I've Been Thinking About That Post I Shared The Other Night About How Genderqueer Is A Misunderstood

I've been thinking about that post I shared the other night about how genderqueer is a misunderstood and ignored identity...and the reason really is the queerphobia.

There are, and have been for as long as I've been active in the community, people who are very against the existence of genderqueer as an umbrella term.

Genderqueer used to be the most common umbrella term for gender identities outside of the binary and for all forms of gender nonconformity. It's on this website that I really watched that change, and it changed because of people who were anti-queer and who didn't want to be associated with queerness.

I was reminded of this not too long ago, when I went searching for the original post where the first nonbinary flag was created. The nonbinary flag was created in February 2014, and I made this blog during that same week as a response to the anti-queer attitudes on this website around that time.

The nonbinary flag was created by a person who was against genderqueer as the umbrella term, because genderqueer was too "political" and contains a "slur".

The flag creator went so far as to claim that it was a "myth" that genderqueer was ever an umbrella term.

No, really: here's the post. (And for those who have never seen it, here is the original nonbinary flag post.)

Queerphobia is the reason that genderqueer identity is ignored and misunderstood. That, and the fact that most people are completely unaware of the history and origin of the term.

And it's kind of bizarre, because it's recent-in-my-life-time-history and I'm not even 30.

Genderqueer was coined in the 90s, and the person who coined the term is still alive and has a twitter account and blogs??

GenderQueer: Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary was published almost 20 years ago. (And is now in re-print, so one no longer has to hunt down a used copy anymore!!)

And yet the general attitude is that genderqueer is a new invention. And the same folks seem to believe that the reclamation of queer is a brand new idea and not a deliberate action that has already been taken by countless queer people for decades.

Genderqueer does function as a specific gender identity label, and it is one of the many labels I use for myself. This isn't the original usage of the term, but one that has developed since it's creation.

Genderqueer is an umbrella term, a very large umbrella term, and this is by design; it is intended to encompass every form of transness, every kind of gender nonconformity, every complex and creative gender identity, and every queer experience of marginalization based upon gender and sex.

The definitions that I see attributed to the word genderqueer are usually far more narrow than that, including simplified definitions that I myself have given the word so that it would be easier for others to understand; the way that the term is used today is not how it used to be used, which is kind of disappointing actually. No other word that we have functions in that way, as a broad and proud banner for all queer people who are marginalized because of gender and sex.

Perhaps the broad inclusiveness of the term is why it's grown so unpopular.

Oh no- they’re domestic

I've already seen some artists and writers saying they will stop drawing Technoblade and not write about him now to respect him.

Don't.

This is how you not forget people. We, the community, are Technoblade's legacy. We are here to make sure he is never forgotten and to show our love for him.

Of course you should take a break when it's too much right now. But please don't stop drawing fanart of him. Don't stop writing about C!Technoblade. Don't stop writing sbi stories like passerine. (Unless the other sbi-members say they will uncomfortable about this now)

I am sure Technoblade loved this about us, he liked the fanart you all drew of him, his characters, his friends. I am sure he loved knowing what awesome stories people wrote about the Blood God who never dies.

We are the voices and we are here to make sure this legend will be remembered.

goes on a date and accidently ends up just talking about skateboarding the whole time, like usual

shoutout to the autistic bitches who write wholeass informal essays of meta/analysis/theories about their special interest media. you are the fucking backbone of our goddamned society

Here we go again