Trans Agenda: Being Trans Doesn't Make Me Queer, continued

Features

Jan 13

Featured

The terms “trans” and “queer” are often lumped into one category of gender expression and sexual identity. It is a common belief that anyone who is trans should inherently adopt the label of being queer, and that the two terms are synonymous. Admittedly, the multi-faceted nature of being queer, and the freedom of what that could mean to different people, makes the label a lot more palatable than it has been in the past. But what does “queer” mean to trans people who simply are...not?

In many ways, the idea of what queer identity and trans identity can look like are actually quite similar. Both have been used as a reclamation of power. Both are considered umbrella terms within their respective communities. Both imply the denouncement of societal expectations of gender presentation. So why is it inaccurate, and potentially dangerous, to conflate the two?

Queer has historically been used as a slur, so while it has largely been reclaimed, not everyone is comfortable with the term. For trans people who exist on the more binary spectrum of gender presentation, it can be triggering to be referred to as such. The distinction between what it means to be one or the other, should and must be respected.

To be queer, or not to be queer? That is the question.

Watch as Culture Editor Iv Fischer delves more into this topic in the newest installment of the Trans Agenda.

Featured