Yeah, same. It still feels as weird and wrong as the f word or the n word.
As a Gen Xer, same. I still don’t like using the word due to the negative connotation it used to have.
the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I’ve slowly gotten more used to it because it see it used so much in a non-bigoted way, but I think there will always be a bit of cringe on my part with the term.
Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 hours ago
I’m 40; “queer” was definitely off-limits and felt very wrong when I was young and absolutely, unquestionably straight. I don’t know when it changed for me, maybe the 2010s?… but now it has zero negative vibes in my mind.
Perhaps my acceptance around that time that I am, and have always been, quite queer was responsible for that change in my life.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 23 hours ago
I don’t identify with the label, which definitely makes a difference! It was (very successfully) reclaimed from the bigots to empower LGBTQ people.
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the_crotch@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
“Dad, why did you bring me to a gay steel mill?” was a top 10 Simpsons moment
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 16 hours ago
We work hard, we play hard!
Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 hours ago
Addendum: when “Homer’s Phobia” was first aired (I think it’s called?) I was quite young and still felt that being gay is bad and wrong (badong), as I was indoctrinated to believe. I still loved the episode and Homer’s emotional maturation (is that a word?) made me feel good to see, yet it didn’t really affect how I viewed being gay at the time.
Indoctrination is a powerful thing!
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
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Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 hours ago
Ahhhh one of my favorite episodes!
It’s funny—when I was “straight”, I would never have used the word “queer”, even to describe things using its non-sexuality-meaning way. It just kinda… tasted vile to say, or hear, if that makes sense?
Nowadays, no matter who says it; be they straight, queer, or… a third thing, it doesn’t taste bad anymore to me. I haven’t heard it used in a derogatory manner since I was much younger (probably due to the reclamation like you said!) but when I imagine someone trying to use it to put someone down, it just seems silly now… like “mhm, sure am, lawl”