. It is up to you, op.

I feel like either this definition or the above definition of queer is wrong. I don't believe there are only two genders, or any of the above, but I am cis-gendered and heterosexual, so I'm not queer. That is to say, as far as I understand, queer isn't about belief at all.

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You're misunderstanding me. I'm not saying not being queer means believing the heteronormative ideology. I'm saying anyone who doesn't meet the criteria set by heteronormativity is definitionally queer. It just helps with categorisation.

I agree with your clarification. But to clarify (maybe belabor?) my earlier point, I'm not specifically saying you were wrong. I'm combining the above definition (not from you):

>The simplest explanation is queer = anything that isn't heteronormative

With your definition that "heteronormative simply means the belief..." I don't think those are both true.

They're both ideologies and thus necessitate belief. Either one of them may be closer to the objective truth but that hasn't been explored adequately. I used that framing as a working definition rather than something concrete.

I guess I've never seen 'queer' as an ideology, so much as a descriptor of personal characteristics and identity.